It all started in June 2008 when I decided to see if I could last 21 days in the middle of winter without a dryer. I did. Easily. Then that Christmas my tumble-dryer got the huff and broke down. I haven't bothered to fix it.
There are some days I wish I could pop a couple of items in the dryer, but we've more than got by. I am so much more aware of the weather now - one whiff of a fine sunny day and I'm madly washing. Which I guess is as it should be. I thought my resolve would falter when I went back to paid work but the habit of solar drying has become so ingrained it is now just part of my week.
Useful however is not always popular with designers.
Oh, they claim to value function as well as form. But methinks form far outweighs function unless your designer is a specialist in environmental architecture or some such. Our current architect speaks all the right words about valuing the proper placement of a clothesline. As did the architect we used on our last house in Victoria. But actually getting.the.line.on.paper is like pulling teeth.
And there lies a fundamental difference. My architect agrees that the line is necessary but ugly. I think clotheslines are lovely. To me they symbolise the very essence of a home. With the sheer volume of laundry done by the average family we are better off acknowledging the role of a clothesline rather than trying to hide it away.
I would really like a metal Hills Hoist. I'd powder coat it in a fabulous colour.
However we've come to a compromise - I'm getting a large fold-out line like I have now - and the architect has designed a wooden retractable screen to hide it away when we have guests.
I wouldn't have compromised but I know Firegazer will side with the Architect on this one.
12 comments:
I'm with you rather than Firegazer and the architect all the way. We have a pull-out close to the door for small amounts and when the weather is dodgy so it's easy to nip in and out and a LARGE rotary UP the back garden (we're on a hill) for large amounts on good days where they'll really catch the wind and, boy!, do they dry quickly there. Of course there are days when drying has to be indoors but you've all heard me wax lyrical on that!
I love my big clothesline. Hanging out the washing is an absolute pleasure for me.
Bringing it in and folding it... not so much.
We have a hills hoist but it folds up and can be taken out of the ground and hidden away when need be. It's totally fab! here - http://www.onlinedirect.hills.com.au/cattleprod/products/A1112ROT
Yay - good for you!! We don't own a dryer - and it's never been an issue. I love a good clothsline...
I'm afraid I'm probably with Firegazer on this one. Much as I love the concept of line-drying, I don't like to look at it...and I especially don't like other people looking at my line-drying. Imagine having folks over for a BBQ and them examining your smalls...urghhh.
A well-placed line is fine...but a privacy screen is a compromise worth making.
This made me realise how much I'm not an entertainer in the hostessy invite people round sense of the word. I'm far more likely to need to dry multiple loads of washing than I am to have people in my backyard who might then see the undies swinging around in the breeze. I'm a hills hoist fan myself and I love the idea of a beautifully coloured powder coated one, also you could hang fairy lights on it when people came over!
Need entertainment at your party? Fairy lights is one idea but what about swinging from a rotary clothes line? It is a childhood experience rarely open to the young today...
Swinging on the clothesline is such a strong childhood memory. Nothing says suburbs in the 70s like the drone of a far off lawnmower, the smell of freshly cut grass and a clothesline.
I even remember parties where a tarp would be thrown over the clothesline for a bit of shelter.
We have a rotary one, in grass green, and I love it. It too is designed to be removed, it even has a cover, but it never ever comes out of the ground.
I love my clothesline too. It's a fold out one on the side of the house and, while I prefer having it there rather than in the backyard I have no desire to 'hide it'. It's so strange to read that you are having this dilemma with architects, it would never have occurred to me that it would be an issue. Keep us posted!!
I'm with you! I think women value function over form more so than men do... in all aspects of life! :-)
In my experience those who objected to exterior clotheslines were blokes who did not themselves have to cope with the washing and the drying. I lived in a medium density complex where everyone was supposed to dry their washing inside by means of dryers, and to hell with the cost of the electricity consumption. These purists would not agree to Hills hoists - so ugly - and the compromise was extendable lines. Of course families with small children never put the clotheslines away. I cannot see what is so objectionable about the sight of washing drying, and I don't care who sees that we use underwear.
I'm house hunting at the moment and one of the things I'm looking forward to is an outdoor space so there's room for a clothes line. I haven't had a dryer in over ten years, and haven't missed it at all. But I've missed having a line. Sometimes the good old clothes horse doesn't quite cut it.
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