Sunday, April 19, 2009

Hanging Out Day!


Today is National Hanging Out Day. No, that's probably not what you think it means. It doesn't mean to hang out and do nothing all day. However, that's probably what I'll end up doing. National Hanging Out Day refers to laundry and energy conservation. Today is a day set aside to encourage people to dry their clothes on a line, rather than a dryer.

One of my earliest memories is sitting in the sun watching my grandma hang her laundry on her clothesline. She placed each item so carefully and with such grace. She used to wear a little apron that held the clothespins in a big pocket. It was fun to watch her smooth each sheet out and hang each towel with perfection. My grandmother had a dryer, but she preferred the clothesline. We had one at our house, but my mom used the dryer more.

I suppose for many people, clotheslines are old-fashioned and a thing of days gone by. I still see them, of course, but we don't have one. There's probably some regulation against them in our home owners agreement anyway. Rick cannot stand sun-dried clothes and would literally flip out if I did that to his clothes. He's one of those people that can't wear anything if it's the slightest bit itchy. Drying his clothes on a line would be like torture. It's a good memory and reminds me of watching my grandma while she hangs her laundry by her sweet smelling rose garden.

9 comments:

  1. My mom did that all the time with out laundry when I was really little. I used to do it in the summer in our old house. I made sure I put in a little extra fabric softener especially for the towels. I loved the smell. Another good memory!

    Nancy

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  2. I have clothes out on the line as I write this. Sheets, shirts and few other things. I love the smell of line dried clothes, love the feel of line dried sheets. However I must confess, I prefer my towels dried in the drier.

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  3. I hang out the clothes as often as I can, but being here in the woods, I tend to watch it often because I just know some bear is going to run off with my Betty Boop PJ's...grin..

    As for the stiff itchy feeling...Use vinegar in your washing machine when you are washing the clothes...Then hang your clothes out to dry...

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  4. I hang stuff outside in the summer but throw it in the dryer the last couple minutes to fluff it :)

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  5. I still use white vinegar in the washer. We're allergic to just about anything with a scent. The vinegar keeps close quite soft.

    We used to hang out our clothes all the time - except when the blackberries were ripe. Sometimes I think the birds aim for sheets on purpose!

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  6. That's easy. I've never had a dryer.

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  7. My MIL still hang dries all of her clothes. I do all of our shirts.
    Thanks for sharing about this day!!!

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  8. Well, I am a day late and it is now raining so I can't hang anything out today... so to celebrate (sort of) I am not going to do ANY laundry today - since I can't hang it out to dry!

    Any reason I can come up with NOT to do laundry.. is a good one! lol

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  9. There's a regulation against it where I live, but I think that should change!
    I also love the smell of clothes dried outside.

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