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 BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25351
  
Location: Bastrop, Texas | I heard this on the radio this morning on my way back from the hospital.
It made me chuckle and brought back childhood memories:
THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES: (if you don't know
what clotheslines are, better skip this)
1. You had to wash the clothes line before hanging any clothes -
walk the entire lengths of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.
2. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and
always hang "whites" with "whites," and hang them first.
3. You never hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by
the tail!. What would the neighbors think?
4. Wash day on a Monday! . .. . Never hang clothes on the
Weekend, or Sunday, for Heaven's sake!
5. Hang the sheets and towels on the outside lines so you
could hide your "unmentionables" in the middle (perverts &
Busybodies, y'know!)
6. It didn't matter if it was sub zero weather . . ....
Clothes would "freeze-dry..
7. The clothes were frozen, stiff as a board so we hung them inside to dry.
They made the air smell so fresh inside, we didn't mind at all.
8. Always gather the clothes pins when taking down dry
clothes! Pins left on the lines were "tacky!"
9. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that
each item did not need two clothes pins, but shared one of the
clothes pins with the next washed item..
11. Long sheets in the back and long pants too. so the wind could blow them smooth.
Short things in front so the wind could blow through. It was a science you know.
12.. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly
folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed.
13. IRONED?! Well, that's a whole other subject!
A POEM
A clothesline was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by,
There were no secrets you could keep
When clothes were hung to dry.
It also was a friendly link
For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.
For then you'd see the "fancy sheets"
And towels upon the line;
You'd see the "company table cloths"
With intricate designs.
The line announced a baby's birth
From folks who lived inside -
As brand new infant clothes were hung,
So carefully with pride!
The ages of the children could
So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed,
You'd know how much they'd grown!
It also told when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.
It also said, "Gone on vacation now"
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged
With not an inch to spare!
New folks in town were scorned upon
If wash was dingy and gray,
As neighbors carefully raised their brows,
And looked the other way . .
But clotheslines now are of the past,
For dryers make work much less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is anybody's guess!
I really miss that way of life.
It was a friendly sign
When neighbors knew each other best
By what hung on the line. |
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 Buttered Noodles Snacker
Posts: 4377
Location: NC | We use to untill this past year when we had to take it down due to yard improvements. But hopefully we will find another spot to put it back up this year. Though I will say we were not doing it properly, I had no idea there were so many rules!! haha  |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Lol I use it in the summer, but flunked by those standards, I have hung clothes on Sunday, t shirts by the shoulders, all colors mixed together, I don't wash the clothes line. Guess I get a failing grade |
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | I loved using the clothes line and the way everything smelled and felt afterward... unfortunately we don't have one now and my boyfriend suffers from some really terrible allergies and so using a clothes line is way out of the question for him and I. :( |
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  More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | I do! |
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 Water Weight Barbie
Posts: 6829
Location: Oz, Kansas | I don't have a clothes line so in the summer I drape my sheets & comforters over the gates. I've had to run a few nosy cows away from them but nothing beats hanging outside to dry.
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Industrial Srength Barrel Racer
Posts: 7264
| I use mine when I can but sometimes, it is SO windy here, I can't hang stuff out. Nothing beats sheets hung on the line!!! |
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BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25351
Location: Bastrop, Texas | I posted this mainly because it brought back memories, but at the same time I think it's time to go back to things like that. I'm tired of paying out the ass for electricity and propane. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1482
Location: on my horse | We clothesline in the spring/summer/fall for sure! At my last house we didn't have an actual line so we strung our ropes between trees and the deck uprights and propped them up in the middle with pitchforks when we hung out heavy stuff like jeans and blankets |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 980
Location: Southwest Minnesota | Well...I had no idea about all the rules, but I never was very rule oriented anyway. I still hang clothes out in the summer, it is my preferred method of drying. Love the fresh scent. I also hang out dog and horse items in the sun because it is a great natural deodorizer.
Edited by chuckie31 2014-02-03 12:24 PM
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More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | HotbearLVR - 2014-02-03 12:02 PM I posted this mainly because it brought back memories, but at the same time I think it's time to go back to things like that. I'm tired of paying out the ass for electricity and propane.
It heats the house up so dang much running the dryer in the summer. I'm not one to hang out in the winter. Jeans get hung up in the house, thrown over the shower stalls or where ever we can find room while its cold outside. The spring is kinda tough because the feedlots thawing my laundry smells......Country fresh. LOL |
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 Namesless in BHW
Posts: 10368
Location: At the race track with Ah Dee Ohs | Love hanging clothes out on a line. Makes them smell so fresh!  |
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 Kittahs Make Me Happah
Posts: 1136
Location: Oklahoma | I use mine all the time. And I follow all the rules with the exceptions of hanging them on Sunday and hanging clothes out in the winter. I hope I always have a clothesline. |
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Veteran
Posts: 291
| I hate to admit that I follow at least half of these rules! The only reason I wipe it off though is because my husband also uses it to dry coyote hides! |
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 You just got to get mean and mean it.
Location: Arkansas | That's how my mother and grandmother did it. Monday was always wash day and Tuesday was ironing day. They also ironed their sheet's! That's how I learned how to iron. Ironing the sheet's.
The reason you always washed the white's first was because they had a wringer washing machine and you only filled the tub once...in the beginning...while the water was hot. With two wash tub's filled with clean water, that you used to water the garden and flower's when you emptied them.
No, I wouldnl't go back to washing that way...just too much work. I love my automatic washer and dryer! LOL And do load of clothes nearly every day.
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 I Don't Brag
Posts: 6960
| I have gotten lazy and don't use mine as much as I should, but I DO still have one.
I would call those guidelines, rather than rules... Many of them are common sense for cleanliness and efficiency.....and I have been guilty of hiding unmentionables behind longer clothes. 
