Feather3

Well I'm 52 & do remember the clothesline rules :). My Grandparents hung clothes out year round & yep they freeze dried in winter. Monday was wash day & never ever on Sunday.

The "stick" for propping up the line is called a "Clothesline pole or prop". My poles actually have 2 bent nails placed a few inches apart, so you can chose the height you want the line to be. My poles are never left propping up the line. They are taken down & laid on a bench. This prevents the wind from blowing the lines back & forth & stretching them out.

I don't hang clothes out much anymore due to huz's issue with dry skin, so everything has to be tumbled dry with farbic softener. Actually my Huz does all the laundry, except for washing drapes, rugs, etc :).

mrsreeves2

I'm with you Ditter43!

Carol's Quilts

When we bought our house in 1965 (I'm still here), my MIL gave me an old wringer washer - it was steel, square, and stood on long legs. It was very old, but it did have an electric wringer. I used that machine for years. One day, the wringer mechanism quit working so that you couldn't swing it around and lock it in place every quarter turn. (You would wring the clothes from the washer into the first rinse tub, swing the wringer around so it was between the first and second rinse tubs, then wring the clothes into the second rinse, swing the wringer to the front of the second tub and wring them right into the laundry basket on the floor, then right outside to hang them out. One day the wringer mechanism broke so that you couldn't swing it around. That means that I had to wring the clothes out by hand, and my daughter would help me wring out the sheets, my husband's work pants, towels, all the heavy stuff. She'd stand at one end, I's stand at the other, and we just twisted the clothes until we couldn't twist any longer. It was hard work.

Then one day, an elderly egg farmer lady gave me an ancient wooded wringer that clamped on to the laundry rinse tubs in the middle where they stood side by side. It was hand cranked, but it worked! Used it for the longest time! It was also a good bit of work.

Then my mom offered to buy me a new washer for my birthday which was a dream come true. But you know what? I just loved the way that old wringer machine washed clothes. They got so CLEAN! I asked my mom to buy me another wringer washer and she thought I was crazy what with having no dryer and 3 kids to take care of, housework, cooking, etc. But I insisted, so she got me a new Maytag. I just loved it and used it until the mid-'70's by which time my 2 oldest kids were married and gone. Turns out a relative was getting a divorce and breaking up her household, so I bought her washer and dryer and I must say, I did like the convenience.

However, all those years with the wringer washer were well worth it. I followed all the hanging out "rules" although I didn't know they were "rules" - that was just the way it was done. I absolutely LOVED comparing my laundry on the line to my neighbors' laundry. I can remember thinking, "My whites are whiter than yours"! I was proud of it!

Oh well, now I wash and dry clothes like everybody else, and none of us ever see anyone else's. I don't even have white sheets any more, just colored.

I guess there were lots of "rules" we followed without knowing they were rules - just the way we did things. But the memories are great!

pennyswings

OMG this is scary, I am still doing this. No clothes dryers in Argentina, unless you live in Buenos Aires. :lol:

quilterlois

To our Australia friends. I love your country, lived in the South Australia outback for a couple of years. Hanging clothes was an adventure. During FLY season, I wore a "cork hat" to keep the flys out of my ears, eyes, mouth and ect. To you Yanks, a cork hat is a large rimmed hat with corks hanging down all around the rim. To shoo the flys away, you would just shake your head and the corks would shoo them away.My clothesline was the umbrella model. Center pole and crank down lines. It was great, only no break. When I let go of the line, it would spine around in the wind. I'm laughing while writing this and remembering, but at the time I sure wasn't laughing. LOL

yesyoucan

I come from a very large family(17 Kids)and we of course had a cloths line,and we all had to help hang cloths,mom would be in the laundry room with the old ringer washer my brother and I would go hang cloths. My brother would astound me at how fast and affishiant he was. I would love to have one but hubby says no.

Colbaltjars62

Hmmm, hubby says no huh... Wonder what his story is... LOLOL!!!!!

Nancy O.

Those were the good old days. I wasn't aware of the rules at that time. My Mom was easy going, and with 6 kids, I helped her every chance I could. She never made me hang the clothes, I enjoyed doing it. I even helped with the wringer washer and rinsing over and over. Clothes were supper clean in those days and smelled fantastic. My Mom ironed in the mornings at the crack of dawn. We all had clothes every morning that were freshly ironed. Mom also made breakfast for my Dad and us kids. Anything we wanted. It was like a restaurant. I do miss those days when life was much easier and more fun.

tigger5464

I still have a clothes line and the props :D We always had to "sort" the laundry when taking it out of the washer that way all the wash cloths, hand towels and bath towels could be hung together. And OH MY!!! "Unmentionables" had to go on the inside lines. We had 4 lines....Bath towels and sheets had to go on the front lines to hide those pesky "unmentionables" LOL I still use the lines for sheets and towels...too much softener on the towels and I can't get dry...they don't absorb like when hung on the lines.

Mom even used to hand laundry in the basement on a million lines in the winter when we were little...not to mention all over the house on wash day. Ironing day was a totally different story. :D Great memories :D

michellee

these rules sound like i wrote them..my mom used to hang cloths outside when it was cold..i hung cloths just like you mentioned plus you sprinkled them with water and put the cottons in a plastic bag and were put a fridge then ironed the next day......i can't wear anything that is not ironed....i've seen cloths worn that look like they sat in a dryer for a week....i guess i was raised in the old school....i bet there are a lot of house holds that don't have an iron....lol....