Thursday, April 06, 2006

How to Save Money While Using a Laundromat Without Even Trying

Don't use the dryer. Since I've started hanging laundry, I've saved a small fortune. Socks, kitchen towels, and other small items go on this lovely contraption, and the bigger items either go on my shower rod or on my five line retractable clothesline that I have in the guest room. The hardest part is carrying a very heavy basket of wet laundry up to my second floor apartment.

Full Disclosure: I do dry our bath towels in the dryer. If I don't, they smell musty. But I wait until we've used nearly all our towels before I wash them, so I only have to do it every other week or so.

8 comments:

Andi @ udandi / Lunch It Punch It said...

I'm a fan of the drying rack as well, who wouldn't be when the dryers don't actually dry anyway?!

Anonymous said...

We have a giant collapsable rack like that and need some hanging line or something for the basement. I don't have enough space on the rack for all our clothes.

Hmmm Maybe that would make a great Earth Day project.

Anonymous said...

I love my clotheslines and indoor accordian dryer! [I use the indoor one when it's way too humid outside, or during the winter.]

At first I didn't like the "crunchy" clothes and towels when we first switched over, but now, as my husband says, "That crunchiness is the feeling of saving money!"

Dawn said...

Is that carpeting? Do you have a lot of water dripping that you have to clean up?

Catherine at Frugal Homemaker Plus said...

That is carpet. The clothes are not so wet that they are dripping- they're mostly just pretty damp. If you have your own washer at home, you can also run the spin cycle twice, which helps.

Anonymous said...

What an odd coincidence! I just moved into a house with a working washer and a dryer that needs to be hooked up to the gas lines, so I've been looking for a non-intrusive way to find hanging space for my clothes. That retractable clothesline is perfect. Thanks for the tip!

Jenn @ Frugal Upstate said...

My problem is I have been doing one massive laundry day on mondays. With the 4 of us I would need a lot more indoor space. In the good weather it isn't bad because I have a large 8 line thing out in the back yard (the kind that looks like 2 letter T's about 6 feet apart with 8 lines run from one to the other.

I was kind of wondering this winter if I should have switched over to a load a day and tried the rack. Maybe that will be a project for next winter. . .

Anonymous said...

I have tried adding a couple clean (new) tennis balls to the dryer when I have to use it. I can get my clothes dry in 5-10 min less that way. Something about the stuff getting moved around more with the balls in the dryer.
I also use them when fluffing up the feather beds & comforters.
But, my clothesline is my best friend to save $$ on the energy bill.