Clothes line
Encyclopedia
A clothes line or washing line is any type of rope
, cord, or twine
that has been stretched between two points (e.g. two sticks), outside or indoors, above the level of the ground. Clothing
that has recently been washed is hung along the line to dry, using clothes pegs or clothes pins. Washing lines are attached either from a post or a wall, and are frequently located in back garden
s, or on balconies. Longer washing lines often have props holding up sections in the middle due to the weight of the clothing.
More elaborate rotary washing lines save space and are typically retractable and square or triangular in shape, with multiple lines being used (such as the Hills Hoist
from Australia). Some can be folded up when not in use (although there is a hazard of getting fingers caught, so there is usually a safety button).
In Scotland
, many tenement
buildings have a drying green which is a communal area predominantly used for clothes lines - it may also be used as a recreational space.
Several types of devices are available for indoor drying. A drying rack or clotheshorse
can help save space in an apartment
or clothes lines can be strung in the basement
during the winter. Small loads can simply be draped over furniture or a shower curtain pole. The drying time indoors will typically be longer than outdoor drying because of the lack of direct solar radiation and the convective
assistance of the wind.
The evaporation
of the moisture from the clothes will cool the indoor air and increase the humidity level, which may or may not be desirable. In cold, dry weather, moderate increases in humidity make most people feel more comfortable. In warm weather, increased humidity makes most people feel even hotter. Increased humidity can also increase growth of fungi, which can cause health problems.
An average-sized wash load will convert approximately of ambient heat into latent heat that is stored in the evaporated water. To determine how much heat has been converted in drying a load of laundry, weigh the clothes when they are wet and then again after the clothes have dried. The difference is the weight of the water that was evaporated from them. Multiply that weight in kg
by 440, which is the heat of vaporization per kilogram, to obtain the number of joules that went into evaporating the water, or multiply by 0.3074 to get kilowatt-hours. (Note: If the moisture later condenses
inside the house, the latent heat will be converted back into ambient heat which could increase the temperature of the air in the room slightly.) To obtain a good approximation of the effect this would have in a particular situation, the process can be traced on a psychrometric chart
.
When mechanical dryers were first introduced, only well-to-do families could afford them and they became associated with affluence. However, now that most people can afford a mechanical dryer, clothes lines have become associated with a "home-town" character in neighborhoods because they are indicative of a low-crime area. (Outdoor clothes lines may be used less frequently in high-crime areas because of the risk of clothes being stolen - a worldwide phenomenon.) Also, environmental concerns and higher energy prices have created a new generation of clothes line advocates. Still, the old association with poverty persists in some people's minds.
The controversy surrounding the use of clothes lines has prompted many governments to pass "right-to-dry" laws allowing their use. According to Ian Urbina, a reporter for The New York Times
, "the majority of the 60 million people who now live in the country’s roughly 300,000 private communities" are forbidden from using outdoor clothes lines.
As of October 2009, the states of Florida, Colorado, Utah, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont had passed laws forbidding bans on clothes lines. Similar bills were under consideration in Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia. At least eight states restrict homeowners associations from forbidding the installation of solar-energy systems, and lawyers have debated whether or not those laws might apply to clothes lines. A British filmmaker, Steven Lake, is planning to release a documentary in 2011 titled Drying for Freedom about the clothes-line controversy in the United States.
In Canada, the province of Nova Scotia's first NDP government passed An Act to Prevent Prohibitions on the Use of Clotheslines on December 10, 2010 to allow all homeowners in the province to use clotheslines, regardless of restrictive covenants. See
http://nslegislature.ca/legc/bills/61st_2nd/3rd_read/b113.htm.
The province of Ontario lifted bans on clothes lines in 2008.
Some other affluent suburban municipalities such as Hampstead, Québec
or Outremont, Québec also prohibit clotheslines.
Rope
A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...
, cord, or twine
Twine
Twine is a light string or strong thread composed of two or more smaller strands or yarns twisted together. More generally, the term can be applied to any thin cord....
that has been stretched between two points (e.g. two sticks), outside or indoors, above the level of the ground. Clothing
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
that has recently been washed is hung along the line to dry, using clothes pegs or clothes pins. Washing lines are attached either from a post or a wall, and are frequently located in back garden
Back garden
A back garden is a residential garden located at the rear of a property, on the other side of the house from the public street-side entrance and front garden.-Number and size of back gardens:In Britain there are over 10 million back gardens....
s, or on balconies. Longer washing lines often have props holding up sections in the middle due to the weight of the clothing.
More elaborate rotary washing lines save space and are typically retractable and square or triangular in shape, with multiple lines being used (such as the Hills Hoist
Hills Hoist
A Hills Hoist is a height-adjustable rotary clothes line, manufactured in Adelaide, South Australia by Lance Hill since 1945. The Hills Hoist and similar rotary clothes hoists remain a common fixture in many backyards in Australia and New Zealand...
from Australia). Some can be folded up when not in use (although there is a hazard of getting fingers caught, so there is usually a safety button).
In Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, many tenement
Tenement
A tenement is, in most English-speaking areas, a substandard multi-family dwelling, usually old, occupied by the poor.-History:Originally the term tenement referred to tenancy and therefore to any rented accommodation...
buildings have a drying green which is a communal area predominantly used for clothes lines - it may also be used as a recreational space.
Comparison
Advantages of a clothes line
- Saves money
- Zero greenhouse gas emissions per load (2 kg of greenhouse gas emissions from the average mechanical clothes dryerClothes dryerA clothes dryer or tumble dryer is a household appliance that is used to remove moisture from a load of clothing and other textiles, generally shortly after they are cleaned in a washing machine....
per load) - Laundry smells "clothes-line fresh" without using chemicals
- Less fabric wear and tear
- Laundry items do not shrink (hot air from a mechanical clothes dryerClothes dryerA clothes dryer or tumble dryer is a household appliance that is used to remove moisture from a load of clothing and other textiles, generally shortly after they are cleaned in a washing machine....
may shrink items) - No static cling
- Laundry items stay softer to the touch (mechanical clothes dryers tend to remove short, soft, fine fibers), and may be less wrinkled
- Avoids the potential of airborne lint and reduced air quality
- Eliminates the noise from a mechanical clothes dryer
- Does not vent to the outside and waste the large volume of conditioned (heated or cooled) indoor air that a mechanical dryer's blower does.
- For a simple line drying arrangement (rope and clothes pins) the repair and replacement costs are about $20.00 per 1,000 loads of laundry or 2 cents per load. For non-commercial mechanical clothes drying the repair and replacement costs (including labor expenses) are about $200.00 per 1,000 loads of laundry or 20 cents per load.
Disadvantages of using a clothes line
- Putting laundry on a line usually takes more time than putting it into a mechanical dryer (as laundry items have to be hung up and fixed one by one).
- Laundry items need to be hung indoors during rainy weather, or may get wet if the weather changes.
- Neighbours may find it aesthetically unpleasant
- Risk of theft or vandalism of clothes
- Laundry items may be more stiff (at least initially) - with or without the fabric softenerFabric softenerFabric softener is used to prevent static cling and make fabric softer. It is available as a liquid, crystals and dryer sheets.- Varieties :...
that can be used with a mechanical dryer, provided no treatment, such as adding a cup of vinegar to the washer's rinse water, is used. - Wind, temperature, and humidity can vary the drying time. In particular, drying will typically take significantly longer than in a mechanical dryer (except in very warm and dry weather).
- Environmental contaminants such as soil, dust, smoke, automotive or industrial pollutants, pollen and bird and animal droppings can come in contact with clothing.
- Clothespins can leave imprints (including rust from the spring) on the clothes.
- Sunlight damages clothing.
Drying laundry indoors
Laundry may be dried indoors rather than outdoors for a variety of reasons including:- inclement weather
- physical disability
- lack of space for a line
- legal restrictions
- to raise the humidity level indoors, and lower the air temperature indoors
- convenience
- to preserve privacy
Several types of devices are available for indoor drying. A drying rack or clotheshorse
Clotheshorse
A clotheshorse or clothes horse, sometimes called a clothes rack, drying horse, winterdyke, clothes maiden, drying rack, Frostick, or airer, refers to a frame upon which clothes are hung after washing to enable them to dry...
can help save space in an apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
or clothes lines can be strung in the basement
Basement
__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...
during the winter. Small loads can simply be draped over furniture or a shower curtain pole. The drying time indoors will typically be longer than outdoor drying because of the lack of direct solar radiation and the convective
Convection
Convection is the movement of molecules within fluids and rheids. It cannot take place in solids, since neither bulk current flows nor significant diffusion can take place in solids....
assistance of the wind.
The evaporation
Evaporation
Evaporation is a type of vaporization of a liquid that occurs only on the surface of a liquid. The other type of vaporization is boiling, which, instead, occurs on the entire mass of the liquid....
of the moisture from the clothes will cool the indoor air and increase the humidity level, which may or may not be desirable. In cold, dry weather, moderate increases in humidity make most people feel more comfortable. In warm weather, increased humidity makes most people feel even hotter. Increased humidity can also increase growth of fungi, which can cause health problems.
An average-sized wash load will convert approximately of ambient heat into latent heat that is stored in the evaporated water. To determine how much heat has been converted in drying a load of laundry, weigh the clothes when they are wet and then again after the clothes have dried. The difference is the weight of the water that was evaporated from them. Multiply that weight in kg
Kilogram
The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...
by 440, which is the heat of vaporization per kilogram, to obtain the number of joules that went into evaporating the water, or multiply by 0.3074 to get kilowatt-hours. (Note: If the moisture later condenses
Condensation
Condensation is the change of the physical state of matter from gaseous phase into liquid phase, and is the reverse of vaporization. When the transition happens from the gaseous phase into the solid phase directly, the change is called deposition....
inside the house, the latent heat will be converted back into ambient heat which could increase the temperature of the air in the room slightly.) To obtain a good approximation of the effect this would have in a particular situation, the process can be traced on a psychrometric chart
Psychrometrics
Psychrometrics or psychrometry or Hygrometry are terms used to describe the field of engineering concerned with the determination of physical and thermodynamic properties of gas-vapor mixtures...
