FYI - Clothespins/Clothespegs

Thank you for this post. Two years ago I asked my husband for a clothes drying tree as a birthday gift. I love it. There is nothing quite like the scent of fresh air on your sheets. Mmmmm.

I found on the 'net two clothesline poems...one for a baby shower...thought it might give you cuties some ideas. here's the site http://www.baby-shower.com/story/...

In Summer it takes approx 1/2 an hour to dry my washing on the clothes line much faster than a dryer. Meganne forgot to mention the clothes line diet lol♥

1 comment

by Janus48 30 Apr 2012

OK...I'll bite...what is the clothesline diet??

I LOVE HOW CLOTHES SMELL WHEN THEY COME IN OFF THE LINE. ESPECIALLY MY TOWELS AND SHEETS. i DON'T LIKE THE HINGED CLOTHES PINS I LIKE THE ONE PIECE JOBS.

1 comment

by memasanders 29 Apr 2012

PS I USED TO HAND THEM OUT IN THE WINTER AND THEY WOULD FREEZE ON THE LINE aH THE GOOD OLD DAYS!

You know I don't care how much is spent on scents nothing smells as well as linens hung out to dry on a bright sunny day in the country. I remember how I use to snuggle into those my bed was made up with when I was a child. Many are the days (every Monday was wash day unless it was raining) that I had to hang the wash out to dry before I caught the school bus in the mornings before 7 AM, that was one of my chores. I also remember what it was like to have things freeze stiff before you could get the clothes pin(peg) on the article you were trying to hang. I no longer have a clothesline, they are not restricted out in the country where you have neighbors far between but miss having one. I do own a washer and dryer so do my own laundry by washing a load and drying it most every day/Lillian

well hello again ladies, I have to say I don't remember a time when I didn't have a clothesline? However here in Ontario Canada we have NEW RESTRICTIONS imposed on us just as recently as March of this year. We all now have smart meters & it will cost us more $$$$$$$$ to use the power in the day time: off- peak times 7 pm to 7am, Mid-peak 5pm to 7pm & 7am to 11 am & the most expensive time is On-peak noon till 5pm! Now let me ask you this what time do you do your laundry? If I want it on the line I have to be up @ 6am or run the washer @ 7pm & hang it out in the dark or wait until the next day to dry it? Of course the weekends are off peak too sew I can spend all weekend doing the laundry & the same goes for statutory holidays, Sew Easter Sunday or maybe Christmas Day we can save alot of $$$$$$? Who wants to do laundry then? It will cost me 35% more than doing it in the off-peak times! Now who do you think thought of this load of ......

4 comments

by capoodle 29 Apr 2012

Had a neighbor that her DH would either let her use the A/C or dryer and this was in south Florida. She choose the A/C and would wash all her cloths at night so they would be ready to hang out in the morning before it got too hot. She didn't have any problems with them smelling with the open weave baskets. I have used her way several times.

by capoodle 29 Apr 2012

She didn't have any problems with them smelling with the open weave baskets. I have used her way several times.

by meganne 30 Apr 2012

Our off peak here starts at 10:30 PM so I wait until then to turn the washer on, shove it in the dryer & one load is finished 2 hours later. My current clothes line doesn't even fit one Queen size sheet properly, besides I'm never out of bed early enough to hang clothes out. I don't feel guilty about using the power because we have ten solar roof panels generating electricity back to the grid..

by meganne 30 Apr 2012

enough to hang clothes out. I don't feel guilty about using the power because we have ten solar roof panels generating electricity back to the grid..
Still, I'll be happy when Ray is no longer on night shift and we can get back to normal :-)

What interesting replies. I am one of those who is able to hang washing outside to dry. I have to admit to using a dryer in the winter months if its too damp/wet to dry outside. It used to give me great satisfaction to see loads of nappies drying at a time. This was years ago. My grandson loves going through my peg basket and scattering the wide assortment of pegs that I have collected over the years. Out of interest I put Hills Hoist into UK ebay and was staggered to see them for sale for £184.99. They do sound very sturdy though.
I think most wooden pegs now come from China. The last two packets I bought did

Wow! I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that liked to hang out clothes! Always had them hung just so..everything alike together..then when you took them in to fold, all the things that were to be put up together were already together! I love sheets from the line..but my allergies have made it almost impossible to do that as there seems to always be some tree throwing pollen to the wind!! As a child I had to put those pants stretchers on my dad's work pants! Did anyone else use those?

