All my life, I’ve hung my laundry to dry on a clothesline when the temperature is 40F (4C) or higher. To some, it’s rather quaint and old-fashioned, but to me there is something reassuringly domestic about seeing clothes hung on a line, drying in the sun and flapping in the wind.
One can guess a bit about the people who live there; whether there are children or only adults, what they do for a living, maybe they dress finely or casually. It speaks of life in the current moment and fashion, a snapshot of their lives.
Pastels in Summer Sunlight
When I was small, my mother washed clothes for nine of us and all those clothes were hung on the clothesline to dry. Breezy weather was best of course, things dried quickly. In winter, the laundry came in freeze-dried, stiff as boards and had to be beaten into softness.
Over her lifetime, my mother must have washed a million diapers and when I grew up, I followed her lead. I stopped at two children (seven would have been insanity), but I insisted on using cloth diapers as she did and everything went on the line (sunlight bleaches and sanitizes naturally).
My contemporaries thought I was crazy to hang clothes outside and not use the convenience of a dryer, let alone bother with cloth diapers when disposables were what everyone used. You see, I loved seeing the diapers and little clothes all pegged out in orderly rows. To me, it was a form of domestic bliss.
When I was in high school, the environmental movement was gaining momentum, recycling was starting and awareness was growing (I remember skipping school to join an Earth Day celebration).
However, it seems I had always been conscious of such things; I was raised frugally and woe to any one of us who wasted anything, be it electricity or aluminum foil. So when it came to washing, why waste money and resources when Nature dried your clothes for free?
In the recent years, awareness of climate change has brought a resurgence of that earlier Earth Day consciousness. It is a victory for Mother Earth when people start looking at their consumption with an eye to conserving resources. Attaching solar panels, driving a fuel efficient car, recycling, and abandoning one’s dryer are adjustments many are making. It may not be easy or convenient as our lives seem busier than ever, but we have to start somewhere.
No longer do I have tiny clothes or diapers hung out (my boys are now grown, with one gone off on his own), yet still there is laundry and it is one of my favorite chores.
The Lawn Blooms
Herein lays the blessing: hanging laundry outside can be a mindfulness meditation. When I go outside, all the weary world goes away and I am in the morning sunshine, the breeze gently plays with the hair around my face or whips my clothes frantically. The birds twitter, swoop and fly across a sky that ranges from clear blue to thin, high clouds or puffy, cottony ones. I breathe deeply this moment in time, taking in all around me, simply being here right now. The trees, the sound of the wind tat-tatting the leaves, a crow cawing or a nuthatch calling “ha-ha” as she heads downward on a trunk, searching for insects. Bees drone as they visit flowers from the first crocus in spring to the last asters in fall. I observe and am a part of it all.
Cirrus Sky
In late afternoon, as I return to gather and fold each item, sunlight slants low through the trees and once again I enjoy the renewing peacefulness of nature. A gift for my soul along with wind and sun-dried clothes that smell freshly of the sweet air locked into their fibers. When I slip between the sheets that night, the clean linen scent brings such joy as I press my nose into them and breathe deeply. Ah, it is the best!
A Stiff Wind – Fresh Sheets Tonight!
Eliza Waters 
Such a lovely post, that evokes so many memories for me. Thank you, Eliza.
Thank you, Cynthia!
You’re welcome.
Love this set and post — whimsical and bright!
Thank you very much!
I can smell the sunshine and fresh air just reading your post. 🙂 Beautiful images and prose, Eliza.
I grew up the same way and still hang out most of my laundry. Love your reference to freeze-dried laundry. lol! I have always been amazed by how it can freeze and yet dry. I love the look and feel and yes, the meditative experience of hanging it out and bringing it in. And oh yes, the LUXURY of sleeping between sheets that were dried and perfumed by sun and wind.
One of the things that continues to astound me is how many housing developments (and homeowners associations) forbid clotheslines and hanging out laundry. I have several family members who live in neighborhoods where hanging out the laundry is not allowed. Crazy.
