Have you ever slept on sheets dried in the sun? Have you ever dressed for school and
found you could smell the crisp autumn breeze or the warm rays of the spring sun on your
clothes? A simple way to experience these wonderful sensations is using an old-fashioned
clothesline.
Before the invention of the electric clothes dryer, everyone had a clothesline. It was
a normal part of backyards, porches and laundry rooms. If clothes smell so good after they have
dried on a clothesline, why do people use electric clothes dryers? The big reason is
convenience. It is much easier to toss wet laundry in the dryer than to use a clothesline. With a
clothesline, you are at the mercy of the weather. Cold, wet, rainy days are not good for drying
clothes outside.
Why should anyon
e use a solar clothes dryer/clothesline? Because electric clothes dryers
are not friendly to our environment. They are the second largest users of energy in our homes.
An electric clothes dryer comes in second only to the refrigerator. Based on the average cost of
six cents per kilowatt-hour it cost thirty cents per load of laundry.
Do you ever help with the laundry? How many loads of laundry does your family dry in
one week? Ask your mom or count the loads. An average family of four does fourteen loads of
laundry each week. That would cost $218.40 per year and electric clothes dryers can generate
over one ton of greenhouse gases. Some scientists argue that this may be a partial cause of global
warming.
Solar clothes dryers/ clotheslines use a simple renewable source of energy that everyone
can afford. This renewable energy is the sun and the wind. The cost of energy to dry laundry
outside is zero. What could your family do with the money saved? Do you think it could pay for
family night at the movies, bowling or a pizza dinner? This extra money is saved by simply
hanging laundry outside to dry.
What can you do on those cold, wet days without using an electric clothes dryer? Think
of an indoor retractable clothesline that could hang in a laundry room or enclosed back porch.
Another method for indoor drying is a clotheshorse. These wooden, metal or plastic frames hold
small loads of laundry and fold for easy storage. In the winter, the warm air from your furnace
can serve double duty as a source of energy for indoor clothes drying.
Solar clothes dryers/ clotheslines come in all different shapes and sizes. They can be as
simple as tying strong rope between two trees, or buying factory-made clotheslines. There are
several types of factory made clotheslines: t-post, retractable t-post, outside and inside
retractable lines, parallel aluminum and umbrella clotheslines. They cost as little as $12.00 for
rope or up to $70.00 for factory made. These are found in most department stores, hardware
stores and online.
It is a simple task to tie ropes between trees. Factory made-clotheslines take a little
longer to build. The posts that hold the lines up require cementing into the ground. Always have
help from an adult to build any type of solar clothes dryer/clothesline.
Now, the next time you rest your head on a pillowcase filled with the scent of sunshine,
feel good about yourself. By drying on a clothesline you have helped your family save money,
protected the environment and your laundry smells great. Think about it, all this just because you
used Mother Nature's Dryer. What a simple way to show our planet that you love her.
