Is your clothesline illegal?

[Sequoia]

When clothes dryers account for at least 6% of the electricity used by U.S. households, is it any wonder that line-drying is coming back? In places where the practice is banned as an unsightly nuisance to neighbors, right-to-dry activists and blogging eco-moms are forming an alliance. Their cause: to reduce energy consumption and to call upon sunlight rather than bleach to get those whites even whiter.

The movement also includes homeowners pinched by rising electric bills as well as some celebrity converts. Yes, there's even a blog dedicated to tracking who's who in L.A. line-drying. (For the curious, it's blog.linedryit.com/eco_facts/, which lists the likes of "The O.C." actress Rachel Bilson and singer Olivia Newton-John.)

<snip>

Real estate broker Margaret Goedeke lives in Newport Crest, a cluster of beachfront condominiums where open garage doors, flag poles and clothing lines are all prohibited. "We're not even allowed to hang a towel outside," Goedeke said. "Once in a while we'll dry something on our deck, but we hide it. We're very controlled."

These kinds of rules drove British film producer Steven Lake to make "Drying for Freedom," a documentary on line-drying in the U.S. that he said is in pre-production. "The matter of wasted energy is something that draws my attention to this topic," he said. "But mostly it's the fact that in America, which to the rest of the world is considered to be the land of the free, citizens are banned from something as simple and silly as hanging out their washing."

http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-clothesline7-2009feb07,0,5628220.story

[hippywife]

1. Nope.

We live in a rural area where they don't even care what kind of structure anyone lives in. So I have two clothes lines because we ditched our dryer a year ago, after not using it for a year to see if we could really do without it. So two years, no dryer. :hi:

[Sequoia]

26. Same here.

Unless it rains and we only dry the bedsheets. I use my hammock too.

[hippywife]

32. If it rains here

the clothes are hung on hangers from various racks to dry and the sheets and towels have to wait until it's not raining to even be laundered. LOL

[Kali]

2. The only time in my life I used driers was back in college, in apts with no lines.

If my German friends can manage in that climate, anybody can!

[KamaAina]

3. No, but Lyric's is

(f/k/a oktoberain)

If you can believe this, "solar clothes dryers" are banned in her and Rhythm (ThinkBlue)'s mobile home community!!

[SacredCow]

4. I have no idea....

There's one in my roommate's backyard, but I've only used it to hang stuff that had to air out and be scotch-guarded.

[mainegreen]

5. They're starting to pass laws here to ban the banning of clothelines.

The town we might move to is looking like they'll make it illegal for homeowners associations to ban them.
The town is also moving towards making it illegal to prevent ownership of hens.

Yay Maine!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

8. I can't imagine anyplace in Maine banning them to begin with...

I never met a snooty Mainer.

[texanwitch]

6. Nope.

We don't have a dryer.

I like hanging clothes outside, they smell really nice after a day in the sun.

[tilsammans]

7. Yes, but . . .

. . . I've never been ticketed for it.

Technically, it shouldn't be visible from the street. From certain angles, my clothesline can be seen. If I don't rat out my neighbors for their barking dogs, then I guess they can live with my clothesline.

:kick:

PS: I've heard Martha Stewart say that she dries her laundry on a clothesline, with the exception of heavy towels.

[surrealAmerican]

9. No, but it's in the basement.

I live on a very busy street, the clothes would get dirty if hung outside.

[femmocrat]

10. No, everyone uses them out in the country.

I only use my dryer for towels. I even hang clothes on the line indoors during the winter.

[recoveringdittohed]

11. Yes, and dogs are limited to one 15 pound or less dog per condo

One and only one fat cat (no weight limit) is allowed per condo.

[Fire Walk With Me]

12. Mandatory "Arnold Layne" reference.

It's in my contract; yes, you can even bet on it ;)

[tabbycat31]

13. how seriously stupid

especailly when it's good for the environment, your clothes, and the planet.

I don't use my dryer at all. I do have a clothesline but I havent used it due to the weather lately. I have a $10 drying rack that I dry my clothes on.