.
Drying laundry in freezing conditions
Laundry may be dried outdoors when the temperature is well below the freezing point. First, the moisture in the laundry items will freeze and the clothing will become stiff. Then the frost on the clothes will sublimate into the air leaving the items dry. It takes a long time and it is usually much quicker to dry them indoors; however, indoor drying removes heat from the air so it is a trade-off between speed and energy efficiency.Controversy in North America
A variety of interests are involved in the controversy about clothes lines, including frugal living, global warming, individual rights, the economy, private property, class, aesthetics, health, energy, national security and nostalgia.When mechanical dryers were first introduced, only well-to-do families could afford them and they became associated with affluence. However, now that most people can afford a mechanical dryer, clothes lines have become associated with a "home-town" character in neighborhoods because they are indicative of a low-crime area. (Outdoor clothes lines may be used less frequently in high-crime areas because of the risk of clothes being stolen - a worldwide phenomenon.) Also, environmental concerns and higher energy prices have created a new generation of clothes line advocates. Still, the old association with poverty persists in some people's minds.
The controversy surrounding the use of clothes lines has prompted many governments to pass "right-to-dry" laws allowing their use. According to Ian Urbina, a reporter for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, "the majority of the 60 million people who now live in the country’s roughly 300,000 private communities" are forbidden from using outdoor clothes lines.
As of October 2009, the states of Florida, Colorado, Utah, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont had passed laws forbidding bans on clothes lines. Similar bills were under consideration in Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia. At least eight states restrict homeowners associations from forbidding the installation of solar-energy systems, and lawyers have debated whether or not those laws might apply to clothes lines. A British filmmaker, Steven Lake, is planning to release a documentary in 2011 titled Drying for Freedom about the clothes-line controversy in the United States.
In Canada, the province of Nova Scotia's first NDP government passed An Act to Prevent Prohibitions on the Use of Clotheslines on December 10, 2010 to allow all homeowners in the province to use clotheslines, regardless of restrictive covenants. See
http://nslegislature.ca/legc/bills/61st_2nd/3rd_read/b113.htm.
The province of Ontario lifted bans on clothes lines in 2008.
Some other affluent suburban municipalities such as Hampstead, Québec
Hampstead, Quebec
-History:The Town of Hampstead was founded in 1914. It was designed to be an exclusive garden city. There are no retail shops within municipal boundaries. Houses were assigned relatively large lots to allow space for trees and shrubbery. The town's roads were designed with curves in order to slow...
or Outremont, Québec also prohibit clotheslines.
See also
- ClotheshorseClotheshorseA clotheshorse or clothes horse, sometimes called a clothes rack, drying horse, winterdyke, clothes maiden, drying rack, Frostick, or airer, refers to a frame upon which clothes are hung after washing to enable them to dry...
or drying rack – for drying clothes inside. - Clothes dryerClothes dryerA clothes dryer or tumble dryer is a household appliance that is used to remove moisture from a load of clothing and other textiles, generally shortly after they are cleaned in a washing machine....
- Drying cabinetDrying cabinetA drying cabinet is an electronic machine designed to expedite the drying of items - usually clothing - that are unsuitable for a traditional clothes dryer...
- Gilbert ToyneGilbert ToyneGilbert Toyne Australian inventor.Gilbert Toyne was born at Darriwill, Victoria, Australia and trained as a blacksmith, wheelwright and farrier. He went on to invent, patent and market four rotary clothes hoist designs in Australia...
- Hills HoistHills HoistA Hills Hoist is a height-adjustable rotary clothes line, manufactured in Adelaide, South Australia by Lance Hill since 1945. The Hills Hoist and similar rotary clothes hoists remain a common fixture in many backyards in Australia and New Zealand...
- Penman equationPenman equationThe Penman equation describes evaporation from an open water surface, and was developed by Howard Penman in 1948. Penman's equation requires daily mean temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, and solar radiation to predict E...
- Project Laundry ListProject Laundry ListProject Laundry List is a New Hampshire, U.S.-based group that wants to encourage outdoor drying of clothes, "making air-drying laundry and cold-water washing acceptable and desirable as simple and effective ways to save energy," as quoted from their mission statement...
, New-Hampshire, US, organisation to encourage outdoor drying - Sheila MaidSheila MaidA Sheila Maid, sometimes Sheila's Maid, is a proprietary name for a ceiling mounted clothes and laundry airer, made in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it is sold as the Kitchen Maid....