Well, now you want to hang dry your laundry because of your parents or to save energy. And you have no place except for a small yard or a balcony. Do not worry. It is completely feasible.

As usually, you should pick a proper way of hanging the laundry first. There are two types of clothes lines: a retractable clothesline and a regular pulley system. The latter one is preferable for a small place as it allows to stretch the line as much as you need and then roll it up. The pulley system looks fancier and seems to be more convenient, but takes more space and requires two stable points.

When talking about a balcony, the most comfortable way is to use the hooks mounted on the opposite walls or on the railings. Do not forget about choosing the hooks that will withstand the additional weight of clothes. Once I decided to save money and buy plastic hooks. Unfortunately, my mistake resulted in falling of the whole load of laundry down to the third floor onto the garden bush. Just my luck.

Now let us speak about a small yard. You can mount poles and/or fence posts. For example, there are cheap T-post clothesline kits that cost only $19 available in Home Depot and Walmart. Just hammer the poles into the soil six-eight feet apart and stretch the line between them. There should be no looseness, otherwise, it will result in wrinkling of clothes.

And another thing worth mentioning is that most people do not know how to make the line tight enough. Just buy a turnbuckle for $4 in your local hardware store. I guarantee, you will not regret this purchase.

Spacing is an absolutely crucial issue. Leave several inches between pieces of clothing to let the air circulate. Otherwise, everything will be dried for a very long time and clothes will smell quite unpleasantly.

Sunlight is the main factor that dries your clothes. Thus, it is necessary to understand where the sunlight falls to your balcony or yard during the day. In the Northern Hemisphere the south-facing sides receive the most sunlight (at least, I think so). In case your balcony does not receive any sunshine at all during the day, drying will take much longer and the clothes will feel quite stiff.

However, it is highly recommend to check the weather forecast before you decide to dry the laundry outdoors. It is very annoying when the whole laundry becomes wet within a minute. That is why I always leave weather app on my phone open for such cases. It has helped me in many cases already.

Clothespins – the main ingredient of hanging-drying process. Do not buy plastic clothespins, there is no point in it since they tend to break quite easily even after the second usage.

I hope you enjoyed reading.