Has anyone missed seeing my laundry this Spring? Somehow, moving my clothes rack out to the balcony for the day just isn't as satisfying (or as efficient!) as some clothes pins and good old-fashioned clothesline!

I knew I would miss my nice clothes line when we moved from our country-ish Ohio rental house to an apartment in a Seattle suburb!

Yesterday was another beautiful, perfect sunny day, and we ventured out to the balcony. Several yards of old clothesline and a scissors in hand, the boys helped me rig up a baby clothes line across the balcony (top picture) and a short line up high for my Tibbe line.

Each section of the Tibbe Line is a foot in length and holds 7 hangers. In just a yard of space, I can hang 21 large items! The Tibbe line, clothes line, and hangers are completely removable. The line is hung on two hooks that were already up there! How providential! :)

Our lease said nothing about laundry regulations, we're on the top floor, and there are many trees around, so I am hoping that my efforts remain unnoticed.

Since we are on the top floor (and no a/c!) not using the dryer this summer will really help keep our home cooler, along with saving some money!

Do any of you have experience with line-drying laundry in apartment complexes? Tips, ideas, and advice would be welcome! :)

From Jessica:

Do you have any tips for keeping your bathroom towels and washcloths from getting stinky? It's so humid where I live that it seems they get stinky after just one or two uses, and when I pile them up in a laundry basket to get enough to do a load then they get really stinky and still seem to have a bit of an off smell even after I wash them.

I wish that after this plea for help, I no longer had to deal with stinky dish cloths!

Every night before bed, I wring out my dish rag and hang it on the stove to dry. It's usually almost dry by morning, and then can be put in the dirty laundry basket (a great chore for Eliyahu!). I get a clean dish cloth out every morning.

I even got out some new dish rags that had been a wedding gift, so I'd be starting with fresh, clean rags.

I think perhaps part of my problem is our climate and how much humidity we have...

So I have just been using a little bit of bleach (maybe a tablespoon or so) in every other load of whites, and that keeps things smelling nice. I wish I could find something other than using bleach, but I had gotten tired of trying so desperately, only to pull wet cloths out of my washer and smell mildew on them!

Our bath towels survive all right because we use thinner towels and I hang them single-layer (not folded over) to dry after using... and with a smaller family, our bathroom isn't in constant use so it does dry out well enough despite not having an exhaust fan (we live in a rental).

Those of you who live in damp environments -- what do you do about wash cloths, dish rags, and towels? Do you use bleach in your laundry, or do you have some other trick? :)

The weather today: Mid-60's and sunny

The weather tomorrow: Mid-40's and rainy

My clothesline today:

Line-drying my laundry is about more than just fresh air and a lower electric bill.

The damp and chilly forecast for tomorrow was just the motivation I needed to get caught up on my laundry today. Four loads later, the end is in sight!! :)

Have any of you tried using dryer balls? Do you like them? Are they worth buying/using? (Side note: DO NOT order from the site I just linked to! They're way over-priced!)

As an alternative to fabric softener sheets, these plastic balls tumble around in the dryer with your clothes to soften them.

One advantage is that these dryer balls last "forever" and are therefore more frugal than purchasing dryer sheets. They are also much better for your dryer than fabric softener sheets, and are healthier for you than fabric softener.

A friend gave me a pack dryer balls, and I've used them a number of times now. I honestly can't tell a difference in the laundry afterwards! The friend who gave them to me said that she loves hers, and that the dryer balls make her laundry even softer than dryer sheets ever did.

I normally dry laundry in the dryer without any fabric softener sheets, which is healthier and simpler, anyway. My laundry doesn't get static from drying in the dryer, which I think is because we wear mostly 100% cotton fabrics. (That's just my theory!)

Of course, the real frugal thing to do is to line-dry your laundry. Regular readers here already know how much I love my clothesline!

For other frugal tips, visit Frugal Fridays! :)

Our house was overrun with laundry! I went around and took pictures of it all, for fun! Here is a load on the couch, waiting to be folded...

A tall stack of shirts on the piano... mostly new ones that I got at a recent thrift store sale.

Folded laundry from outside. I folded this while the boys were playing! :)

A load of diapers, tossed into Ruth's crib (she sleeps with me, anyway).

And, there was a load hanging on my clothesline, too!

After I took these pictures, I got busy and got it ALL taken care of. What a relief! Our house looks so much better now. :)

Want some more inspiration to stop procrastinating? Head over to Mrs. Byers' blog! :D 

Even though it's still cold here in our part of Ohio, I'm getting anxious to start using my outdoor clothesline again! :) Here are a couple of questions I received about laundry detergent:

Do you still make your detergent? I'm trying to be careful with money. I've been buying Purex, Xtra or Sun, but then I feel compelled to also use Arm and Hammer super washing soda. I don't know if I should just bite the bullet and buy expensive detergent. Could you tell me your opinion? I also wash in cold water. That's one reason I think I need an extra additive.

Yes, I do still make my own detergent, though I haven't made any since Ruth was born. I'm presently using some Arm and Hammer detergent that was given to us, and I also have some packets of Tide free samples to use.

In the past, I've used all of the brands you mentioned and liked them just fine! As far as needing an additive -- well, I think that depends on just how dirty your clothing is. Our laundry really does come clean without additives, though I occasionally use a little bleach on our whites (maybe once every 3 months or so).

