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Now you see them, now you don't

Great post on clothelines by Jane. My approach in MacGregor Downs (Cary) is a "now you see them, now you don't" one. I have ropes on an unused portion of our back deck at a level where they can't be seen when not in use. I also make heavy use of a trick suggested by Betsy Towler, i.e. a rod over the washer and dryer on which I use coat hangers to dry shirts and other things that easily fit on a hanger. Together with a small collapsible rack by the laundry room, I actually dry most loads indoors. This requires very little handling, and the heat in winter and AC in summer speeds the process. These tricks enable us to limit dryer use to maybe half a dozen times per year. (For 25 years at our previous house we didn't own a dryer.) I really enjoy drying clothes "the natural way".

Barb Pfaff, the friend who ran the lodge in Pindale WY where Jo and I always stayed (and who used clothelines for all the laundry for the lodge) once said, "Where do people think all the lint in their dryer comes from? That's their clothes."