Second day in Tuscany. The first thing I noticed is this:
It is the norm here. Quite a difference from the supersize American dryers . . .
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So true! In fact, most people (I knew) don’t have dryers at all. There are some super fancy wahser/dryer combo machines (that do both) but the bottom line is energy is too expensive and there is not space in the small houses/condos most live in. It was a big adjustment for me when I moved to Italy, but once I got used to line drying it’s actually hard to go back to using a dryer. Biggest problem is when you drop something and you have to go down to the street to get it! Especially from the 12th floor!
Yay! I just put up our first clotheslines yesterday and am breathless in anticipation of our new baby’s arrival just so we can hang her tiny diapers on it!
So happy that this is starting to catch on in suburbia once again.
ANd our clothes will last longer. One question: What do we do in the winter, if it is snowing and freezing?
When I lived in my 22 square meters studio as a studio in Nantes I used to hang my clothes on a hanger above my door…
Very design thing. and cool to have some hung stuff for a whole weekend long.
But anyway, I didn’t have any alternative and even if I had had a dryer I wouldn’t haven’t used it. A matter of principles.
Glad to see you have a nice weather Marguerite. Hope you have a good time too. Greetings to Prad as well !
(double post, sorry)
The second studio in my previous comment should be replaced by ” student “…
Enjoy !
Isn’t that beautiful! I love that using less is not only acceptable but embraced.
Someone told me that back in the 70’s, people were selling super efficient solar clothes dryers for $150 via mail order. People would send in their checks and then they would receive a clothesline in the mail.
Hahahhaaaa!
bonnes vacances,
sunshine and yellow walls.
how good it feels to notice green ways.
commonsense and happiness.
I live in Australia and we had an article we was greeted in general amazement that in some parts of the USA a person could be fined if they hand their clothes outside.
Of course Australia has a climate that allows drying of clothes most of the year.
One of the most celebrated Australian inventions is the Hills Hoist one of the most ingenious ways to dry clothes naturally ever invented.
Interesting commentary on clotheslines and the impression of poverty:
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/05/17/frugality-and-the-impression-of-poverty/
He says clotheslines make neighborhood look poor, thereby hurting your neighbors (if only through property prices). Pretty sad situation.
Tumble dryer? What’s that?!
@Julie – in the winter we have a clothes airer cunningly situated by the bathroom heater.
Obama should get a clothesline or drying rack, and use it as a photo opportunity. That might do something about the “norm”.
We went to Tuscany for our honeymoon. My husband would go back in a second and yet he wouldn’t want to live in Western Michigan under the same conditions. Isn’t it weird how we get socialized into what we think is cool and what isn’t?
Hanging out the laundry is my favorite chore. I’ve done it all my adult life. It’s time spent outdoors, a time to enjoy the garden, birds, butterflies, foxes and other wildlife. Plus, as an added bonus our clothes smell good, are static-free and, as they get folded straight off the line there aren’t any wrinkles. I live in Colorado, USA and our air is pretty dry, today a load was dry in about an hour.
Diana, it is also one of my favorite childhood memories. A great activity for moms and their little ones together.