Hang It UP!

I don't care for doing the laundry. Except durning the summer. I love hanging clothes on the line. Seriously. It is so great! The feeling of the cool, damp clothes against my warm skin. The cat winding in between my feet meowing for attention. I find it relaxing and quite enjoyable. Much more so than shuffling the lump of wet laundry from the washer to the dryer like some drowned corpse of the week's apparel. No one hangs out in the laundry room with me while I do the chore. But the kids and the animals will follow me out to the back yard, into the sunshine and fresh air, while I hang things on the line. Win win.


Also, I know that it may seem like it increases the amount of time and energy used to complete the task, but it is actually a time saver in addition to being more enjoyable. How you ask? Mostly by eliminating ironing. Plus on a nice warm day with a tiny breeze, clothes actually dry faster on the line than in the dryer. By the time the wash is done, the line is dry! Here are some hints to make it the best experience possible.

• Invest in sturdy clothespins. They are about a buck.
• Place the line as conveniently as possible in the yard. Retractable is nice. So are the big roundabouts. But line between fenceposts works and I can prove it.
• Shaking out wrinkles and then hang t-shirts upside down, trying not to stretch the bottoms too far apart, keeps everything in a nice shape.
• Straightening out the insides of pockets and pulling or shaking out the wrinkles before hanging things, keeps that bunched-up, linty pocket thing from happening.
• Follow me and you will never iron a button down shirt again for the whole summer! Finger press the button fronts and the bottom edge (that always curls up) by pulling them flat. Then use clothes pins to weight them down. Gravity and the slightest breeze will do the ironing for you. (Unless you are a freaking perfectionist who has to have a crease in the front of jeans and boxers. In that case, there is no hope for you.)
• Turn graphic T's inside out before hanging. At my house all laundry is inside out anyway, so this is no big deal. Turning the graphics to the inside helps prevent fading, because let's face it, no one wants to don a charcoal gray Darth Vader Tee. Lame.

Quote of the Day: "My second favorite household chore is ironing.  My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint.  ~Erma Bombeck