Nov 2, 2012

My new dryer and new clothesline: Spending & saving at the same time

You might have paused for a minute there and thought to yourself, why would she get a new dryer and new clothesline at the same time? After all, they're both used for drying clothes and you wouldn't use both at the same time.

Well, there's a simple explanation. The dryer died last weekend, and although we went early on Monday morning to buy a new one, the earliest it could be delivered was Thursday.

Now, I should explain at this point that I do laundry at least six days per week, sometimes seven. So the idea of letting all the laundry pile up for almost a week was horrifying. I would have a literal mountain of clothes and towels.

I'd been wanting a clothesline for a while, for energy efficiency reasons. It's always seemed like a waste to toss the occasional small load into the dryer. But there really isn't any place in our house for an extended clothesline, nor any space to set up a drying rack. So it wasn't until the old dryer died that I decided I had to have a clothesline.

My darling husband set up the clothesline to run  wall to wall in the garage. I felt so domestic hanging clothes up on it, and it reminded me of hanging clothes up to dry with my mom when I was little. Because it's a relatively short line, and the drying time was so long, I could only wash a half load of laundry each day (maybe two if the load consisted of quick-drying items like dish towels). Still, it kept the laundry from piling up to an overwhelming level while we were dryer-less, and I look forward to using it on small loads in the future.

So we did spend quite a bit this last week, between the dryer, delivery/installation/haul away, and the clothesline and clothespins. And I'm very happy and grateful that we have more than enough to pay off the credit card bill in full when it arrives. All that hard work to establish a solid emergency fund and give ourselves peace of mind has paid off again.

I also expect to recoup some savings over time. The new dryer should be a lot more energy efficient than the old one - which was a Maytag that I suspect was approximately 40 years old. The delivery man commented that old Maytags were built to last a long time, whereas new appliances only last eight to twelve years (our old washer was also a Maytag and approximately 40 years old when it died a few years ago). And of course, we'll also save when I can use the clothesline instead of the dryer.

Does anyone else use both a dryer and a clothesline?

10 comments:

Chris F. said...

I have laundry racks that I set up in a spare bedroom. I fluff the laundry in the dryer for a few minutes, then hang them to dry. The only loads I dry totally in the dryer are sheets and towels.Anything to save money on electric and gas is worth the extra time !

Chief Family Officer said...

Does fluffing in the dryer first make the fabric not stiffen as it dries? Because that was my biggest complaint about line-drying the clothes.

chyk said...

We live in a counfry overseas where electricity is crazy expensive. I line dry everything except for once a week when i do towels. Otherwise it all goes on the line.

scrapper al said...

I do use a dryer, but for most of my clothes, I use a clothes rack (T-shaped with a heavy base, like you'd see in a store, bought for $5 at a garage sale) that I hang clothes on, but I use hangers. I do have to be careful to leave some space between the clothes. I also hang clothes on hangers using the shower curtain rod in the spare bathroom. For socks and underwear, I use a plastic hanger thingie I got from the Asian market. It is round with multiple clips. I haven't noticed any stiffness on clothes, only with towels.

Qwendykay said...

Don't forget to check to see if you get any rebates from the local utilities if your new fancy dryer qualifies for rebates!

Chief Family Officer said...

Interesting - I'd be afraid to use hangers for fear of stretching out the clothes. Good to know it's not a problem for you :)

Chief Family Officer said...

Believe me, I looked! They only have them for washers, not dryers :(

Thabal said...

I faced the stiffness issue and I browsed online to find that it is a result of using more detergent. My mom confirmed the same. I have started using less and it is better now.

scrapper al said...

Interesting! I almost always use less than the recommended amount of detergent. Guess this is why I don't have a problem with stiff clothes.

Chief Family Officer said...

Oh, that's excellent - thanks so much for letting me know the secret! :)