Author Topic: Line drying may not be better.  (Read 12010 times)

Tami1982

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Line drying may not be better.
« on: January 30, 2013, 08:39:44 PM »
Interesting article on the negatives that can come with line drying your clothes in the house. http://www.rodale.com/drying-laundry-indoors

Russ

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2013, 09:01:57 PM »
Quote
Higher chemical pollution: People who use fabric softeners are likely to have higher levels of cancer-causing chemicals called acetaldehydes in their indoor air. Other chemicals used in laundry detergents can off-gas into the air, and the levels go up with the amount of moisture in the air.
then don't use fabric softeners

Quote
Greater mold potential: Mold spores were 300 percent higher than what's considered safe when laundry was dried indoors. In 25 percent of the homes surveyed, the authors found high levels of a mold spore called Aspergillus fumigatus, which is known to cause lung infections in people with weakened immune systems.

More dust mites: Humid homes are ripe for dust-mite growth, and dust mites can cause allergies and asthma attacks.
giving the immune system a little exercise is rarely a bad thing

Quote
Higher energy bills: One interesting finding of the report was that in about 23 to 37 percent of the homes surveyed, tenants would raise the heat or open a window to speed drying of laundry, which negated any energy savings of not using their dryers.
I would like to think that mustachians are generally smart enough to not do this

Kriegsspiel

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2013, 09:59:11 PM »
Opening windows increases energy usage?

William

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2013, 10:37:17 PM »
Silly article.  Everyone always has to make an alternative argument.  I too like to be the Devil's Advocate at times but this article takes it way too far.

Tami1982

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2013, 11:12:16 PM »
What was interesting to me was the mold and dust mite bit.  I am immunocompromised as well as have bad allergies/asthma and would not have thought that drying my clothes indoors could contribute to it.  I don't dry my clothes outdoors for allergen reasons, wouldn't have thought about it becoming an altogether different issue indoors.  Right now, I'm fortunate that I get to do my laundry for free so I have little laundry concerns, but was an interesting read.

And I agree - ew chemicals!  I make my laundry detergent, use vinegar for fabric softener and don't use dryer sheets.

marty998

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2013, 11:41:11 PM »
I'm guessing the article or the study was paid for by a manufacturer of Driers?

Hang your clothes up, open the window and thats it. Seriously. Mould inside or pollen outside, choose your poison it doesn't matter and the risk is negligible.

Regarding the below quote I always take these large % things with a grain of salt. 300% higher? Could just be a change from 1 ppm to 3ppm (parts per million).

A headline in the local rag once screamed that a particular cancer rate had tripled in a year. Turns out it went from 2 per 1,000,000 to 6 per 1,000,000. Hardly anything to be worried about.

Quote
Greater mold potential: Mold spores were 300 percent higher than what's considered safe when laundry was dried indoors. In 25 percent of the homes surveyed, the authors found high levels of a mold spore called Aspergillus fumigatus, which is known to cause lung infections in people with weakened immune systems.

More dust mites: Humid homes are ripe for dust-mite growth, and dust mites can cause allergies and asthma attacks.
giving the immune system a little exercise is rarely a bad thing




NWstubble

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2013, 12:23:12 AM »
Opening windows increases energy usage?

If its summer and you leave the AC on it does!

Worsted Skeins

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2013, 04:38:43 AM »
Did you notice that the study was performed by a Scottish group?  I have only spent one week in Scotland but it did rain every day. Perhaps that is why the study was on indoor drying as opposed to outdoor?


TheDude

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2013, 08:54:20 AM »
When we livied in Taiwan we didnt have a dryer. It was so humid that you clothes never really dried. It was ok though becuse you were always sweating.

Here in Colorado most things dry in 12 hours its so dry. When its hot outside we put water back into the air to help cool down.

Jamesqf

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #9 on: January 31, 2013, 11:02:54 AM »
Did you notice that the study was performed by a Scottish group?  I have only spent one week in Scotland but it did rain every day. Perhaps that is why the study was on indoor drying as opposed to outdoor?

I'd always thought that most British houses had airing cupboards for indoor drying.


Worsted Skeins

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #10 on: January 31, 2013, 12:00:17 PM »
I'd always thought that most British houses had airing cupboards for indoor drying.
I don't know about most but when we were hiking along Hadrian's Wall and spent the night in a hostel, there was a drying room available.  Every other room in the hostel was pretty chilly.  The drying room had a pulley system with poles suspended from the ceiling.  You could dry your hiking clothes or hang a load of wash.  It was a sweet use of resources.  The climate there was so damp but at least one started the day with dry layers.


WhatMomWears

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #11 on: January 31, 2013, 04:45:33 PM »
I get great (and probably strange) personal satisfaction from hanging my clothes both on my outdoor line (when possible) and on my indoor drying rack.

velocistar237

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #12 on: January 31, 2013, 05:30:28 PM »

Jamesqf

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #13 on: January 31, 2013, 06:33:02 PM »
And I agree - ew chemicals!  I make my laundry detergent, use vinegar for fabric softener and don't use dryer sheets.

