Door hanging

We're having major flooding here in the Binghamton area.  It has not been good weather for hanging your laundry outdoors.  Coming home in the rain the other night, I got my pants wet.  

I don't like to throw wet clothes on the pile, so I hung them on a closet door to dry.  Remember - you can hang clothes in many different manners.  Send us your creative clothes hanging stories.  The best ones will get published here.

Bad Press

Jeff Passan writes for Yahoo Sports.  In response to this column, I sent him the following email:

In your column discussing the financial troubles facing the Mets and Dodgers, you say that they “let their dirty laundry flail about on a clothesline that stretches from coast to coast.”. I write a blog about hanging clothes (http://hangingclothes.blogspot.com/ ) and I would like to clarify this point.

I understand that your image of a trans-continental clothesline is a metaphor. However, that is where it breaks down. Nobody hangs dirty laundry on a clothesline. There would be no point in hanging soiled apparel. Items hung on a clothesline are freshly laundered – clean and pristine.

While I can understand your issues with how some baseball teams manage their finances, I don't see the point in your disparaging the noble practice of hanging clean laundry on a clothesline. Why drag laundry hanging into the conversation only to equate it with the egregious practices that you detail?

Your voice is heard from a major platform. For a future column, please consider using imagery of clean laundry hanging from a clothesline in a positive light.

Thank you.

Irene

Hurricane Irene has pretty much shut down clothes hanging for a while here.  Our electric just shut down a few times, but it restarted - for now.  Good luck to all in Irene's path.  Hopefully, we'll all be hanging clothes again very soon.

Window hanging

Thanks to New York City photographer Leanna Staples for this picture of laundry hanging from a window.

Respect

Today, while removing my dry laundry from the line, I dropped one of my "American Flag" socks (socks with an  American Flag on them).  This got me to thinking - had I disrespected the flag?  What should I do?

As it turns out, clothing that contains an image of the flag should be treated as if it were a flag.  From the folks at ushistory.org:

 Are flags on T-shirts, ties, etc., really flags?

Yes. According to the Flag Code, a flag is anything "by which the average person seeing the same without deliberation may believe the same to represent the flag."

So my sock flags are, effectively, actual flags.  Well, I accidentally dropped it.  What does that mean?  From the same folks:
 My flag touched the ground. Do I need to destroy it?

No. You should, of course, try to avoid having the flag touch the ground. But if it does, you should correct the situation immediately. If the flag has been dirtied, you should clean it by hand with a mild soap solution and dry it well before returning it to use.

I will interpret laundering the socks as being in the proper spirit of respect for the flag.

However, this leads to another question.  What should I do when the socks are too worn out to wear any longer?  The same folks have the answer:

 My flag is old and ready to be retired. What should I do?

Section 8k of the Flag Code states, "The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning." We recommend that you contact your local VFW Chapter and ask them for help properly disposing of your flag. And be sure to consider providing a small donation to them for their assistance. Or you can contact your local Elks Lodge (who created the idea of Flag Day, established officially by President Truman, himself a member of the Elks), the American Legion, or the Knights of Columbus. Some Boy Scout and Girl Scout troups also can provide this service.

When my socks are old and worn, I will bring them to my local VFW for burning.  I hope that this information - all an indirect result of today's laundry hanging - is useful.

Hang By Night

It was late, and I still had a comforter in the washer.  Tomorrow was a work day, and I was going in early.  I didn't want to let the wet comforter sit in the washer all night, but I didn't want to use the electric dryer either.  It was quite a dilemma, but I found a great solution.  I hung the comforter by moonlight.  I realize that it was not going to get dry over night.  However, it would air out, and would be on the line first thing in the morning.  When the day warmed up, I was ready.  The comforter was dry by early afternoon, and we were able to hang another load.

Lower East Side

Here's a link to a picture of how laundry was hung in the past:
Laundry hanging on the lower east side

Thanks to the tenement museum.

Clothes hanging around the world

Occasionally, we'll highlight clothes hanging from around the world.  Here is an interesting look at clothes hanging in Venice, Italy:
Clothes hanging in Venice

... or something else

Yes, the name of this blog is “Hanging Clothes”. However, there will be times when non-clothing items need to be hung to dry. This is actually very common. For example, many loads of laundry include sheets, pillow-cases, towels, etc. None of these items are clothing.

In spite spite of the name, we will not restrict ourselves to the topic of clothing hanging.  Pictured is an example of one of the diverse non-clothing items that may be found on a clothes-line.   

Left behind

When we took our clothing in today, one sock was still wet, so we left it on the line to dry.

Then it rained.

Now, the sock is REALLY wet.

Caught

We hung a load, went out, and a major cloudburst came.  All of the clothes on the line got soaked.  No problem - we left them there, and they dried the next day.  Now, they are all in, folded and put away - except for what I'm wearing now! ;)

Three loads

Yesterday was a three load day.  'nuff said.

Tip: Flip the Drip

It's good to hang clothes in the morning.  Your clothes have more time on the line, and it's cooler.  If you hope to get two loads hung, you'd better get an early start.  Clothes hanging can be more pleasant earlier in the day.

If it's cool, however, there can be dew.  Dew is NOT the friend of the clothes hanger.  You hang clothes to make them more dry, not more wet.

Plastic clothes lines (such as the Lehigh 3/16" plastic clothesline) have their advantages and disadvantages.  One of the disadvantages is the tendency to accumulate dew in certain weather conditions.  One way to minimize the amount of dew on a clothesline is to give the line a good twang before hanging your clothing.  Pull it down, release it and let it spring up.  Much of the dew will fly off of the line.  Do this two or three times.  Although your line will not be completely dry, any moisture that can be eliminated is helpful.

In the future, we will discuss the various clothesline options.  For today, however, remember - flip the drip!

Safety First!

Unsafe!

Yesterday, I mentioned that it's not safe to keep your kayak under your clothesline.  In actuality, you should keep the area under your clothesline free of all obstacles.  Often, when you approach your clothesline area to hang clothes, you will have an armful of laundry.  Your vision may be obstructed.





 

Clear and safe

Before hanging your laundry, take a minute to check your clothesline area, and remove all obstacles.  

No tripping hazards - keep it safe!

Kayak

Our kayak was near the gas grill, so we dragged it under the clothesline.  (Safety tip:  you should keep the area under and around your clothesline free of obstacles - storing kayaks underneath clotheslines is not a good idea). When we hung the laundry, we laid some of our socks across the top of the kayak.  When we returned from our activities and went to take the laundry in, we found that some of the socks had blown off of the kayak and onto the grass.  Aside from the sanitary questions raised by this situation, the socks were only partially dry.  This was NOT our best clothes hanging experience.

Just made it!

Today, I had a full load hanging out back - sheets and everything.  I had to leave the laundry (not recommended!) to run some errands.  There were some clouds, but it was a sunny day.

Things took longer than expected - and the sky started to cloud up.  I could tell that rain was not far off.  When we pulled into the driveway, I jumped out of the car and went straight to the clothesline.  Experience taught me that pulling clothes off of the line too fast can be counter-productive - steady pulling is the way to go.

I was prepared - the basket was right there waiting for me.  I started on the sheets, deciding to roll them instead of folding (to save time).  Next were the pillowcases.  Finally, I started on the clothing.  I got it all in the basket, and as I was heading for the back door, the first raindrop hit me in the head.

Just made it!