Saving Money with Washing Lines

Really? Can a person really save money with washing lines? Of course they can. Think about it for a second. What’s the most expensive part of a wash, energy wise? Tumble drying. What’s the least environmentally friendly part of a wash? Tumble drying? And what’s the part of a wash that can, with most ease, be done by non powered means? The drying. A washing line is a simple, inexpensive and highly versatile way to dry clothes without spending a penny, either in heat, light or actual motive power.

Washing lines, like everything else these days, come in as many shapes and sizes as a person can comfortably imagine. Big ones, little ones, fat ones, thin ones, short ones, tall ones – there’s a washing line designed for every space, for every living arrangements and for every type of load. Washing can be hung outside, in quantities much larger even than one could fit in a single washing machine load; washing can be hung indoors, using radiator washing lines or interior lines suitable for stringing across utility rooms, and so on; and washing can be hung in tiny spaces, using multiple strand lines that are built to fit awkward locations where outside isn’t an option. Modern living, after all, takes place in some pretty funky places: and there’s an energy crisis everywhere. Modern washing lines are designed to take up the slack no matter where a person lives – and if used regularly, they can significantly reduce a household’s energy consumption, its heating bills and its carbon footprint.

The poor old environment has been somewhat battered of late. Over the last 100 years, people have increasingly been of the opinion (mostly, it has to be said, thanks to the advertisers, who have a lot to answer for at the moment) that nothing is worth doing if one can find a machine to do it for one. Woe betide the human race when it finds out that it has forgotten how to do anything, and the dwindling energy reserves of the planet are being eating by breathing machines, or something. Washing lines are a perfect example of the way things ought to be: they cost virtually nothing, they perform the same task that a machine does with much more effectiveness (clothes dried on a washing line just smell good: clothes tumble dried have to be treated with expensive products to stop them smelling like overheated dust), and they don’t use tons of electricity into the bargain. The energy crisis the developed world is now suffering is a direct result of the use of machines like tumble driers, which, in 8 cases out of 10, are not necessary and represent simple laziness. As noted, it’s a laziness promoted by the ad industry, but it is laziness nonetheless. Washing lines are more than just versatile space savers. They’ve got a part to play in saving the planet.