Another shared love! ❤ Not surprised we see eye to eye here, Robin. When did aesthetics become so skewed against laundry? A crime against humanity. One of my favorite memories of Italy is walking down narrow, cobbled streets where lines of laundry hung in crisscrosses like so many prayer flags. It expresses our humanness and I guess that's why it appeals to me. A day in the life.
We always had lots of laundry on the line with a family of 9 kids. And, as you described, the wintertime froze dad’s bib overalls stiff. They would stand up on their own for a while.
I remember Earth Day starting up in the spring of my first year of teaching. My button is below. Our high school group asked the residents of the town of 10,000 to put their newspapers in bundles at the curb. We would pick them up and deliver them to a semi-trailer to be recycled. The town responded well.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/60334219@N05/6532891129/
Cool stories, Jim. Love the visual of the frozen bib overalls!
Recycling has come far since those early days. But there is always more we can do. I love the cradle to grave movement of goods, starting with the end in mind. Thanks for stopping by.
I’m not sure I have the same passion for washing that you do Eliza ha ❤️❤️ but I do understand it and try not to use the dryer at all too. It’s alway nice to be outside washing or not.
I agree, any excuse to be outside is good! Thanks for stopping by, Karen.
Thank you Eliza for this essay/meditation on the blessings that each day offers us, and the ones we create ourselves. Well done!
Thank you, Micheal! 🙂
Wonderful post Eliza, washing hanging on clothes lines make great shots. Unfortunately I hate hanging the washing on the line and hair blowing in my face when I am trying to see.
Thank you, Karen. Sounds like you need a hair tie for hanging laundry. 🙂 I bet you get some great windy days.
I’ve travelled places that had such low humidity that things dried in a couple of hours, always a boon.
There’s nothing like the smell of fresh laundry straight off the line. It’s the aroma of pure sunlight! 😀
Exactly! 🙂
So beautifully written, Eliza. I am a a fellow line dryer in the drier months here, having formed the habit in an Italian community 15+ years ago where no one owned a dryer and balconies were covered with lines of linens. The Pacific Northwest is not as friendly to outside drying due to drizzly days, but from April through October I set out our laundry on a favorite umbrella-style rack brought all the way from Portugal in 2013. Yes to starting and ending the day with the smell and feel of laundry. Yes to “breathe deeply.”
Yes, you understand! Those are my months for outdoor drying, too. Sometimes a good windy day in Nov./Dec. will come along, but in winter I use an indoor rack by the stove, which helps humidify the air. Thank you for your visit and comment!
My washing is dried outside whenever possible, I haven’t used my drier for years now! Even when not outside it is on a rack, it just takes longer to dry that’s all. I so agree that everythings smells beautiful after blowing in the breeze outside.
Wonderful, Pauline. In winter, I use a rack near the wood stove – it adds humidity to the dry air and never takes more than a day to dry. My dryer is only used only as a last resort like when we get a week of rain or something like that. Thanks for your visit.
Ah, you. You are a special you.
“One can guess a bit about the people who live there; whether there are children or only adults, what they do for a living, maybe they dress finely or casually. It speaks of life in the current moment and fashion, a snapshot of their lives.”
I never thought of this in this way. Thank you for enlightening me.
Thank you, Cindy. It is very human, isn’t it? 😉
I also love that smell of laundry just brought in from the line. Nothing like it! A lovely post Eliza!
Thank you so much, Cathy!
so agree with all of this, Eliza. I love hanging laundry on the line and have never considered buying a dryer. In fact, I am off to hang mine out now! (I, too, remember my mum bringing in washing stiff from frost!)
Thank you, Ann. A continuous thread. 🙂
I share your views about washing; and enjoyed the rest of the post, particularly the photo of the lawn
Thank you very much, Derrick.
Wonderful post Eliza.
Thank you, Sylvia.
Eliza only you could making laundry sound so romantic! Like you I don’t have a dryer and hang all my washing out whenever I can (it smells so nice being outside) – but I must admit folding and putting away laundry is a chore I don’t like!!
