Sunday, May 26, 2013

Remembering: Clothes on the clothes line

Going back in my mind to an earlier day when the windows were open, there was no air conditioning, there were breezes stirring the curtains, you could hear children playing in the yard and birds singing.  The days awhile back when you picked up a basket filled with fragrant just washed clothes and headed out the back door.

You made your way down the stairs gingerly not wanting to fall and get hurt, but also because you had an armload of clean, wet clothes headed to the line.  The clothes line was strung wherever you could position it.  I remember as a child in old Wilmington, North Carolina, that the back stairs were steep - houses in the old section were built high off the ground.  That is the Southern way to keep things cool - allow lots of air flow underneath the house.  Well, back to the clothes line.  Mama's line was strung from the edge of the house to the garage standing at the back of the yard.  Mama had 3 lines.  Each was held up in the center by a board to keep the line from sagging under the weight of the clothes.

I remember Mama washing our clothes early in the mornings and getting them right out on the line. She wanted them dried, in the house, folded, and put away by mid-afternoon.  There was a schedule and rhythm to Mama's work around the house. Everything done and on a regular basis and everything in its rightful place.

But back to washing clothes and the clothes line.  I married young and began our family. No dryers. We first got a wringer washer (what a chore). When the clothes got washed (early in the day, just like Mama), I'd take them out to the clothes line. our clothes line was strung from the house to a storage shed and then another line strung between the Elm and the Cherry trees.

I can remember good things and bad things about those line-dried clothes.  They smelled so good. They were so bright-white. And sometimes, they were stiff. They were visited by birds who liked the wild cherry trees, sometimes. They got rained on, sometimes. And then sometimes they just didn't get quite dry and I had to spread them around the house to finish drying - hard to do in the hot, humid, South. And did I tell you that they smelled so good?

Hanging diapers, sheets, towels, jeans, shirts out when there was snow on the ground wasn't a bit of fun. It was hard on the hands. It was hard if you were prone to winter colds and coughs. But they would dry.

Your clothes on the line told a lot about you to your neighbors. They told a story of your organization - did you get them out early enough to dry. They told if you were alert to your surroundings - did you get them in before it rained on them? If you were clean living and did a good job of keeping your family clean, they told the neighbors your story. Because your whites were white and your darks were dark told stories of how you did your laundry and how much you cared for your family. Laundry was serious business to the lady of the house.

I remember when we got a dryer. We really couldn't afford to buy one.  Nor could we afford the cost of running it. But my husband felt I needed it. We had five children and I stayed sick a lot in the winter. So joy of joys, we got a dryer. After that I didn't get sick as much. I could wash and dry clothes any time of the day or night - didn't have to keep that special schedule and rhythm that my Mama did. But gone were the crisp sheets. The fresh outdoorsy smell of just brought in clothes.But mama never had a dryer and still was hanging her clothes on the clothes line in her mid-80s.  Mama was quite the lady, quite the lady of the house, quite the person to emulate.

I miss it.  But then again, I don't.


Readers:  Won't you share your stories about doing laundry or your mama's laundry chore? We'd all love to hear a bit of your tale, too.

38 comments:

  1. I have four kids and I handwash about three sinkfuls of clothes every morning and hang them on the line :).

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  2. I grew up in the 1950s and besides the wonderful batches of chocolate chop cookies, what I remember most about my mom was her constantly hanging clothes on the line. My mom's motto: No matter what you have, there is no excuse for it being dirty. My mother passed away at age 89, but I can still see her hanging all the socks together on the line.

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  3. I LOVE this post! Laundry hanging on the line means "home, comfort, care". I am 48 years old & although we did have dryers when I was a child, my mom preferred to hang the clothes out. Especially the SHEETS. Sleeping on sheets that have been hung outside to dry is just a little piece of heaven! We were a family of 5. I remember that Mom had wooden slats to hold the lines up & then we "upgraded" to the metal poles that can be bought now. And you are absolutely right! How you care for your laundry says a lot about you. If your lines aren't propped up, keeping the clothes from dragging on the ground seems to say your laundry isn't important to you, just another chore that has to be done. If you hang it out at 5 in the afternoon & don't bother to take it down until the next day...........or the next. Ummmmm, you're lazy. Leaving it out in the rain. UNFORGIVABLE! lol My mom no longer has a clothesline where she lives now & she sure misses it. In fact, she'll often drag her freshly laundered sheets to my sister's house so she can hang them out on HER line. I haven't had a clothesline for years & I really miss it. If for nothing else but the towels & sheets. Towels that are hung out to dry absorb better. Sheets that are hung out to dry..........well, let's just say that's what God prefers on HIS bed. ;)

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  4. I do remember how wringer washer! Was renting a flat up in Darwin way back when I was in my early to mid twenties. They had one of these and I just HATED it as everytime I tried to wind my sheets through they would start winding around the top part and hitting the lever to stop it wouldn't work so by the time I did get it to stop I had one big mess and would take me ages to unwind it as it was wound around so tight.
    and put rubber diapers through that wringer diapers and explodes and I ruined a couple of shirts
    And you had the clothes you déjas caught in the wringer? or ruined a couple of shirts?