Err...  Hate to burst your bubble, but vinegar is a chemical.  It's a dilute solution of acetic acid, contaminated with various other complex chemicals, depending on the source.  Bet you make your laundry detergent out of chemicals, too.

Bakari

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #14 on: January 31, 2013, 07:11:43 PM »
And I agree - ew chemicals!  I make my laundry detergent, use vinegar for fabric softener and don't use dryer sheets.

Err...  Hate to burst your bubble, but vinegar is a chemical.  It's a dilute solution of acetic acid, contaminated with various other complex chemicals, depending on the source.  Bet you make your laundry detergent out of chemicals, too.

lol, everything which is anything is a chemical.  Water is a chemical.  Oxygen is a chemical.  We are made of chemicals.  The only thing thats not a chemical is photons of light and subatomic particles.

Tami1982

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #15 on: January 31, 2013, 10:13:06 PM »
Hmmmm...interesting point.  How about, noncarcinogenic?  :)

GoStumpy

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #16 on: January 31, 2013, 11:07:22 PM »
An article created to make people feel good about using their dryers, and to stop feeling guilty for not line-drying their clothes.


Wow.

Jamesqf

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #17 on: February 01, 2013, 10:59:17 AM »
Hmmmm...interesting point.  How about, noncarcinogenic?  :)

OK, except that just about anything can be carcinogenic/toxic at high enough exposures, including a lot of things that are healthy and even necessary for life in small amounts.

Tami1982

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #18 on: February 01, 2013, 11:12:45 AM »
OK, except that just about anything can be carcinogenic/toxic at high enough exposures, including a lot of things that are healthy and even necessary for life in small amounts.

LOL!  Okay.  I give:)   

An article created to make people feel good about using their dryers, and to stop feeling guilty for not line-drying their clothes.

I suppose it could be viewed it that way, couldn't it?  In the PNW, where we have a lot of rain and mold/mildew problems, it made a lot of sense to me to limit the mold risk during the fall/winter seasons, especially for those with health issues, but the article likely comforts people in different climes that do not necessarily need to avoid the line drying. 

I appreciate all the thoughts and comments - it's great to see so many different points of view and learn new things:)

zhelud

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #19 on: February 01, 2013, 11:31:43 AM »
I lived in a small apartment in Moscow for a year and a half. Like most people, we didn't have a clothes dryer (and our "washing machine" was a device that agitated clothes and soap and then you rinsed them in the bathtub.)

Line drying clothes (and sheets, and towels) inside just sucks. Period.  There are a lot of dumb appliances, but unless you live in a place where you can dry laundry outside, a clothes dryer isn't one of them.   

KimPossible

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #20 on: February 01, 2013, 01:13:28 PM »
I still haven't picked up one of these things.

http://www.amazon.com/Centrifugal-Clothes-Portable-Spin-Dryer/dp/B002GEDBIG

I have one, and love it.  I have an addiction to cashmere sweaters (which I buy at thrift stores, of course :) ).  Maintaining them is very easy.  I wash them in my washer on the hand wash cycle, spin them in the spin dryer to get most of the water out, and then hang them on my drying rack to finish drying.  I can wash and dry 15 sweaters at a time--so much easier, cheaper, and healthier than dry cleaning!

Splashncash

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #21 on: February 01, 2013, 02:40:04 PM »
I get great (and probably strange) personal satisfaction from hanging my clothes...

+1  I too get unusual satisfaction from my outdoor clothes hanger.

BlueMR2

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #22 on: February 01, 2013, 03:32:57 PM »
Line drying clothes (and sheets, and towels) inside just sucks. Period.  There are a lot of dumb appliances, but unless you live in a place where you can dry laundry outside, a clothes dryer isn't one of them.

I would disagree for clothes and towels.  Sheets are a royal pain to try and hang up indoors though.  With an appropriate rack clothes and towels are easy.  The humidity here is so terribly low in the Winter that we welcome what the clothes add to the air!  Most people run humidifiers all Winter long!  We just survive with low humidity and indoor drying.  Most clothes and towels are dry in 6-12 hours.  Even the heaviest clothes I have are dry in 18 hours.  In the Summer time however, we use the dryer.  With the high humidity we have, they'd never get dry hanging up...  :-)

William

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #23 on: February 01, 2013, 04:42:58 PM »
We must not be scared of everything.  With the rationale in this "study" I hope the researchers who buy into this nonsense never step into a puddle before climbing into their car.  If they do, the moisture on their shoes could transfer to their floor mats and that could lead to death molecules floating in the air!  Dun dun dun!

grantmeaname

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #24 on: February 02, 2013, 06:51:56 AM »
Line drying clothes (and sheets, and towels) inside just sucks. Period.  There are a lot of dumb appliances, but unless you live in a place where you can dry laundry outside, a clothes dryer isn't one of them.
Do you live in the rain forest or something? We have a drying rack in our basement that's hardly even got the same footprint as a dryer, holds more clothes, and they're dry, indoors, in less than 12 hours. Not to mention the free humidity, which like Blue Mr. 2 we can actually use.

amyable

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #25 on: February 02, 2013, 09:05:59 AM »
Line drying clothes (and sheets, and towels) inside just sucks. Period.  There are a lot of dumb appliances, but unless you live in a place where you can dry laundry outside, a clothes dryer isn't one of them.
Do you live in the rain forest or something? We have a drying rack in our basement that's hardly even got the same footprint as a dryer, holds more clothes, and they're dry, indoors, in less than 12 hours. Not to mention the free humidity, which like Blue Mr. 2 we can actually use.