2 comments

by capoodle 29 Apr 2012

My mom did use the pant hangers. Pretty neat as they didn't have wrinkles and there was a nice folded crease down the center.

by hightechgrammy 29 Apr 2012

I remember pants stretchers! Remember how stiff the jeans would get! Those weren't the same jeans as today, either!

This post certainly makes for interesting reading. We have the clothespin like the one in pic 4 on the right, but can also get the plastic ones. I live in an apartment and they don't like you to hang any clothes out. I have a rack that I use sometimes in the summer on the balcony (I need my fix of smelling the freshness of air dried clothes). At one point the owners had the manager send around notices to everyone not to put laundry out on the balcony as it was "unsitely". They don't pay for the power for it as the laundry company gives them a percentage of the profit to cover power and water costs. But their concern is that it doesn't look good for their building - downgrades it.
I grew up with a clothesline running from the house to a power pole at the back of the property - a non moving one. Later my dad put the pulleys at each end so you could just stay in one place. They got a dryer later on, but still in summer, clothes went on the line. All my aunts and Gramma had one. When we finally had our own home, there was a perfect spot for an umbrella clothesline, but before we could buy one, my hubby had taken some stuff out to the dump and spotted an umbrella clothesline with no line. Needless to say, he grabbed it and we got some plastic covered wire and strung it and wa la, I had my own clothesline! Used it spring, summer, and fall. Didn't like freezing my fingers or taking in frozen clothes, so always used the dryer in winter.
Seems strange, one of my daughters lives in Barbados and they don't use dryers and the landlord has an umbrella clothesline in the backyard (it's small). I think she does have a dryer, but mostly uses the clothesline - probably uses the dryer in the rainy season.
Love the pictures (both sets) and Meganne's writeup.

1 comment

by blueeyedblonde 29 Apr 2012

In pic. 4, I would call the one on the left a clothespeg, and the one on the right a clothespin.

We can still buy clothespins, they are everywhere, sold in packs of about 24, but they aren't made in the US anymore. I've never found one as large as this one in the grass.
We were poor when I was growing up, and we never had the fancy clotheslines that are strung on steel posts and have nice wire for the four parallel lines. No, we had two lines that we wired up to old worn posts, maybe they had been dead trees. Then when you put the laundry on, the lines would droop down, and your laundry could scrape the grass or ground. So, we had these huge poles that had a notch on the end, and when your load was all hung, you would take the pole and prop up the lines using those poles. I actually loved that job, and now it always gives me such a nice memory of doing it with my grandmother and mom. I chased a neighbor out of our yard with one of those poles one time. She was leaving and I didn't want her to go :-)

Here is a design I've used a few times and it is a favorite of lots of people - a clothesline with a quilt, birds on the line, a basket of laundry and a peony bush. I got it at embsupply.com for just $3.50. It's a Dakota design.

Using a clothesline is like getting a basket of free energy! Jan

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1 comment

by hightechgrammy 22 Jan 2014

I have stitched this design at least 4 times now and everyone LOVES it!

I had two hills hoists in my back yard when I bought this place but one of them ended up like photo number 11 thanks to my son tearing out the back door and jumping up to grab the washing line. Funny thing is that I'd walked past it all day to go back & forth to the other washing line and didn't notice that it was broken .. my son of course was too scared to own up to it for several days lol. I also have a line under cover for the rare days when it rains. I have a dryer but only use it for school uniforms that didn't dry over night outside in winter and other rare times.

I can't imagine being banned from having a washing line. :) xXx

They are very available on the jet:
http://www.google.com/products/ca...

And also a magnetic:
http://www.containerstore.com/sho...

long links don't know for sure if they will work - just Google wooden clothespins or magnetic clothespins.

1 comment

by thecraftycritter 29 Apr 2012

maybe not on a jet, but certainly on the net.

The number of clothesline users is down, because even though we have great pins, somehow china forgot how to make a clotheslines that do not stretch! Anyone who apprciates fine fabrics - has a clothesline. Love the Big Pin!

I live in Oklahoma and for one of my birthdays, my dad made me a clothesline. I have used that thing a lot. Love it because my dad made it.

What interesting comments to a very good topic.

this is the greatest post EVER! thanks!

1 comment

by airyfairy 29 Apr 2012

We have the same sort of wash lines here in SA but I do not think mine would be strong enough to swing on!!!