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  5. I still hang clothing outdoors. It just saves us so much money to do that and on rainy days, we have a rack that will hold a load of clothing so we hang them and they dry there.
    I do remember hanging in the cold Michigan weather...now I am in Georgia and don't have all that weather so it is much nicer to hang outdoors. And they do come off the line smelling great.

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    1. I know it must have been very hard in Michigan during the winter hanging clothes outside to dry. It was bad enough here in North Carolina when it was winter - even snow on the ground. But they would dry in the cold. I guess it was "freeze-dried" and they would be real still when brought in.

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  6. When we bought our house in 2006, one of the first things we did was figure out where the clothesline was going to go! We even got inventive and smart about where we put it. We set up a pulley system that goes from one of the posts on the back porch to one of the trees about 75 feet away! It hangs 20 feet from the ground and on a sunny and warm day a full load of towels is usually dry in 15 to 30 minutes! Throw them in the dryer for 10 minutes on the fluff cycle to make them soft and they are perfect!

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  7. I still love fresh sheets just off of the line! I do still hang this and other wash things outside to save on money.

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  8. We had a dryer when I grew up but my Mom often used a clothesline to save energy in the weather permitting months. I got the point, but I really hated it because there were always spider webs on the clothesline and I hate spiders! I really don't know how people ever got clothes and sheets dry on the line during the cold, winter months.

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    1. Tracy R -- In the winter months, the clothes would dry nicely. They could be pretty stiff, though. I guess they would "freeze-dry". I heard that up North in the bitter cold areas, they have clothes lines in their basements.

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  9. I love to hang out laundry whenever possible. The fresh smell cannot be duplicated with dryer sheets.
    I use homemade laundry detergent without any fragrance so everything smells especially fresh from the clothesline.

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  10. When I was little, I remember my mom washing clothes on Saturday mornings. She'd hang them out on the line to dry. I loved running between the sheets and smelling them....it was the best! I also remember them being rained on and having to dry them all over the house...we had a dryer but couldn't afford to run it all the time.
    Today, my husband does all of the laundry: wash, dry, fold...but we have to put them away.... :)
    My dad didn't help my mom when I was little...it's a nice sight for my kids to see too, that men do help with the laundry!

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  11. I remember my grandmom having a old wringer washer that was a pain to wash clothes in but she did it religiously every day she would run a load in it. and hang the clothes on the line. As far as my mom she washed clothes in regular washer and hung on line to dry we had one of them folding clothes lines that was never closed as it always had clothes on it. She had a clothes pin holder that stayed on the clothes line and I remember my brother getting stung by bees when he put hand in to get a clothes pin. Yeap nothing beats the smell of fresh line dried sheets, but they are a lot softer to sleep on when they are dried in dryer. I am glad that I have a electric washer and dryer and only line dry wet bathing suits now and electric mattress pads to air out.

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    1. Dorothy, when we first married we bought a wringer washer because we had to pay extra rent if we had an automatic. Every dollar counted! But they were a chore to use. Of course washing clothes was a bit of a chore anyway, but nothing compared to the time prior to washing machines. My husbands mother washed over a tub in the backyard and heated the water in the tub over a fire. Now that was hard!

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  12. i do not hang outdoors, i do not have the room. do you notice that the smell of the clothes is better outside or in the dryer?

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    1. Kmcgrew213 - Yes, clothes hung outside to dry have a clean, fresh smell that can not be replicated with fragrances infused in softeners and detergents. Of course, if they are not clean (washed well, they won't smell as nice. There is simply a distinct different in sheets, towels, pillow cases hung outside. They might be a mite stiffer, but the fragrance is so fresh. I do not have a clothes line any longer, either, but I remember with great fondness climbing into bed of an evening and the linens would be so fresh!

