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Even if it is below freezing, you can dry your clothes. Sublimation is great; however, if you don’t want use cold fingers, use a drying rack inside and humidify your house!
hi Eric- to prevent your towels from getting stiff, you should use white vinegar in your final rinse instead of fabric softner–its often the softener that will make the clothes scratchy when they are hung outside. Plus vinegar is more eco-friendly than the chemicals in your softener. Using vinegar will also extend the life of your machine…it cleans the pump and ‘inards’ of the machine from soap/grime build up. Our washer has lasted 20 yrs and only had to have 2 pumps replaces and one dial (watch now thst I’ve breagged about it, it will die). I just use a 1/2 cup per load–the smell disapperates before they are dried….if you use a lot of fabric softener you should use vinegar on all your clothes at least once a month to make the fibers last longer (too much softener will eat them).
About clothes lines–check your local ordinances. Our city has a ordinance against them…first because lines that use trees damage them…second because the chemicals in the detergents are harmful to grass and the local water table (we are all on well water)….we did not realize it until our dryer’s heating element went ‘poof’ a year or so ago. Yep same dryer that came with the washer.
Also, we found that the plastic clothes lines–although they last longer–don’t work well with most clothes pins, its just too thin. The cotton clothes line won’t last long, it will stretch as it gets wet from the clothes, but the pins work great….solution? Find a cotton/poly blend line if you can…if not we found cheap towline works too…its made to take the weight, wetness, and sun plus its thick enough for the pins