Haha, yes I am a bit poetic when it comes to laundry! Maybe when the kids get older they will help? There is always hope. 😉
Laundry has never been a favorite, but I do love the fresh scent of line-hung sheets. And I agree particular domestic chores can be bliss. Believe it or not, sometimes I love washing dishes:^)
My mother always said that dishwashing was meditative. It is not one of my favorites, but I like it better than vacuuming! 😉
Well written and I totally agree… the smell of freshly wind and sun dried clothes is the best! (If only this new washing machine of mine would work…)
New machine and not working is upsetting! Hope it gets fixed soon. 🙂 Thank you, Noortje!
There is not a spray can in the world that can duplicate the smell of freshly dried sheets. Amazing. There are condo associations here that go crazy when the topic of clothes lines come up. It just makes me laugh it is so ridiculous. I love driving through the Vermont countryside where the older homes all have covered porches with clothes lines so that even when it is raining or snowing the clothes can be hung out. 🙂
Judy, such condo associations make me shudder. I hope I never live in a place where I can’t hang out laundry.
Amen! 🙂
Yes, yes! It is a POV that I don’t understand and I am glad I live where I am free to sail my clothes any time I wish! Thanks for your great comment, Judy. 🙂
Lovely post Eliza!
Thank you, Belinda!
Eliza, this touched me so much. We did not have extra money when I grew up, so we never got a clothes dryer. We had an inside clothesline for winter and of course, a line outdoors for summer. My mom also used cloth diapers, and we could NEVER waste aluminum foil….ever :)Before I got married, I rented a home with a clothesline and it was so wonderful to have clothes with the fresh smell. I agree with you- being outside, hanging clothes, opens and relaxes the mind. There is something meditative in it the act. Thank for the posting (and memories)
Another shared experience! I think it formed us in a positive way, the frugality and the appreciation of the great outdoors. Glad you enjoyed the post and the meander. 🙂
Wonderful imagery and story telling Eliza! My breathing just slowed … I don’t usually hang out my laundry but my mother always did and still does – the sheets!
Especially the sheets – it promotes sweet dreams and well-being! 🙂 Thanks Kathy.
Love, love, love this post! I feel exactly the same way that you do about hanging out laundry. Happy Earth Week and Earth Day to you and yours.
Thank you, Laurie. Glad you like the revision and thanks for the suggestion. It was perfect for this week. 🙂 ‘Heureuse semaine de la terre!’
Oh, you’re most welcome! Loved those posts, both the original and the revised one. It so exactly matches my sentiment, and how heartening it was to read other comments expressing the same thing. And a happy Earth Week to you, too 😉
I love this, Eliza! It is such a wonderful small part to play in changing your local world. Like recycling. Perfect post to do around Earth Day. Someone said you made hanging clothes romantic. I agree. By the way, your yard looks soooo beautiful!!! Thanks Eliza for this inspirational post. Happy Earth Day.
Peace
Mary
Thank you so much, Mary. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I love celebrating the earth (it is a daily practice for me, and you too I expect). I’m glad there is a week dedicated to raising awareness to be kind to our Mother.
Yes, me too – daily practice and excited there is a week dedicated to raising awareness to be kind to our Mother. I remember my first Earth Day – large gathering in the mountains near me. It was 1971. I was barefoot. There was snow. I was young. 🙂
Ah, yes, optimistic youth and life stretching out in front of us – the world was our oyster! 🙂
Thanks. You just brought back long forgotten memories of the smell of sun and wind dried clothes. Great poetic post.
Thank you kindly. Most of us of ‘certain age’ share these memories. 😉
Such a beautiful reminder of the the glory we have all around us. I too had cloth diapers that I would wash and hang on the line. My friends, like yours thought I was crazy, but I loved every minute of it! Thank you for your wonderful post; it warmed my heart:-)
Thank you, Stephanie. I’m glad you understand the delight!