      Also, some of us refer to "sunshine" as God's bleach. Clothes hung outside in the sun have a nice brilliance to them. :)

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  13. my grandmother still uses a clothes line to hang dry her clothes we have a dryer now but it takes forever and probably so much more energy

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  14. I used a Maytag wringer washer for the first few years of my marriage. I loved it. I would wheel it to the kitchen sink, open the windows, and do the wash. Then I would hang it out in the back yard. I would love to have one again.

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  15. I do remember, when I was very young, that my mother had a wringer washer. I remember helping put the clothes through the ringer--first from the washing machine and then she'd swing the ringer around and we'd put the clothes from the rinse tub through the ringer a second time into the clothes basket. That changed, when my baby sister was born. My parents bought a new washer and dryer. In nice weather, however, after my sister was no longer a tiny baby, my mother still hung clothes on the line to dry.

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  16. My mother never hung clothes out on a clothes line and only used the dryer. However, I did notice the crisp smell on sheets when I went to a friend's house who had a mom that hung sheets out on the clothes line. The sheets were clean but her mom was trying to embarrass her because she wet the bed (we were in junior high).

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  17. My mother and grandmother also had clothespin bags that were similar to aprons but with extra large pockets. No need for those these days for most people.

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    1. I still have my mother's clothes pin bag - including some clothes pins - that she made herself and used. It is a treasure of mine since Mom is gone now, but I fondly remember her using it (and I used it when I visited her). She continued to hang clothes outside until she was 87.

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  18. I still hang my clothes outside. I don't hang them out once the snow flies though. I'm just not that dedicated to it, lol

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  19. My mother always hung clothes up outside when I was growing up - never wanted a dryer, just thought clothes should be dried outside. While I appreciated the outdoor smell on the clothes, because of the other problems you mentioned, I would rather have had a dryer. Years later - as she aged- she decided to get a dryer, & that is all she uses now.

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  20. I love using a clothesline. Peaceful at times, but convenience of a dryer is awesomeness!

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  21. I love this post! My mom used clothes-lines and I use them now. It's just something about the feel and the smell of dry outside clothes that make me happy, especially during winter months. Yes, it takes longer that dryer but it's much better for your clothes and save you money too

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  22. We had a huge clothesline with a family of 6.I am the oldest so guess what!? I was the only one who could reach!! My sister would fold. Told my husband when we bought our house that I'd love a clothesline,hasn't happened yet...

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  23. I grew up with my mother and grandmother always hanging the laundry out to dry! Loved the smell! We moved into an association a few years ago, and sadly I am not allowed to hang my laundry out to dry anymore.

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  24. One of my most fond memories of childhood is the smell and feel of sheets that had been line dried - I just had no idea as a child how much work was involved in getting that wonderful feel and smell. When I think about how difficult things were for our mothers and grandmothers, just to do their laundry, it makes me feel a little spoiled. We should never complain about doing laundry - we have it very easy!

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  25. I can't even imagine! I complain about doing laundry and its nothing compared to what it once was!

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  26. I still hang laundry out, which is one advantage of living in the country. You just can't get that type of freshness from your dryer.

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  27. When I grew up with my grandma we never had a dryer. We always hung our clothes outside to dry in the sun. My grandma still has a clothes line, but now that I have moved out I have a dryer. I do miss the clothes line sometimes, it just seems so much more natural to hang them out in the sun.

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  28. laundry day is easy now compared to yesterday I remember going to my aunts house on laundry day and thought it was fun but for them it was work they had a old ringer washer and that thing was work

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  29. My mother washed one day each week. It was a huge job and I remember the organization. Whites were on the outside for sun bleaching. colors were hung on the inside so they were shielded. Thanks for the memories there. I've always had a washer/dryer and no desire for a clothesline. While others love that fresh scent ... we have allergies. No desire to coat our sheets in pollen that would drive us crazy. My mother had asthma and hayfever issues in the fall. I have wondered how much being out in the pollen made her issues worse.

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  30. Nothing smells fresher than sheets dried on a clothesline in the height of summer!

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  31. I think that sheets on the clothes line became my hiding spot so often when I was growing up and I remember pretending they were my castle and at times, my boats, we did not have a lot of toys but had a wonderful imagination. I do remember growing up that the smell of line dryed sheets was wonderful, but line dried towels were stiff. Thanks for such memories.

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  32. My grandma still has a wringer washer. She is 90 years old. She has a drier but hates to use it. She loves to hang clothes on the line. They do smell good. I hope she is using her dryer this winter with below zero temps and all the snow. kristiedonelson(at)gmail(dot)com Thank you!

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  33. I use my clothes line as much as possible. I don't use it much in the winter but in the spring, summer and fall I was laundry according to the weather.

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