THE LITTLE THINGS - LAUNDRY PART I - THE CLOTHELINE

When I worked at Applied Materials a few years back there was a Toastmasters International (TMI) club, Toastmatters, that met there weekly.  I enjoyed these occasions very much and benefited from the practice of speaking and evaluating speeches.  As VP of Education for the club I was called upon to judge a speech contest.  As an engineer, one of the contestant's speeches appealed to me very much. It was on the economic merits of using a clothesline for drying laundry.  Little did I know that this speech would provide the material I needed to solve another of the challenges we faced.

If you've every had to downsize economically, you probably experienced what we did - a steady failure of appliances and automobile components that dealt ringing, near-fatal blows to the budget.  Our dryer was among the first to go.  It still would tumble the laundry, but the door kept popping open because of a faulty latch and the heat was erratic.  I ordered a new door latch and fixed that myself (saving a $50 service call).  But the heating element finally gave out, and besides that, the enamel flaked off the drum and the bare steel left rust stains on the laundry.  End of the line for the dryer.

Looking about for a solution, I recalled how the TM speaker had touted the low cost of setting up a clothesline - essentially some rope and clothespins.  Moreover, it was solar powered; so the energy was free and it was environmentally sound.  The speech was convincing, so I gave it a try.

Initially this worked well, until the tornado hit last year.  Most of the clothes on the line went airborne and were deposited in regions unknown.  "OK," I concluded, "tornadoes aren't common - we can safely continue with the clothesline method."  Thankfully our insurance was up to date and besides, I liked the smell and feel of clothes dried in the open air. My next challenge was the rain - and cold weather.

Texas has a moderate climate and clothes dry fairly well even in midwinter - unless it rains, as it often does in East Texas.  (If you are more familiar with the westerns filmed in arid regions of Texas, that's primarily in the western part of this vast state.)  Rain was an inconvenience and on multiple occasions, I had to bring in the laundry prematurely, or let it enjoy another rise cycle outdoors and wait until later for it to dry.

When cold weather prevailed, I discovered then that if the clothes are left out in the rain and the ambient temperature drops below freezing, the combination of ice and fabric make a fair substitute for military class armor. If folded over the clothesline, the articles are pretty much stuck on the line until the next thaw (unless you want to cut them off and lose some clothesline!).  If only clipped with clothespins, they may be removed with some effort and a certain level of frostbite on the fingertips.  In such cases, I just brought the frozen articles indoors and let them thaw by the water heater - not enough room there for the whole laundry, but enough for the needs of the day.  I also built a folding rack from 2x4s and galvanized wire that could be set up indoors for emergencies and underwear.

When winter passed, we discovered another challenge to having a clothesline - dogs.  We had a pair of young dogs whose purpose was to entertain us and guard the flocks of poultry.  Training them to our purposes took a bit of time though.  And during this period, the dogs not only ate a fair number of the chickens, but entertained themselves with the laundry we set out to dry.

They were in the habit of leaping up and snatching anything that dangled too low.  They would then season the freshly laundered article of clothing with dirt, grass and small bits of leaf meal.  When it was suitable for canine use, they would then curl up on a small heap of clothing on the lawn and snooze blissfully.  Later, the dogs would play a variation of flag football with some particularly delicate and expensive item, rendering it into a widely dispersed mass of confetti.

They had such fun I couldn't be totally angry, but I did hike up the height of the clothesline and used more secure methods of attachment.

I allowed myself to think I'd mastered the art of clothes-drying when I discovered a whole line of clothes had fallen again and been rendered by the dogs both unfit to wear and diligently shredded.  (Thankfully the other birds and beasts were indifferent to clothing.)  Soon after I discovered that cheap clothesline (like the kind typically made in China) lasts about six months in our climate.  Then it rots and separates - conveniently when you are away from home and the yard creatures have lots of time to investigate all the varied and original uses for clothes, towels and linens.  Applying this lesson, I bought only the best virgin nylon cord made in the USA!  I also noted that the cheap wooden clothespins were also decaying in the moisture and heat.  I decided that a future project would be to make some plastic or aluminum ones.

Still, despite the hardships, I estimated that I'd saved about $25/month in electrical costs, and more than covered the inconvenience and occasional loss of a shirt or three.  I had also come to like the fresh, clean smell that comes from drying laundry out doors.  There's something delightful about the scent of East Texas breezes on freshly laundered sheets as I settle down in a newly made bed for the night.

I think I'll scrap the dryer and make a tumbler out if it!