We have a clothes line and I like to hang out clothes, but I don't like the way they smell afterwards. They get a dirt smell to them. More so when the wind is blowing, there is construction a few blocks away and it could be from that. But if I know I am saving a lot by doing this I can live. How much do you think you save by hanging out clothes? I have seen some numbers like .50-.75 a load, I suppose it depends on a heavy load or not. And if you know how to keep that fresh downy smell in the clothes when hanging them out I would like to know that too.

I've heard $.40 cents, but I like your numbers better .

I posted an article on this- though most likely was on the old board- it said that you save about .75 per drying load- I thought that is about what I used to pay at the laudrey mat in college

i don't know why yours would smell like dirt unless like you said there is alot of dust where you live.. the only thing i could think of would be to hang them out really early or later after construction has stopped. mine always smell fresh like the detergent and if i use fabric softner wich i rarely do.

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SILENCE IS GOLDEN BUT DUCK TAPE IS SILVER.

What kind of detergent do you use? My mom and I use Tide and we get the same result when we hang out laundry. I am wondering if I use too much or maybe if I switched kinds it would help.

I usually use Arm and Hammer, or All, or Purex with a bit (maybe a third of a cap) of Snuggle or Downey, and I hang my laundry outside and it smells almost as thought it were dried in the dryer. Never a bad small, unless it's put away still damp. I save about .75 - $1 per load, I can always tell the months it's been raining and I can't hang stuff out, the gas bill goes up about $20.

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"And the state of his bathroom -- I'm not one to gossip, but there are things crusted on his sink that have not simply developed intelligent life but have in all probability by now evolved their own political systems." Cain describes Abel in in SANDMAN #70

The only thing I hang are jeans, and those are hung inside over the back of a bar stool. We can't feasibly hang a clothes line outside around here, it's almost at least 90% humidity on DRY days...and here lately, it's rained at least 1/2 an inch every day for weeks. I've never hung anything out to dry outside, and I've never seen anyone else do it either. It simply wouldn't dry, and if it did, it would have a smell to it too, I'm sure. We live in an area of texas that is full of chemical plants, refineries, papermills, and the like, so you can imagine how "fresh" our air is here..lol. Not possible, and can't say I would do it if we could. I'm just lazy.

A while ago, I started hanging almost everything instead of using the dryer. While it saved me a little bit of money a month.. maybe $15, it was a lot of work for me. I still hang a lot of the clothes or lay them out to dry, but I also use my dryer more than I used to.

I can see it in my electric bill too..

agreed. I live in chicago suburbs, but in our apartment complex theres alot of smokers around me polluting my clothes, and the pollen is another big problem for me and ds. Plus i only have one tiny line that holds maybe 4 towels on my patio, and a wooden clothes hanger. I tryed hanging them inside but they took forever to dry (2 days) and were way to crunchy. It was not easier or more economical for me to dry them naturally instead of the dryer.

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stay at home mom to my crazy toddler with sensory issues

We have good luck hanging our clothes inside on drying racks. Our laundry room is pretty sunny (sliding glass door) and our clothes are usually dry by the next day. I throw them in the dryer for 5-10 minutes before hanging them and I think this helps them from getting too stiff.

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