I live in Vermont, USA and In Vermont, energy-conscious folks who want to hang their laundry outside to dry can no longer be prohibited from doing so. Vermonters won the ‘Right to Dry’ at the end of the last legislative session The Vermont legislature passed, S-18: An Act Relating to Limiting the Power of Municipalities or Deeds to Prohibit the Installation of Solar Collectors, Clotheslines, or Other Energy Devices Based on Renewable Resources.

Electric and gas clothes dryers are estimated to consume between 6% and 25% of a household’s total energy!
I still have the "umbrella" style dryer I've used for over 40 years but I admit to using the electric dryer in the winter. Hate to shovel 3 feet of snow to get to frozen laundry !!

1 comment

by hightechgrammy 29 Apr 2012

Lol about hanging in the snow and frozen wind!

Wow love the pictures! I do not care if the neighbors think ir is poverty to hang out the laundy. I own a three decker and there are five apartments. We all hang out our clothes on nice days. My mom and grandmother always did too. In fact we still use the same clothesline. It is an antique. It spins around and you can hang 5 loads of wash on it. Nothing like that smell of fresh clothes from the line. I am a proud displayer of clothes flags.. Suzanne

What an interesting post!! I find the different outlooks from different country's so interesting :) My tumble drier burned out a long time ago and I now only use God's fresh air to dry my clothes. Better for the environment and MUCH cheaper on my pocke

I have some of the square ones on my line now. Still available here in Aust. A guy at the Market I go to sells something like the ones in [1].

When my son was born my husband was stationed in Germany. I stayed behind in the US. I lived with my Granny. She helped me A LOT. My respite was hanging out diapers. I loved to go outside and get a break to hang out or get in the diapers. It was like working and I didn't have to feel guilty about leaving her with the baby. LOL

When we bought our house, late 1974, it was brand new and the first thing we bought was the Hill's Hoist. When the dryers arrived in the shops, we bought one. Nobody was talking about the greenhouse effect, or saving electricity, then. I was working full time and the dryer was useful, especially in winter. Many years ago we had a patio built just outside the kitchen and I asked my hubby to install clothes lines just under the patio and since then I have been hanging my washing there all the time. No more dryer and not much hoist either but it's still there in the garden, very useful in summer to shade the vegetables my hubby grows. There is no shortage of laundry pegs, and I use them all the time, especially the plastic ones.

WOW! That's amazing. In Australia the HILL'S HOIST (or rotary clothes line) is an Aussie Icon.
From the time we move into our new home (if we are lucky enough to buy a new home) it's the first thing we buy for our back yard.

They serve all sorts of purposes, boys (and girls) like to jump up grab hold and try to swing around on them.
If your dog is annoying you and needs tying up, you tie a long lead to the clothesline and it allows the dog plenty of movement, within a restricted radius.
ON summer days you throw a tarpaulin over the top and put your outdoor table and chairs underneath so you can sit in the shade (especially while you are waiting for your garden trees to grow large enough to provide shade)

You do the same thing when you are having an outdoor party, but before you put the tarp on, you hang coloured party lights along all the lines.

When you need to beat your rugs, you hang them over the clothes line and use a strong broom to whack the dust out.

Of course these are only a few things that come to mind, I'm sure they have been put to many other uses, besides hanging clothes.

So of course for a long time, people would buy the BIGGEST Hill's Hoist they could afford, (they certainly aren't cheap!) and that they could fit in their back yards.

Then of course, over the years they have evolved into fold-up and even fold-up and remove clothes lines, for those who feel the need to hide it because they don't share the same pride in our Aussie Hill's Hoist. LOL!!!

Of course the main difference here is that we usually have abundant sunshine in which to dry our clothes.
Plus we are more ecology minded, so we have been cutting down on our own energy usage for years. Besides, if you ask most Aussie women they'll tell you:
"There is nothing to compare with the smell of freshly washed linen, straight off the clothes line."

