Line Drying Clothing

November 6, 2004 7:17 AM

My wife has a lot of "hang or line dry" only clothes. I use liquid faberic softener in the wash cycle and then use one of those faberic softener sheets in the dryer too on the rest. However, her line dry clothes always seem to not feel the effects of the liquid faberic softener. Any tips for making sure her jeans aren't so crinkly? {its clean inside}

Drying them slightly in the dryer (about 10 minutes) and then pulling them out works a little bit, but requires more attention to doing laundrey. Is there some "after wash" spray I could get and use for when they are hang drying? What about those wrinkle releaser sprays? Do they actually work and do they soften the clothes?

posted by thebwit to home & garden (6 comments total)

Jeans can generally go in the dryer. For dainties and other hang-dryables, try putting up a line outside and drying them in the sun, the breeze seems to help things get soft.
posted by bonheur at 9:58 AM on November 6, 2004

Not meaning to sound snarky - but is it really a big problem? I mean, obviously it is or you wouldn't be asking, but I've always line dried my clothes, and I don't really find my jeans to be unpleasantly stiff or anything. A tiny bit sometimes perhaps, but nothing major. I presume you iron the jeans? After a little spray of water (just plain water) and a hot iron they soften up. (I've never even used fabric softener on them.)
posted by different at 11:38 AM on November 6, 2004

Ironing will make most fabrics softer.
If you have hard water, use a few thimbles of ordinary vinegar instead of fabric softener. (cheaper and it works better)
posted by ginz at 12:14 PM on November 6, 2004

Instead of chemical-laden laundry detergents, use 100% pure laundry soap before line drying.
posted by planetkyoto at 2:47 PM on November 6, 2004

In addition to skipping the commercial laundry detergent, skip the chemical fabric softener, and those dryer sheets. Over the long-term both are terrible for the fabric. If you washed all of your "clean" clothes over again without adding anything to the water, I'd be willing to bet that you'd find lots of suds coming out that come from residue from your washing and softening agents which are "trapped" in the material.

Use a pure laundry soap (making your own is fun and not difficult at all) and absolutely, yes, add white vinegar (about 2 oz. / 60 mL) to the rinse water. Not just for your line dried items, but for everything. Your clothes (and your skin and wallet) will thank you.
posted by Dreama at 4:26 PM on November 6, 2004

Dreama, where's that link supposed to go?
posted by kenko at 5:05 PM on November 7, 2004