National Hanging Out Day

It’s not an occasion to hang out with friends, although having company while doing laundry is never a bad idea. It’s a day to encourage communities to learn about the benefits of using a clothesline for drying laundry. It saves money, reduces energy consumption, makes your clothes last longer, and gets you outside. Some benefits:

• Save money

You can save more than $25/month off the monthly electric bill for many households. You can read about drying costs. Find out how much you spend on drying clothes by using the DOE’s appliance energy calculator. 

• Clothes last longer

Where do you think lint comes from?

• Pleasant Scent

Clothes and linens smell better without adding possibly toxic chemicals to your body and the environment. Yankee candle, Febreeze, Tide, and any number of high priced candles, air fresheners or room sprays strive for the smell of air lined laundry.    

• Saves Energy, Preserves Environment, Reduces Pollution

You could make your own clothes with needle and thread using 100% organic cotton sheared from sheep you raised on a Whole Foods diet, but the environmental quality of your wardrobe is ultimately determined by the way you wash it. A recent study by Cambridge University's Institute of Manufacturing found that 60% of the energy associated with a piece of clothing is spent in washing and drying it. Over its lifetime, a T shirt can send up to 9 lbs. of carbon dioxide into the air.  When they're clean, dry your clothes the natural way, by hanging them on a line rather than loading them in a dryer. Altogether you can reduce the CO2 created by your laundry up to 90%. Plus, no more magically disappearing socks.

• Healthy Work

It is moderate physical activity which you can do in or outside. You can even lose weight!

• Get the Sunshine Treatment

Sunlight is a natural disinfectant. Ultraviolet radiation of the sun kills pathogens that cause diarrhea. In fact, scientists have found that exposing a bottle of water to sunlight for 6 hours is an economical way to provide developing countries with safe drinking water 

• Replace another appliance

Indoor racks can humidify in dry winter weather.

• Avoid a Fire

Clothes dryer and washing machine fires account for about 17,700 structure fires, 15 deaths, and 360 injuries annually. The yearly national fire loss for clothes dryer fires in structures is estimated at $194 million.
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Don’t know how to dry your laundry? Here are some high quality tips to help you get that job done:

• When using a drying machine, make sure your clothes are well spun out before hanging them on a rack.
• If you have washed some delicate clothing, be sure you have removed as much water as possible by rolling the garment in an absorbent towel.
• Give your clothes a good shake to make them softer, prevent wrinkles and reduce drying time.
• Hang your T-shirts on a hanger. You can put them directly in your closet and they will be sleek. You won’t even have to iron.
• As for the jeans, you will need multiple hanging racks, so that they get as much air circulation as possible. To speed the process, when hanging your clothes, try to place them near the heating or the air conditioning vent. An air or floor fan will also speed up the process. The fabric is thick, so a good air circulation is important.
• Occasionally, we are in a rush and we need a particular blouse to be clean and ready within an hour, which means that there is simply no time to hang-dry. In this rare case, you should turn on the spin function on your washer. It will absorb all the water from your clothes and will take less time for the dryer to evaporate it from your clothes. It is better for the environment and much quicker for you as well.

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