Hang 10 - Laundry series, day 3

Or hang 20, or 30 pieces of laundry to save money! 

Yesterday was a snow day for me, so I decided to can some applesauce/apple juice and play with my little stinker Jack in lieu of blogging about laundry.  Don't get me wrong, laundry is SUPER exciting...but so are impromptu snuggle days with a toddler!

Today's post is all about how to utilize "classic" laundry drying techniques to save money and valuable environment resources.  Reduced use of my dryer has saved us at least $20 a month.  Which is nice because our apartment is The dryer is all I have right now!

Year-round, I use two basic folding drying racks and a hanging rack for small items (see tomorrow's post for resources).  In the summer we have 2 very small retractable drying lines on our deck.  Given that our deck is west facing, and the sun doesn't go down until 9:30 pm, we can dry a ton of laundry in 1 day during the summer.

The rest of the year, I live in a super damp and rainy climate.  A climate that is known for drenching things instead of actually drying them.  But, I have a few tricks up my sleeve to keep our clothes mold and stank-free.

The system:
-Start a load of laundry in the washer before leaving for work.  Some people are sketched out by a washer running while they aren't there, but I don't give two shits.
-When I get home from work I set the washer to an extra "spin" cycle.  This helps get rid of any excess water.
-After the spawn has gone to bed (7 pm), I hang the laundry up to dry.  1 rack has the heavier items (towels, etc), and the other rack has lighter items (cloth napkins, etc).  Probably takes about 5-10 min and I do it in the living room while watching TV or a movie. 
-Before bed, I take the rack of heavy items in to Jack's room.  The only heater that we leave on at night is in Jack's room, so that is the warmest place in the house.
-The other rack goes in front of our crappy inefficient heater in the dining room.  It's somewhat out of the way, and guaranteed to be on for about 3-4 hrs per day.
-The next evening, I collect the clothes, throw them in to the dryer for the appropriate amount of time (sometimes it's 10 min, others it is 30+), and fold.

My clothes never stink, they never mold, and I save beauco bucks on energy!  A bonus is that clothes that aren't always in the dryer last a lot longer.

Labels: ,