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Hung out to dry!

michaelskis

michaelskis

Sawdust Producer
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This summer I was on my way to the beach and I drive past an unusual site, a clothes line full of laundry. There were jeans, shirts, and sheets drying in the breeze. But are these a dwindling resource?

My HOA does not allow them. Do you have a clothes line? What are your thoughts on this tradition?
 
I think it's a good idea, and I used to hang clothes on my screened porch. There's a clothesline pole on the outside of my fence, but I can't reach it in order to fasten line to it.

Colorful clothes waving in the breeze look nice, but face it, these days, no one wants to see a neighbor's underwear hanging on a line. I've heard of an organized right-to-dry movement, but that's all I know about it. You'd be hard-pressed to get the HOA to relax the rules.
 
michaelskis said:
This summer I was on my way to the beach and I drive past an unusual site, a clothes line full of laundry. There were jeans, shirts, and sheets drying in the breeze. But are these a dwindling resource?

My HOA does not allow them. Do you have a clothes line? What are your thoughts on this tradition?
Click to expand...

Well, I got curious and started to read. NC may allow people to line dry their clothes, despite HOA rules. I think you should test this and let us know what happens.
 
We have a clothesline in our back yard that gets used April - October. Drying clothes on a clothesline is ideal. Not only do you save on the electric bill, but your clothes smell outdoor fresh too. Why would anyone prohibit clotheslines?
 
We don't use a clothesline anymore, but when we first moved to Texas we either didn't have a dryer or the dryer broke (I can't remember) and my wife would hang the clothes on the clothesline. During the summer they'd dry quicker than throwing them in the dryer.
 
We don't have a clothesline but we do have a folding drying rack that we'll take out to the back patio and use for drying stuff when the weather is nice. The neighbor across the street uses a folding rack as well but she puts it on her front patio. It's pretty well shielded from view though thanks to shrubs and trees but it's still visible enough that I can see that she uses it all year round, no matter how cold the weather is. I would imagine that in the dead of winter she still has to throw the stuff in the dryer for a few minutes to get the frost off of it though.

kms said:
Well, I got curious and started to read. NC may allow people to line dry their clothes, despite HOA rules. I think you should test this and let us know what happens.
Click to expand...

I think there may have been a Supreme Court decision a decade or so back that originated out of Vermont or New Hampshire where an HOA was trying to forbid clotheslines but the courts ended up deciding with the resident.
 
At the old house I had a clothesline and loved it. Can't find a good place at this one and haven't put one up. I want to though mainly for things I don't want to put in the dryer.
 
kms said:
Well, I got curious and started to read. NC may allow people to line dry their clothes, despite HOA rules. I think you should test this and let us know what happens.
Click to expand...

To my knowledge NC does not have legislation in place that exempts clotheslines from local and HOV regulation. There was a bill that died in legislation that would have made NC a "right to dry" state. There is a state statue that exempts solar collectors but it does not specifically include clotheslines. I think based on the language in the statue that it would be a stretch.
 
Big Owl said:
To my knowledge NC does not have legislation in place that exempts clotheslines from local and HOV regulation. There was a bill that died in legislation that would have made NC a "right to dry" state. There is a state statue that exempts solar collectors but it does not specifically include clotheslines. I think based on the language in the statue that it would be a stretch.
Click to expand...

NCGS 22B-20. I'd put money on it that a good lawyer would win a case that a clothes line is a solar collector protected under that statute. The intent of the statute is basically to allow homeowners the right to access solar energy in place of traditional energy sources.
 
We hung the clothes out to dry when I was a kid. As an adult, I have not. I remember the smell, feel of the clothes and the Japanese Beetles.
 
Whose Yur Planner said:
We hung the clothes out to dry when I was a kid. As an adult, I have not. I remember the smell, feel of the clothes and the Japanese Beetles.
Click to expand...

And the bird poop. Don't forget the bird poop. So your nice, fresh bed sheets had that one spot that your mom had to hand wash again when she brought them into the house.
 
AG74683 said:
NCGS 22B-20. I'd put money on it that a good lawyer would win a case that a clothes line is a solar collector protected under that statute. The intent of the statute is basically to allow homeowners the right to access solar energy in place of traditional energy sources.
Click to expand...

I might try it.... At a minimum we would put a wooden drying rack out on the deck, when we get a deck, and just take it in when the clothes are dry. I have put my shorts from the pool on the back stairs more than a few times if we planned on going back to the pool at some point that day.
 
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