I live in an area with about 80% average humidity (seriously, the next town over made the list of top 10 most humid places in the US), but indoors, everything dries under 12 hours.  I only have to dry inside about 3-4 months a year, but it's not a big deal.  Admittedly, I've never tried sheets. 

BPA

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #26 on: February 02, 2013, 02:31:15 PM »
Line drying clothes (and sheets, and towels) inside just sucks. Period.  There are a lot of dumb appliances, but unless you live in a place where you can dry laundry outside, a clothes dryer isn't one of them.

I would disagree for clothes and towels.  Sheets are a royal pain to try and hang up indoors though.  With an appropriate rack clothes and towels are easy.  The humidity here is so terribly low in the Winter that we welcome what the clothes add to the air!  Most people run humidifiers all Winter long!  We just survive with low humidity and indoor drying.  Most clothes and towels are dry in 6-12 hours.  Even the heaviest clothes I have are dry in 18 hours.  In the Summer time however, we use the dryer.  With the high humidity we have, they'd never get dry hanging up...  :-)

Yep.  Me too.  I don't need to use my humidifier in the winter and I'm lucky enough to be able to line dry outside in the summer.  My dryer broke several years ago and I didn't replace it. 

Scooby Doo

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #27 on: February 04, 2013, 04:42:43 PM »
Did you notice that the study was performed by a Scottish group?  I have only spent one week in Scotland but it did rain every day. Perhaps that is why the study was on indoor drying as opposed to outdoor?

I'd always thought that most British houses had airing cupboards for indoor drying.

You can dry clothes outside on approximately four days a year. These are never the same four days though. The rest of the time, the weather doesn't stay still long enough to dry anything.

Most people who still have an airing cupboard have converted it for some other use.

nrgmiserncaz

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #28 on: February 05, 2013, 09:13:10 AM »
We've never had a dryer and had 4 kids in the house until last year and still have two little ones.  Sheets and towels are not a big problem either but we strung clothes lines overhead in our mud room and can hang LOTS of clothes, towels and sheets.  Granted, you often have to weave around clothes as you come into our back door but, well, that's just how we do things. :-) 

Captain and Mrs Slow

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #29 on: February 09, 2013, 09:30:36 AM »
We lived in Germany and the problem is the humidity, takes forever to dry anything, solved the problem by blowing a fan over it. In downtown Madrid during the summer we had a line on the roof and even soaking wet jeans would dry within an hour, the sun just sucked the wetness out.

To me the biggest problem is socks pain in the ass to lay out, turn over and then fold again

tweedscholar

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #30 on: February 17, 2013, 03:55:58 PM »
The only reason I use my dryer is...the smell.

Don't get me wrong, I line-dried all my clothing when I lived in a third-floor walkup and laundry was coin-op in the basement. Right there in my bedroom, I did it. I love line drying. I don't use stinky perfumed softener, either. I would much rather have my laundry smell like nothing over Downy's version of lilacs.

BUT
Our laundry area is in the basement - yes, with a drying rack AND laundry lines strung across the room. Unfortunately, everything that comes up smells musty! Yuck yuck yuck. If I put the drying rack upstairs, there will be much whining. I might do it anyway just to get some humidity in the upper floors.

Has anyone tried any other laundry spinners? Are there any that are maybe manual instead of a loud, ugly electric motor? (I saw a video of it in use. Holy moly)

Left

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Re: Line drying may not be better.
« Reply #31 on: February 17, 2013, 05:00:19 PM »
hm if someone was creative enough mechanically, I could see them putting something like this together
http://www.ehow.com/how_7980447_homemade-spin-dryer.html except replacing the drill/motor with bike pedals since I can't see anyone hand spinning a heavy load of clothes fast enough to wring out the water. I got a small one for drying lettuce when I make salads though :D I'd imagine a clothes one would be a bigger model

but why not one of those old fashion clothes wringers, I saw a diy instruction with just holes in a bucket that you put clothes in, then you have another solid thing to press clothes down into bucket and it pushes water out the holes. If you don't like the traditional wringers. I used a wringer before, it was fine except for the wrinkle folds it left. The wrinkles didn't fall out during the line drying either :( But I'm not the best at doing it, and I just wanted dry clothes.

 

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