[MajorChode]

14. Line drying is pretty common throughout Europe

Few people use their dryer during the warmer months. Many homes have covered gazebos for line drying.

[crispini]

15. No.

I love my neighborhood.

[barb162]

16. Yes and I think it shouldn't be.

[grilled onions]

17. Such A Stupid Rule

I can't imagine what our ancestors of just fifty years ago would have thought about banning the clothes line. It was as normal, and part of line as the kitchen stove or "ice box".
I truly hope that they rethink this ban because it's such a natural way to dry clothes,air out blankets,pillows or throw rugs.

[Oeditpus Rex]

18. The thing about line drying:

I do laundry only after 7 p.m., like PG&E says. Even in June and July, that'd be pretty late to hang out clothes.



'Tis a bit of a conundrum. :dilemma:

[kentauros]

22. Here's a good alternative:

Energy Saving Ambient Air Clothes Dryer
http://rexresearch.com/ford/fordrier.htm

[tabbycat31]

30. get a drying rack

I have something like this (I'm thinking of getting another so I dont have to hang things on chairs and what not)
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=1&SKU=13624755

It's more than paid for itself in terms of electricity savings. I barely use my dryer (the last time it was used was when my sister did her laundry)

[LeftyMom]

19. Can anybody suggest a decent indoor rack or retractible line?

I bought one at Target and it fell apart in a few months because the crossbars were plastic.

I share a yard so I can't put a line up, and even if I could I couldn't use it much of the year due to my allergies. But drying indoors works fine for me- if I just have one load I put things on hangers and hang those on the shower curtain rod, but I could use the dryer less if I had more space to hang things.

[Gormy Cuss]

24. You can probably find these at a cheaper price, but the old wooden racks are still made.

http://www.bestofnewengland.com/clothesdryingracks.htm

The two on the bottom row are too big to put in the tub but would be great in the garage. My family members use them in the basement but I'm guessing you don't have one of those. ;-)

I have a small wooden rack and I use it for stuff that shouldn't go in the dryer.

[LeftyMom]

25. A basement would be an indoor pool here.

I have a carport rather than a garage, so I'd be back to the pollen issue most of the year. And my thieving neighbors might help themselves. I could put a pretty big one in my walk-in closet, but I'd have to put something down to catch drips, because it's carpeted. I hate wall-to-wall carpet, but finding a rental without it is nearly impossible.

[tabbycat31]

31. try Bed, Bath, and Beyond

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=1&SKU=13624755

[Jamastiene]

20. What a stupid fucking rule.

Let people have their clotheslines, if they want them. x(

[Tuesday Afternoon]

21. oh.Hell.NO

fuck that dumb shit

[Left Is Write]

23. My clothesline is non-existent. I'd like to get one, preferably with u-posts.

I had one at my house in Minnesota, and I miss it.

Our neighborhood does have CCRs, but clotheslines in backyards are not prohibited. As far as I know, there is no city ordinance against them either.

[azmouse]

27. I don't think it's forbidden but I don't know for sure.

No one around here has a line up... too many pigeons. I'd end up having to rewash too many clothes.

[bikebloke]

28. I hang most of my wet clothes in the closet.

They'll dry overnight. Though in the summer, since I've learned to live without air conditioning, I have to turn the fan on them for half an hour for a bit of help.

I don't have room for bed linen. And socks without a dryer stretch about two meters long. Those go in the machine.:shrug:

[mnhtnbb]

29. I line dry all my personal clothes and have for years. It's so much easier

on them. I have a drying rack I bought at Target (wooden)and I just installed a clothes rod between
a cabinet and the wall in the laundry room so I can hang pants and tops instead of lugging them up
to the master bath to hang on the shower rod.

We actually have space in the backyard of our new house where I could put up a clothesline
and hang sheets. I might do it.

[AngryAmish]

33. What if a bird poops on your clothes?

Then, I guess, you have bird poop on your clothes.