I love the way clothing on a clothesline looks – but I just don’t like the way clothes feel when the come inside. They never seem as soft as clothing that comes out of the dryer. Perhaps there is a secret on clothesline drying that I am missing…
I understand. My sister puts towels in the dryer for ten minutes, then line dries them for that fresh air smell. It seems a compromise of having your cake and eating it, too. It adds an extra step, I know, but I think one really has to want the positives to overlook the extra time spent. I never tried to air fluff the line-dried clothes to see if it’d soften them, but I expect it would. Sometimes late in the season, when they might not dry completely, or if it starts to rain, I’ll finish them in the dryer. It softens them, but it diminishes the fresh air scent that I love. 🙂
This isn’t a bad idea – I like a good compromise in something like this. And an extra step isn’t so bad in this case. It’s not adding that much extra time.
More outside time for Choppy!
Mmmmmm, the scent of sheets and pillow cases dried on a clothes line. Definitely one of life’s pleasures!
🙂 Not to be missed! Thanks, Lisa!
Oh, what a lovely post! My mother used to air dry the laundry. I especially remember that freeze-dried, stiff laundry in the winter – the fresh, clean scent would linger for days… I miss those days!
🙂 Thank you, Ana. Did you ever play tag in the clothes and get yelled at to ‘get out of there?’ lol! Irresistible to kids!
Haha! Oh, yeah…. Thank you for taking me back to my childhood. Seriously, this is a memorable post. Love it! 🙂
🙂
How I miss that fresh outdoor scent of line dried sheets! You have brought it all back with your sweet recognition of the beauty of nature.
Thank you, Dor, glad to provide a bit of nostalgia. 🙂
I love this ! So much that I couldn’t stop seeing it as a poem. so I took liberties: cutting, arranging, adding nothing–except once or twice for clarity.
* * *
HANGING LAUNDRY,
the world goes away
and I am in the morning sunshine.
The breeze plays with the hair around my face,
whips my clothes.
Birds twitter, swoop and fly
across a sky that is clear blue
to thin, high clouds
or puffy, cottony ones.
I breathe,
taking in all,
simply being here.
The trees–the sound of the wind
tat-tatting the leaves,
a crow cawing or a nuthatch calling “ha-ha”
as she heads downward on a trunk,
searching for insects.
Bees drone as they visit flowers,
the first crocus in spring to the last asters in fall.
I observe and am a part of it all.
In the afternoon I return to gather and fold.
Sunlight slants low through the trees–
A gift, along with the wind
and sun-dried clothes that smell of the sweet air
locked in their fibers.
That night, the clean linen scent of sheets
brings joy. I press my nose into them
and breathe
deeply.
Beautiful poem, Albert. Thank you!
I miss our clothesline, we’re in one of those developments were they are not allowed. The dryer us half of our electric bill or more, not to mention the lost freshness. Great post.
Thank you! Such a pity about those rules. Too bad these places don’t offer community clotheslines, along the idea of community gardens, somewhere off to the side of the property. It could be fenced off to avoid ‘offending’ anyone’s eyes.
Maybe we should just be less offended, maybe a little more transparent instead of leading false lives of manicured fronts
I couldn’t agree more!
Correction: “I couldn’t stop seeing part of it as a poem.”
I love fresh laundry from the line. Everything smells lovely when line dried. I have a dryer but use it only to fluff towels. My late mother in law would watch the children while I worked and she always pegged out my laundry and even iron it if it were dry and time allowed. I kept her pegs and every time I use them to hang out the washing I remember her fondly laughing and busy. A good heirloom I think.
Yes, it is a lovely thing and ties us to past generations in a sweet way. ❤
I always enjoy the laundry lines in Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Some hold only somber colored clothes–black, white, brown, and gray–while others bloom with occasional purples, greens and blues.
What beautiful imagery! The laundry lines tell simple stories for sure.
First, what a gorgeous blooming lawn!!! Wow. What a setting for hanging out your laundry. I love this meditation on minding the earth.
Thank you, Melissa. When I see those monoculture chem-lawns, I think, “They don’t know what they are missing!”
Very sad for them 🙂
Lovely post Eliza 💛
The fragrance and touch of wind blown sheets and laundry takes me back to my childhood and family. My job was to run out and bring the washing in as it started to rain … which it did a lot in Scotland!
Thank you, Val. I still do that dash quite often over the summer – lol!
