# Can You Line Dry In The Winter?



## kristenyostdc (Aug 31, 2006)

I would love to keep line drying our clothes but now that it's in the 40's I don't know if it's still possible? I just did some laundry but hung the clothes on the drying racks in the house. But I was just wondering if any of you keep line drying your clothes outside? Does it just take the clothes a really long time to dry in the cold weather or is it something else?


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## sunanthem (Jan 29, 2004)

My whole life growing up we didnt have a dryer, and lived in the North East, so no, we didnt line dry outdie, but we did have a few lines in the basement for drying.


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## Brisen (Apr 5, 2004)

You can line dry in cold weather, even in freezing weather (that's how my grandma dried their laundry in the winter), but outdoors I think it takes longer. Colder air can't hold as much moisture, so if it's cold and relatively humid, it will be slow-going.

Line drying indoors in cold weather gives you the advantage of humidifying your home, but evaporating water does use up heat. If you are heating your home and you don't vent the dryer outside, I really don't know which would end up being cheaper. If all of the waste heat from your dryer is staying in your home so you can use less heat, I mean. I suppose it depends on how much you pay for your heating vs. how costly it is to get the same amount of heat from your dryer. It also depends on where you are line drying & where your dryer is. The area around clothes line drying indoors will be cooler from the evaporation. If it's in a place you don't mind having cooler, it's not a problem. If your dryer is in an unfinished basement that you only go into to use the laundry machines, you probably won't benefit much from the heat it generates.


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## LilMama23 (Jul 8, 2005)

We have a line in the basement so we can line dry all through the year.


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## cheerma (Nov 8, 2007)

I think you can line-dry in cold weather, as long as it's not too humid. If you get a bit of good sunlight and/or a breeze blowing, your clothes can dry.

We often hang our laundry all about our house overnight, when it's wet outside. Everything is dry by morning.


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## dovergirl (Dec 1, 2004)

I line dry outside when its cold then bring them in and put them over the drying rack at night. They mostly dry outside and that way I don't have the drying racks/wet clothes in my way during the day.


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## serenetabbie (Jan 13, 2002)

I have wash outside right now! Yesterday I did too (it was 34f). As long as it is above freezing and not too foggy/raining/snowing, I will hang wash out. Right now we do not have a dryer, so I use the line as much as possible. If it is too wet, then I do like Ajani does and hang stuff all over the house









We have lines in the basement, but the clothes smell musty if I hang them down there. So, we never use them. I have these little clip hangers that I can use over the shower rod that come in handy if something does not dry.


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## Yooper (Jun 6, 2003)

Do you have a room in your house that is not used on a daily basis? A guest room, formal dining room, etc.....? We have a guest/craft/music room that we installed retractable clotheslines in. The have three 4-line units installed one on top of the other. I think they were $8 each. When we do laundry, I pull those out and hang my wash. Then they go back into the wall when not in use. I works great, we get some free humidity, save money, and put a seldom-used room to good use.


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## UUMom (Nov 14, 2002)

You can...I do.They get a bit crunchy at times...lol Try to hang before/around mid day, when sun is highest. But yes, especially if not every day has freezing temps.


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## UUMom (Nov 14, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dovergirl* 
I line dry outside when its cold then bring them in and put them over the drying rack at night. They mostly dry outside and that way I don't have the drying racks/wet clothes in my way during the day.

This is a great way to keep the house a bit humid at night as well. Hanging something wet neat a heat source can help with people who are sensitive to winter's dry air.


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## velochic (May 13, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kristenyostdc* 
I would love to keep line drying our clothes but now that it's in the 40's I don't know if it's still possible? I just did some laundry but hung the clothes on the drying racks in the house. But I was just wondering if any of you keep line drying your clothes outside? Does it just take the clothes a really long time to dry in the cold weather or is it something else?

It's possible, but it does take a really long time outside. I dry inside in the winter, in the basement (our basement is very dry and partially finished). Even in freezing weather, they will freeze dry. I remember my mother doing this into her 60's.


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## oneKnight (Aug 4, 2006)

I didn't buy a dryer when we bought this house, because we went nearly 2 years without using one in our apartment. For us, the only problem with line drying in the winter is that it seems like it will rain for days and days on end, and we HAVE to have certain shirts washed for work uniforms. Fortunately there is a laundromat within walking distance if we are having trouble getting something dry by the deadline.


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## lovesprout (Apr 30, 2005)

i grew up line-drying my clothes after machine washing or hand washing. we lived in a two bedroom apartment, as a kid. and we'd just hang a line against the wall from one end of a wall to the other. i'm thinking of hanging up my outside line inside my house now that it's cold out.


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## bwylde (Feb 19, 2004)

Mom always did but I don't because in the winter, the sun doesn't hit the clothesline very well so the clothes sit in the shade of our apartment building most of the day. I hang everything to dry inside. We have 7 drying racks and a clothesline (and they are almost always full, lol!). I find clothes dry pretty fast inside in the winter whereas it takes days in the summer.


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## phathui5 (Jan 8, 2002)

We also have a basement lines that we use for stuff like towels and blankets.


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## MorganRiley (Jun 9, 2007)

i have a wooden folding rack that fits just right in my bathtub


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