I do sometimes wonder if I am a little OCD. When I hang socks, similar kinds must all hang together and the feet must all point the same way. My sisters think that this is just common sense....when you take them down they will already be paired and ready to put away. Only I throw everything in the dryer for a few minutes to fluff and remove wrinkles. Yet I cannot walk away from the clotheslines if things aren't hung properly. 
Edited to add. Iron? Isn't that what some bits and horse shoes are made of??
Edited by rodeoveteran 2014-02-03 2:27 PM
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 825
| I don't exactly use a clothesline, but hang most of our clothes on the shower rod in the bathroom! Had a long clothesline back before we got a new house, but never did I know there were so many rules! lol |
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I Don't Brag
Posts: 6960
| threecanman - 2014-02-03 2:28 PM
I don't exactly use a clothesline, but hang most of our clothes on the shower rod in the bathroom! Had a long clothesline back before we got a new house, but never did I know there were so many rules! lol
I hang all our britches and other heavy clothing on the curtain rods in our bedroom, on the shower in the bathroom and on the curtain rods in the living room if need be. I do this year round. Trying to keep them from shinking, fading and wearing out too fast. Also this time of year it helps to add a little humidity to the dry heat of the furnace. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3004
Location: nearby | I definitely use my clothesline. I use it all year. Since I work I usually wash on the weekends. If the weather is too bad, I just wait until the next weekend. Yep, you guessed it; don't have any children to wash clothes for. I love getting into bed after the sheets have been washed and then dried on the line especially flannel sheets. |
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 Making the post season
Posts: 7288
Location: your guess is as good as mine | I never have, but my grandmother did and the lady I rent my pasture from did for the longest time. They used an automatic washer but still used a clothesline to dry... |
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Sideways Riding Expert
Posts: 11371
Location: ND--it snows, it floods, it snows, it floods | I loved our clothesline growing up but there's no way we can have one here due to our gravel road. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 268
| We use a clothesline when it's warm out :)
(not in winter!) |
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 Toy Story Fanatic
Posts: 4148
Location: Oregon | I have one during the summer. Love the smell of sheets that have been dried on the clothesline. |
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Expert
Posts: 1543
Location: MI | I hang dry all our clothes...we used our propane dryer when we had 1,209,237 loads of laundry from the flu, but other than that it's all air baby - I'm notoriously (part-dutch) cheap! I had no idea about the 'guidelines', thank goodness our house is off the beaten path. And I don't iron.
We have a ladder hung horizontally above our washer/dryer for in the winter/bad weather, an old school dryer wall-hung rack for unmentionables, and 2 umbrella racks for nicer weather outside. Love it... |
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 Yup, I am confused too!
Location: Florida | Yep, we use one when we can. And lets just say some rules are meant to be broken.... |
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 Been Blessed
Posts: 7587
Location: Living in my Promised Land | Used one growing up and still use one. Follow all of the rules. Now however, our clothes line is our high tensile fence with the electricity turned off. We never run out of room. |
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Location: Lost with the rest of the MINIONS! | I LOVE my clothesline in the Spring/Summer/Fall! My dryer doesn't get used about 7 months out of the year. Thankfully, we are the last house on the road with no visible neighbors, so I don't abide by many clothesline rules.  |
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More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | Linda D - 2014-02-03 7:38 PM Used one growing up and still use one. Follow all of the rules. Now however, our clothes line is our high tensile fence with the electricity turned off. We never run out of room.
OMGosh I never thought of that! I always run out of clothesline room. Not any more after that great idea!!! Thanks Linda! |
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 One Hard Core Mom
Posts: 26461
Location: Dassel MN | i used mine all the time :) now that we moved i dont have one, :( i wish i did though!! hahaha ill be hanging bedding to dry on the horse fence this summer! |
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 Sweet Tea
Posts: 3496
Location: Home of the World Famous "Silver Bullet" | yes i use my solar dryer aot !!  |
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 Can You Hear Me Now?
Location: When you hit the middle of nowhere .. Keep driving | Nothing beats fresh sheets on a bed that were hung on a clothesline. I can only use it in the summer but I love it !
Edited by ndiehl 2014-02-04 11:13 AM
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 Hero of the Year
Posts: 10767
Location: Haslet, Texas | I have been begging for a clothes line for years but don't have one yet, lol. We have a stainless steel cable that runs down the pipe fence that we used to use for a dog run. When the weather is right I will drape jeans over the line and let them air dry instead of using the dryer. |
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 Expert
Posts: 4121
Location: SE Louisiana | Linda D - 2014-02-03 7:38 PM
Used one growing up and still use one. Follow all of the rules. Now however, our clothes line is our high tensile fence with the electricity turned off. We never run out of room.
Yes!! We have lots of that wire... but I run mine from tree to tree... and I leave the pins on the line/wire..  |
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 Love Me Some Robert Redford
Posts: 2335
Location: WV | I have before and remember as a kid one being used. My mom and dad still use one to this day. I would also if my daughter did not have allergies so bad. |
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 Certified Snake Wrangler
Posts: 1672
Location: North MS | Sure do! I guess I am a clothesline renegade. I abide no rules when hanging out clothes. I have one line stretched between trees at the moment and use it as long as I can each year. At college, me and my roommate had a deck on the back of the trailer we rented and we had string all over it so we could keep our electric bill down. Under $100 was our goal. |
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 Ima Non Controversial Girl
Posts: 4168
Location: where the wind blows | Have one outside we use in summer and I also have one in my basement laundry room we use in winter. Jeans, my dress shirts, etc all get hung to dry. Takes a bit longer in the house but still works good and saves on dryer use.
I don't follow all the rules though. :) |
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How many of you still use clotheslines?