I think sometimes we tend to want to add more soap, more boosters, more stuff to our washers because it makes us feel better, and not because it's necessary. I especially found this to be the case with me and my cloth diapers, which only need an amazingly tiny amount of detergent. :)

And, from personal experience, the Washing Soda can be rather harsh on fabrics. You're probably not sprinkling it directly on your laundry, but still be careful. :) I use is sparingly -- like I do with bleach. :)

Lori also emailed me asking:

I read your idea on just using borax and washing soda for your laundry soap. I have a question for you on how you made it since this is the first time I am venturing into the homemade soap field. Did you use boiling water to dissolve the powder or just regular water hot water? How have the long term results of this have been?

I did heat my water on the stove, since our hot tap water isn't extremely hot. Some people don't even dissolve their borax, grated bar soap, and washing soda before using -- they just sprinkle it in the washer. I haven't tried that myself, since I often use cold water for laundry.

I haven't done anything scientific, and I also haven't used exclusively homemade detergent for a long period of time, so I hesitate to comment on long-term results. I honestly think I like store-bought detergent better than my homemade, even if just for the scent. ;) I make my own detergent to save money. :)

I've been making the most of this hot, summer-like October weather by hanging out lots of laundry. Today I washed up a few big things for the new baby (like the bumper pad for the crib, which is annoying BUT keeps a newborn safe(r) from toddler fingers!) and tomorrow, if I'm energetic enough, I'm hoping to wash bedding. :)

When it's not too hot or too cold outside, I love to fold the laundry into the basket as I take it down. It gives the children extra time to play outside, and keeps wrinkles to a very minimum. And it helps keep piles of unfolded laundry off our couch. ;)

Anyway, I've been meaning to write about altering the homemade laundry soap recipe I use. (Read more!)

I received this question from Tania:

I was interested in making the cleaning supplies (I'm guessing you mean the homemade scouring powder! ) and detergent, but came accross these articles about Borax.  Just wondering what you thought.  It this still safer than store bought cleaning supplies?

Hi, Tania! :)

First, let me say that borax is toxic, and shouldn't be stored where children have access! Just because it's "natural" doesn't make it non-toxic, or as safe as something like baking soda. :) So be sure to read the box and use care when handling borax. :)

Second, now, I agree that the page you sent me a link for makes borax sound rather dangerous! Do I think it's safer than using Comet to cour my sinks? Yes, because in my experience, the bleach in commercial scouring powders is just as dangerous (or more dangerous... just Google that one too! ) and I had difficulty getting my sink/shower completely rinsed after scouring with Comet. I would rinse and rinse and rinse, but there was still gritty, bleach-smelling residue. My homemade scouring powder rinses easily and I don't feel as though it lingers like the commercial scouring powder did.

If you want a safer scouring powder, you could always try just baking soda and salt! Or, purchase some sort of all-natural one if you live near a health-food store. :)

About using borax in laundry detergent -- laundry detergent from the grocery store should be stored away from children and has warnings about possible eye and skin irritations. Treat your homemade laundry soap in the same way! :)

To be honest, I am not any expert on borax and its safety. :) However, I've found that many, many ingredients in household products have questionable levels of safety. (Just Google for information about triclosan, sodium laurel sulfate, talc, etc.)

It's my personal opinion that something like my homemade scouring powder (borax, salt, and baking soda) is better for us than using the commercial scouring powders that I have used in the past. :) But definitely, do your own research, and come up with a solution that you feel is best for your home and family! :)

Remember this post, about putting white clothes on the grass to whiten them from the oxygen output?

Well, I've been trying it! And, while I wouldn't say that grass has some magical bleaching power, I do think that continuous drying of whites on the grass makes them whiter. Avoid the dandelion flowers, of course. Unless you want yellow stains, too. ;)

The first time I put my whites out like this, I told Yehoshua (3) not to mess with them, because this was an experiment. Now, every time he sees laundry on the grass, he says, "Is that a 'spearmint', Mom?" :)

Has anyone else tried this yet? Those of us without dogs, who have sunny and not-too-breezy days... ;)

Stephanie wrote to me and asked,

I SO appreciate your blog; I'm subscribed to it and stay as caught up as possible.  Found your post from last year about line-drying clothes, and I had a quick question about it.  

I have a couple lines set up in our basement to line-dry clothes (not a lot of room outside), but I can't seem to figure out how to avoid getting the "clothespin pucker," especially on shirts (knit/cotton).  I hang them upside down like you do, but I get almost a scalloped edge along the bottom!  Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks for any help you can give me! :-)

Hi, Stephanie! Thanks for writing! I'm happy to write about what we do. :)

I hang our t-shirts outside by just two clothespins -- one on each side. There is usually a small fold at each side, where the clothespin was holding it. I think the breeze helps with wrinkles, though.

Indoors, I use a wooden clothes drying rack. I hang shirts over the rod, basically folded in the middle, and there are no wrinkles or indentions, since there are no clothes pins.

In my experience, clothing hung indoors using clothespins tends to be more wrinkled than clothes hung indoors using a wooden dowel rack.

I think the wooden racks are fairly affordable, and one of those would probably solve the scalloped-shirt issue. :) I wish I had an even more frugal no-wrinkle solution for you!

Do any of you readers have other ideas for Stephanie to try? :)