Clotheslines: Conservation of watts and the old ways drive a movement

By Dru Sefton
Newhouse News Service

SUSAN JOUFLAS / THE SEATTLE TIMES

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

It's an image that epitomizes summertime: freshly laundered sheets pinned on a clothesline, billowing languidly in a warm breeze.

But that iconic summer sight — so nostalgic, so pure — is becoming rarer, falling victim not just to hectic lives, but to restrictive ordinances and convenants.

In the Seattle area, regulations limiting or banning outdoor clotheslines are common in housing developments. Attorney Jim Strichartz said he has represented more than 200 homeowner groups or condominium associations that include some kind of restrictions of clotheslines in their covenants or rules.

Some of those documents define outdoor clotheslines as "unsightly" and many prohibit them if they are visible from the street or other lots.

There are, however, folks who hang on to hanging out laundry and Andrea Van Steenhouse understands why. She's co-author of a tribute tome, "The Clothesline" (Gibbs Smith; $21.95).

"There is a rhythm to hanging laundry, like when you're doing something that can't be interrupted but you don't need to think about," said Van Steenhouse, who lives in Denver, and still manages to hang out a few items now and then.

"Whenever I hang something out, I think, 'This is bliss,' " she said. "If I have time to hang something out, I know I'm living right."

Laundry Tips "To make a clothesline last longer, soak it in hot water. When dry, rub with a little liquid wax. Let dry completely before hanging any clothes. This keeps the line pliable and waterproof." "Tip "Put a pinch of salt in the rinse water when washing a new pair of jeans. This will keep their color bright." "Cleaning vintage linens: Yellowing from age can be removed by soaking the linens in cold water for a few days, changing the water as needed, then carefully handwashing with a mild soap. For stubborn stains, soak linens in a solution of one part water to one part lemon juice mixed with a well-dissolved pinch of salt. Gently handwash." "Put a pinch of salt in the rinse water when washing a new pair of jeans. This will keep their color bright." "Hang personal items on the inside lines so as to thwart the curiosity of nosy neighbors." Source of laundry tips: "The Clothesline" by Irene Rawlings and Andrea Vansteenhouse with photography by David Foxhoven and Jason McConathy

Van Steenhouse sees a clothesline as a universal symbol, "part of the past that still touches people."

While studying historical photos of clotheslines, she noticed that the task was communal for many women. "It was typically a time when women would come together and talk," turning drudgery into a social occasion.

"And many men I've talked to have really fond memories of being mother's helper, of running through the hanging sheets," she added.

Alexander Lee discovered the strength of those memories when he founded Project Laundry List in 1995. The nonprofit group prides itself on "changing the world through clotheslines — one household at a time."

It started as an energy-conservation project, "then took on a life of its own," said Lee, who lives in Concord, N.H.

Clothes-dryer use has skyrocketed since the 1970s, Lee said; now between 6 percent and 10 percent of residential energy is consumed by the household dryer.

Lee's group sponsors National Hanging Out Day (April 19) and uses art to advocate its point. Photographers, artists and writers extolling line drying are featured on its Web site at www.laundrylist.org/art/.

The Web site's online "newsroom" includes a brief from The Seattle Times telling of a fire in April that was started by a clothes dryer and destroyed a small house and nine vehicles.

In May, Project Laundry List assisted a Florida homeowner who was taken to court by neighbors and a developer after hanging laundry in her front yard. She successfully argued that a state statute supports use of renewable energy.

Communities or homeowners associations that restrict use of clotheslines do so mainly for aesthetic reasons. Some ban the lines in the front or side yards; others prohibit the posts necessary to string the clothesline.

"A lot of these restrictions were meant to preserve the community and protect property values," said Frank Rathbun, spokesman for the Community Associations Institute in Alexandria, Va., representing homeowners, management companies and governing boards. "One person hanging out four towels may not seem like much, but multiply that by 100."

When a community starts to look bad, "curb appeal goes down and property values often follow," he said.

In the Seattle area, no-clothesline provisions apparently haven't generated much controversy. Strichartz said in his 20 years of practice he hasn't heard of anyone going to court to either challenge or enforce any of the clothesline rules of the groups he represents. According to the national Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, hanging laundry is tedious, time-consuming — and unhealthy.

"Drying clothes on a line would naturally allow pollen and pollutants to collect on the clothes," a problem for Americans with allergies or asthma, said Jill Notini, association spokeswoman.

"It seems like an all-American thing to do, and we always had a clothesline when I was growing up, too," Notini said. "But it just doesn't make sense now."

It does to Louise Meaders of Arlington, Texas, whose husband, Cecil, now deceased, installed a clothesline for her in 1954. "I've been hanging out laundry since before then. All my life," said Meaders, now 71.

Her reasons are what you might expect: Line-dried laundry smells nice. Sheets are "crisper" when dried outside. Line-drying costs nothing compared with running an electric or gas dryer.

But her main motivation? "Everybody needs to hang out clothes," she said, "because it's therapeutic."

She has a dryer — for when the weather is bad. But she says she hardly uses it. "I don't know how anyone gets by without a clothesline," she said. "When you're getting ready to go camping, where do you hang your sleeping bag to air out?"

Seattle Times reporter Jack Broom contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

E-mail this article

Print this article

Search archive

More living headlines...