Tightwad tip: line drying laundry

I must admit, we never ever owned a dryer. Growing up my parents did have one, but line dried whenever it was possible, or even used an indoor drying rack. But then when I was around 12 and my parents divorced, I lived with my mum in smaller houses where there wasn't room for a dryer. 

When my husband and me moved into our own small rental apartment, there obviously wasn't enough space for a dryer, as only a washer just fitted in the tiny kitchen. Fortunately, the garden was quite big so we did have enough space for line drying - if the weather was good enough. On other occasions, we used indoor drying racks, which was and still is quite common in most parts of Europe. 

In northern Africa, dryers are kind of unheard of - usually appliance stores sell just one kind of dryer in between hundreds of fridges, hobs and washing machines. So line drying here is even more the norm than it is in Europe. Which is logical given the fact that for the majority of the year, the weather is good. But even during the winter, people will line dry. And so do we. At first I was a bit reluctant of line drying during the winter - despite the mild winters here, it's still a bit damp and chilly. And honestly it does take longer to dry than it does during the summer, but when I hang our laundry to dry in the morning, it's usually dry in the evening. Since rain is quite rare where we live, that's not something we have to worry about. Even if it does rain, we have a place in the backyard where there's a roof over the drying line, for emergencies. It does dry a little less fast but it does dry anyway. Last winter we did have a bit more rain than usual, and I was tempted to buy an indoor drying rack- something I hadn't used since we emigrated. But, I challenged myself not to buy one at least that winter and just see how we could manage with line drying on the main line on dry days and on the backyard pine for rainy days. In the end, I didn't really miss the rack. And I must admit that it would only just clutter up our living space even more. Rainy winters are exceptional here anyway so if I would have bought the rack it would probably just be sitting here in the winters to come. 

Line drying isn't necessarily a very "thrifty" thing to do in my mind; I just find it logical. However, I do realize that for some people that are used to dryers, it's quite a frugal thing to do, hence my tightwad tip of today. For me it's logical because I haven't really experienced something different, I don't think it's a lot of work and it has a lot of benefits over using dryers. The main benefit, obviously, is the lower electricity bill. Appliances that cool and dry are usually the most expensive to run, so that definitely includes dryers. There's also the cost of purchasing one; dryers can be quite expensive, especially a qualitative one, so you'll save lots of money by simply not buying one. Your clothes will also last much longer which is saving you money too. There's also the additional saving on not having to buy dryer sheets and balls.And lastly, hanging clothes to dry is quite a good exercise for your arm/back muscles. And of course, nothing beats the smell of fresh line dried laundry, I think we can all agree on that! 

So, whether line drying is a really thrifty thing to you or just a normal thing, it really does save a lot of money, it saves space, and a gym membership. Ok, that last one is slightly exaggerated, but still it adds up to your daily exercise!