Personally, I feel clothes feel better if they’re dried outside. Of course, this may just be my imagination since I have no evidence whatsoever to back me up on this.
Nothing better than the smell of washing just brought in from outside!
Yes, indeed! 🙂
Taking time to do simple chores like hanging out the washing or weeding the garden are good for the soul.
I so agree and I do lots of both! 🙂
I love this! I’m very much like you in this respect. I also used to dry my laundry on a clothesline when younger, and it also makes me nervous to know that I could be saving energy by doing things in a different manner. I’m still interested in “low tech”, things done the old fashion way.
Thank you, Maria. It is good to get us outside in the sunshine!
Reblogged this on A Dose of Inspiration and commented:
This is simply beautiful! I love how you find so much beauty and pleasure in something that most seem to see as a chore or as now outdated. In my house, we don’t have a washer or dryer so we go to a laundromat but my sister doesn’t like her clothes to go in a dryer so my mom hangs hers out in the backyard. She sees it as a hassle though. Lol
It’s great that you keep up your sweet tradition in the face of all the changes and modern habits.
Many people just do what everyone else does just because it’s “the thing to do.”
I love the feelings of simplicity and bliss that your post provokes and how you incorporate a meditative practice into it. And these are beautiful photos!
Thank you for sharing! 😀 ❤
Thanks again for your beautiful comments and reblog, Kim. Much appreciated!
Love this article. I do have a washer and dryer but I hang out my clothes to dry as well. It’s our trade-off for running the AC in the summer. Doesn’t quite balance out but I love line-drying my clothes. It makes me remember my grandma.
Thank you. 🙂 I also love thinking of generations of women stretching back through time, tending to the needs of their families in this form of love and service. Although we have other alternatives now, anything we can do helps reduce carbon output.
I agree Eliza! Hanging your laundry to dry outside is a feel-good experience on many levels!
Thank you, Denise. I bet CO has perfect conditions for it!
What a fabulous homage to hanging your clothes to dry. 🙂 In fact, there must be many people out there that feel similarly…I feel like I’m remembering flashes of films where heavenly characters are appearing in memories among hanging laundry. 🙂 But I love all the special qualities you’ve recognized about it, like learning about a family based on what’s hanging and witnessing the changing fashion. Totally true! The Italians never have dryers but often hang clothes to dry inside. You’re reminding me how much we are missing over here…:)
Thank you, Peggy. I often think of the lines of laundry stretched across alleys from upper story windows in Italy. Along with the ubiquitous window boxes of ivy geraniums!
Yes it is true! The laundry in Venice is especially picturesque. Us students in Bologna don’t have such luxuries of outdoor lines, ha! 😉
Oh Eliza… I am so on the same page as you with this… Lovely post! ❤
Thank you, Julie. Glad to know another way in which we are simpatico! ❤
Lovely! I could just smell the freshness of that sheet…
Thank you, Steve!
Eliza, it is a wonderful piece of writing…Love these lines:” When I go outside, all the weary world goes away and I am in the morning sunshine, the breeze gently plays with the hair around my face or whips my clothes frantically. The birds twitter, swoop and fly across a sky that ranges from clear blue to thin, high clouds or puffy, cottony ones. I breathe deeply this moment in time, taking in all around me, simply being here right now.” A quiet, peaceful meditation…Your description reminded me of my Mom who hung the clothes outside…she always had a pattern of items hung.
You are such a gentle, caring soul! Mother Earth is happy with you for sure!
Aw, thanks so much, Jane. Big hugs to you!
I shared your posting on my Facebook page, on Pin it and Google! It is a delightful piece of writing!
Wow, thank you so much, Jane. What a sweetie you are! ❤
So poignant and deep. This shook lose carefully repressed memories of my mother and her rowdy brood of 8. A day never went by – winter, spring, summer, fall – when clothes weren’t on the clothesline. Every day was laundry day with 8 kids. (Your comment about frozen clothes really sparked forgotten memories and brought tears.) Like her mother, my mother never had a moment’s rest from working. She was always tired, but tireless. God bless Mother’s generation.
Yes, our mothers had a lot on their plate, God bless them!