I grew up in a small apartment in New York City. My mother washed our clothes by hand or with a small washing machine and hung them out to dry on the clothesline that ran from our kitchen window across to our neighbor’s kitchen window. I never really saw a dryer until I was a teenager.
Now as an adult with a family of my own, I hate to say that I use our clothes dryer far more often than I should. It is right there and very convenient to use. In just a few motions, clothes go from the washing machine straight to the dryer. If I am really busy or just lazy, the clothes can stay in there all night. Of course, the wrinkles will set in, but isn’t that what the iron is for?
Still, my past forces me to examine my rationalizations for using my dryer, when I really should hang the clothes. Too cold? Didn’t my mother hang the laundry out in everything but the snow and the rain? There were days that the clothes came in so stiff with frost that the pants would stand up by themselves. The shirts, hung upside down, when taken off the line and turned right side up, had arms reaching for the sky. They looked like they were all being held at gunpoint. These frosty clothes we placed against the living room radiator until they melted in a heap. And, as a kid, I thought that was the greatest thing to watch. And on those snow and rain days, the laundry hung in the bathroom and kitchen to drip dry.
My current pre-move house has a yard the size of a postage stamp. I could use the excuse that I have no space? My parents never had a yard, a basement or the luxury of any extra space to hang clothes. I could find some little corner of the yard or even half of the basement to hang the clothes, as I sometimes, but not often enough, do.
And if I need more encouragement, I can always go to the Project Laundry List website, a grass roots effort to encourage people to hang up their clothes. Here are their top five reasons to hang out your clothes:
1. Clothes last longer.
2. Clothes and sheets smell better.
3. Save energy, thus preventing pollution.
4. Save money.
5. You get some exercise and can do this activity outside.
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