Comments on: A New Washing Machine… Thrift Stores Rule!

By: lt

lt — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:10:50 +0000

i don’t use a dryer. i didn’t use it even when i had in in my rental apartments. when we moved to our house, i bought a front load (that’s what i grew up with) and hang the clothes outside whenever its not raining and freezing. the sheets and the duvets are a challenge. my solution is to fold them in half and to hang them on the doors. they dry overnight, if the door is close to a heating vent. in winter it provides humidity, so we don’t need to spend money on humidifier.

By: Ginny

Ginny — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:32:21 +0000

FrugalBabe;

Thank you so much for your response. I am truly a newbie to all this. But in anticipation of winter, I was trying to come up with an indoor solution.

My DH did. And it took no money or supplies. Best yet, it only took him 5 minutes. He used rope he had in the garage and two large eye hooks. I have a large furnace/ pantry room off my laundry room in the basement which is always warm due to the furnace and gas water heater located there. So he attached a clothesline across the room today, so I should be good to go.

Thanks for telling me about the no dripping part, which of course now makes sense when I think about it.

Congrats on scoring your front load washer. Both my sons have them and love them.

By: FrugalBabe

FrugalBabe — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:58:58 +0000

Ginny,
I haven’t used a dryer for more than two years, including two winters. I use basic wooden folding clothes racks that I purchased at thrift stores for a few dollars each (they’re available in most big-box retail stores for about ten dollars). I’ve seen fancier racks, but I don’t have one myself. I have three basic racks, each one holds about one load of laundry. During the winter, I set them up in my dining room, or outside if it’s not snowing. I always put our son’s diapers outside to dry, even if they freeze solid, because I like the bleaching action of the sun. Then I just bring them in to thaw out.
I’ve never had anything drip on the floor – most washing machines spin clothes out so that they don’t drip. Our new (from a thrift store) front loading washer spins stuff out so well that the clothes are nearly dry when I hang them up!

By: Ginny

Ginny — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:41:57 +0000

I have just started to use an outdoor line this summer and love it. I don’t know what I will do this winter. Does anyone have suggestions about the type of indoor rack I might use? I don’t live near an Ikea etc. Also, do the clothes drip on the floor at all? Is there even an indoor type that would hold as much as an outdoor? The kind I have is Y shaped and holds about 3 loads.

( I am new to this blog and really enjoying it.)

By: Kelly

Kelly — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:43:20 +0000

We just recently purchased a new washer and dryer. The impetus was our dryer would literally take three hours to dry a load. Now we have a front loading washer and dryer, but we skipped the ridiculous add on of the pedestals. I can bend down, it isn’t really that big of a deal. I had to bend down with my old dryer. I would love to get away from using the dryer, but I do so much laundry (at least it feels like!) and only have two drying racks and very limited space to put them as it is. In otherwords…I pretty much have to use my dryer to avoid having to maneuver (and keep my daughter from pulling down) around drying racks 7 days a week. As it is, I hang a bunch of my husbands shirts for work, all my diapers (inserts and wipes usually go in the dryer…my new dryer has an antibacterial setting, so I figure diaper inserts is a good use for it!) and most sweatshirts and fleeces. In the winter I tend to hang more items…the moisture helps combat the dryness in the air. But in the summer, the humidity can make it so it takes a long time to dry things. So while I haven’t gotten away from using a dryer, my new one is so super efficient I feel I have made a step in the right direction.

By: Kay

Kay — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:49:18 +0000

That’s a great idea FB and Debbie!! Duvet covers for Comforters!! I’m going to do just that. Wash it all one last time and go the duvet cover way.

By: Debbie M

Debbie M — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 05:42:00 +0000

I wouldn’t say I’ve given up my dryer “to the point of not having one,” but my house has no dryer connection (just a washer connection in the kitchen), so I haven’t used a dryer in 13 years.

Hanging things outside gets clothes dry very quickly on a warm or breezy day, sometimes as soon as the next washer load is ready. However, I don’t actually like that fresh aroma which to me smells like wet dogs, so I only do that when I’ve really gotten behind on the laundry. Normally I hang things indoors and, if it’s winter, make sure to turn on the ceiling fan. Ceiling fans greatly reduce the drying time. Even in winter, things can be dry in less that 24 hours, especially if you flip them over when they’re halfway through.

becca, I use jersey knit sheets in the summer and flannel sheets in the winter, so they are always soft. I don’t know how to keep towels from going all stiff, but the thin ones I prefer do better than the thick ones everyone else prefers.

Kay, can you wash your comforters one last time and then get (or make?) duvet covers that fit them (instead of buying both duvets and duvet covers)? Maybe duvets are different sizes than comforters.

I miss having a dryer to warm up my clothes when it’s time to get dressed in the winter, but I wouldn’t buy one for that. I do kind of want one to “fluff up” things or to dry jeans and towels more quickly. But I think that remodeling to add a screened-in porch in which to set my drying racks would make more sense than remodeling to make a laundry room (separate from my kitchen with both washer and dryer connections).

By: Alicia

Alicia — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:24:00 +0000

I have lived in Japan for the past year. The vast majority of people do not own a dryer at all,everyone line dries. The dryers I have seen for sale are the size of a large microwave…which doesn’t seem worth the machines cost or the cost of running it when electricity here is so expensive.
I love line drying my clothes now. My husband and I don’t plan on getting a dryer when we return to the states. It just doesn’t seem as necessary now as it did before our year abroad. Plus it will be a great way to save some money and decrease our energy useage…dryers are energy hogs! =)

By: Gypsie

Gypsie — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:17:11 +0000

You must live in a great place! Our Habitat Store is only open once a quarter (every three months) for about 4 hours and they only have such delightful things as pink toilets which are so old they can only be sold as boat anchors. Our Goodwill store is almost as expensive as Wal-Mart! I tried to buy a couple of old blankets (to use for my dogs outside) and they were $7 each! I can buy new for that!

By: FrugalBabe

FrugalBabe — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:38:46 +0000

Becca,
I think we’ve just gotten use to line dried fabric. Personally, I love the feel and smell of sheets that have dried in the sunshine and breeze. I guess I would prefer my towels to be a little softer, but not enough to make me go buy a dryer.
Kay,
I adore our duvet covers. I got one at Ross or TJ Maxx a couple years ago, and the other was a Craigs List freebie that happened to be in our neighborhood. They are awesome. Every few months I just take the comforters out and wash the covers. They dry super fast (just like sheets) and I get them back on the bed a few hours later. When we just had comforters, I would have to take them to the laundromat, because our top loading washer wouldn’t clean them.