I'm feeling down about my lint trap.
I don't own one anymore.
When we were proud, middle class, farmburbanites, we had TWO of them, both secure inside the front of their electric dryer homes. One washer/dryer combo on the second floor for our good clothes, sheets, blankets and one combo downstairs for chore clothes. Every time I dried clothes I removed the lint from their traps and tossed it away.
In the summer on our old farm, Keith would periodically hang clothes out on the line, but not me. I found the task too time consuming. But, those decadent days are over, we said goodbye to our drier over a year ago and now oh so ironically, I am doing the majority of the laundry and it ALL is hung on the line, Even this past winter we managed to hang out clothes several days each month or if too cold they hung on racks behind our rocket mass stove. But still, late at night when it's quiet and the world is mostly asleep, I ache for my lint trap.
How does one keep the lint off of clothesline items?
I wash our clothes with homemade laundry soap and add vinegar to the rinse water. I wash towels separately from other clothes. My laundry comes out clean, smells great, and the vinegar makes everything soft, but how I hate the way the lint still clings to some things; certain shirts, my nicer cotton pants, some of my knit blouses, socks.
Any tips from other regular clothes-line-hanger people would be well appreciated.
I use my clothesline all year around, although when the weather falls below 20°F, I know I have to pry the items off the line with a forceful tug and need to let them thaw and dry inside. Still that outdoor smell in the middle of February is worth it!
ReplyDeleteI notice a lot less lint on my line dried items, certainly less than what the lint trap finds when I run the dryer (average use is about four times a year).
If you have lint that sticks to some items, a clothes brush works wonders at getting off a goodly bit of it. You can also pay for one of those tape brushes that has a roll of masking tape on a roller or just wind some masking tape around the top part of you fingers and "sponge" off the lint, although that makes for a bit more waste.
I've also used a damp linen towel (or something else that's lint-free) and wiped the item to good effect.
Excellent ideas all Megan. Thank you!
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