Household Hints & Help
Related: About this forumIf you've washed a humongous load of towels, is it more energy efficient to put maybe half
of the load in the dryer, and then the other half after the first ones are dried? Or to just shove them all in the dryer at one time?
mahatmakanejeeves
(60,987 posts)MiHale
(10,791 posts)Great smelling, not like those perfumed, chemically imbued, machine dried ones.
But alas
not everyone is allowed to do it.
EYESORE 9001
(27,520 posts)Sometimes the towels come off the line so rough you could use them to remove unwanted body hair. I prefer the artificial scent of fabric softener over the industrial stank I imagine Im smelling. Its all good, however, as those clothes also smell like savings 🤑
raccoon
(31,458 posts)underpants
(186,689 posts)See post 6
Zoomie1986
(1,213 posts)Not only do we live only a few blocks from a major road in our part of town, not only is it walking distance to K-12 schools, and not only is it less than a mile to a major shopping center and multiple gas stations...
But also we're just over a mile from a busy freeway.
While all of those features are a considerable benefit for us (we can walk to nearly everything we need), it does have some minuses. For instance: Whenever we've tried drying anything outdoors, everything stinks of car exhaust when we bring it back in.
So we're better off using the dryer. When we don't want to put certain things in the dryer, we'll hang them on the spare bathroom's shower rod. That works rather nicely as a clothesline substitute.
i envy you if you live someplace with cleaner air.
EYESORE 9001
(27,520 posts)but I know that dryers dont work well if theyre overloaded. Clothes cant tumble properly and you might find moist clothes deep inside a balled-up mess at the end of the cycle. If your dryer has a moisture sensor and a cycle that runs until desired dryness is reached, you may be OK with a large load - just make sure towels arent tying themselves into knots.
mgardener
(1,895 posts)That seems to cut down on drying time.
But I only partially dry my towels and either hang them outside or use a wooden rack to dry them.
quaint
(3,551 posts)HeartsCanHope
(737 posts)They do smell better hanging in the sun!
underpants
(186,689 posts)plus my wife would be a NO because you know spiders are everywhere
HeartsCanHope
(737 posts)Didn't truly understand how HOA's control everything. Love my neighbors--they make up for all the rules!
underpants
(186,689 posts)We just had the boards replaced. Our neighbors told us the HOA jumped all over them when they redid their deck a few years ago. They may have changed the style/footprint though.
Im guessing there was a building license involved in their case. How else the HOA would have known about it I dont know.
Our HOA is crazy about mailboxes. 🙄
mitch96
(14,664 posts)mntleo2
(2,567 posts)You CAN hang them inside your apartment with an open window or not. I have done it and I learned from friends from other countries who do that all the time. You can buy a wooden rack that can hold maybe an entire load. It takes a little practice but once you learn how to make that hanging work well it becomes a routine because you learn where you hang them helps. It helps because usually in the middle of the rack it stays damp a little longer. But then take the outside clothes to fold and ler the inside the rack clothes be put out where they will dry much quicker. I used to do it with my kids, two of what were born within a year of one another (yes this birth is possible. I did it). You can put the rack in an out-of-the-way place like in a bedroom or bathroom in the tub or shower. On cold days if the house is semi-warm it might take all day for them to dry. So after you get home from work, you can fold them after supper.
As a matter of fact I also had to do the wash in the bathtub. I would fill the tub with water the temperature i wanted with some clothes in it. Then I would put in laundry soap and swish it around until the soap desolved. I would let them sit and then stir them every hour or so. Let this go on for about 4 hours. Then drain out the soapy water and put in clean water. Do the same thing as for the soapy part of the load maybe 2 hours, Once you are through, twist out as much water as you can and then hang them to dry, perhpas over night.
You may think this is a lot of work. You are right about that. But when I had to wash my uniforms, and other clothes I found that washing and drying this way actually kept my clothes bright a lot longer (little fading) .
Just sayin' ... Cat from Seattle
GiqueCee
(1,325 posts)... in the washer, they will never get completely clean because the soapy water cannot circulate around them. The same holds for the dryer. Hot air cannot circulate around the towels if there is no space between them because it's overloaded. And that much wet weight will damage both appliances, especially top-loading washers, because the weight puts undue strain on the knuckle connection that spins the tub.
Do smaller loads, and get everything cleaner and dryer faster. What's not to love?
japple
(10,330 posts)the dryer, if needed. For the past few years, however, we have had to do all of it inside because of chiggers. If I were younger and we could get someone to bushhog the area around our clothesline, I would still use it. I will NOT subject myself to chiggers and ticks at my age.
Oh, and I would dry 1/2 of a big load at a time. Using wool dryer balls helps. Back in the old days, we would throw in a pair of kid's sneakers (back when they were canvas & rubber) to bounce the load around.