Hence, we still have an abundant supply of pegs available in Australia.
So, if you need some, just ask any Aussie Cutie to get some for you and, as long as they weigh less than a pound, I'm sure they'll be inexpensive enough so that you can make all the peg cozies your heart desires. :-)))
(Tongue stuck firmly in cheek) hugs n roses, Meganne
PS just had to share some Hill's Hoist photo's with you, hope you enjoy. :-)))

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8 comments

by mi30kaja 29 Apr 2012

Where did you find all of these photos. Hands up any Aussies who did not swing on their Mother's Hills Hoist. Can't see any hands up, can you Meganne??

by sdrise 29 Apr 2012

Love the photos. Brings back a lot of memories for me as a kid. Thanks for sharing. Suzanne

by ssampsel 29 Apr 2012

i have a clothesline thats similar i bought in West Va. 20+ yrs ago. i use it almost everyday!

by shirley124 29 Apr 2012

I just love all of the pictures. What a great collection. When I was young I rembmber the days before the Hills Rotary Clothes line. We had the old fashioned poles each end with line strung from one to the other. Peg the clothes out and use a long pole with a fork at the top (called a prop) and push the line up high to let the wind blow through the washing to dry it. What lovely childhood memories I have. I have a Hills Rotary and a Electric Dryer. I know which one I'd rather use. Can't remember the last time I put clothes in the Electric Dryer. Shirley

by grannieannie 29 Apr 2012

Okay, back in the mid 50's, we had a wooden one like those. Got a workout with 5 kids swinging on it. Ha. This was in Santa Barbara County, Calif. I still have a 4 line clothesline in my backyard. Have had one since 1976.

by meganne 29 Apr 2012

For Lyn, most of the pics came from a Google search, but two are of my own family, taken 38 and 40 years ago. :-)
By the time I got a Hill's Hoist I was too old to swing on it. :-((

by meganne 29 Apr 2012

For Saproctor, we also had two lines strung between a crossbar on top of a post, you used a cord each end to lower each line so you could hang the clothes then use the longer forked pole to hold the washing off the dirt. It was a real balancing act. LOL!!!

by hightechgrammy 29 Apr 2012

I LOVE your photos, Meganne, and your explanation of clothesline in our sister part of the world! Thanks for all the pictures! Toooo Cool!

I also looove the smell of my washing hung out in the fresh air,I have a dryer but might use it twice a year.

Gosh I don't want to stir up a hornets nest, but what about energy saving and the greenhouse effect on our planet. It scares me to think of so many tumble driers all working. I think we should all make the effort to dry washing as naturally as possible if at all possible. It must surely be good for us as well as our planet.

I remember my Mom having the round ones on top but today you only find the snap ones. I love the smell of freshly washed sheets coming off the line. They have not got that smell bottled yet.

Wow, I live in Australia and everyone who has a backyard has a clothesline. I have 2, 1 in the yard and 1 under the pergola for when it is raining.

Interesting pics and info. I grew hanging up clothes but live in the city now and would not like to do so now. LOL
Our neighborhood prohibits such things as unsightly but never thought of the poverty thing.
I do have a hanging rack in laundry room to put items I don't want to go in dryer.
Here is a romantic idea lines of sheets hanging over
rows of lavender in bloom.

I have one of those new type of front-loading dryers. Love it for towels and underthings. I also have a 3 line clothes line. Love it for my husbands overalls and sheets. I too love the smell of outside dried clothes. However, in the winter - everything goes in the dryer. Don't like the cold. I can remember my mom used to hang things out even in the winter and let them freeze dry - yuck.

2 comments

by hightechgrammy 29 Apr 2012

Hanging outside in the winter creates lots of wrinkles and then you have to heat up your iron to iron for hours! That kinds of deflates the purpose - LOL

by momhome 30 Apr 2012

You are right. She did do a lot of ironing. Not for me. :)

Love this Jan. What a good job I do not live in a place where I cannot hang out the washing. I do have a dryer that I have had for years. I think I can count the number of times I have used it. Dryers use a huge amount of electricity and I hate what it does to the clothes. Thought you might like to see how my daughter hangs out her washing in Italy - makes ordinary washing look quite romantic:)
Hugs Sarah.

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2 comments

by hightechgrammy 29 Apr 2012

Oh no, I can't see the image....

by hightechgrammy 29 Apr 2012

Oh, now I can - how beautiful and so quaint! I can almost hear the little bees and smell the clover!

Yes, I too have a clothes line and like Jan, love the smell of fresh sheets & pillow cases, but get really upset when the birds fly over and crap on them....LOL...doesn't happen often but has happened!

4 comments

by hightechgrammy 29 Apr 2012

Those darn birds! I've had that happen too - grrrrrr We need more cats!

by hightechgrammy 29 Apr 2012

Actually I love the smell, but they really do make me sneeze all night - LOL - boo hoo

by capoodle 29 Apr 2012

Read if you have allergies you can put in the dryer for a few minutes to get the dust/pollen off. Extra work but still saves on the electricity.

by capoodle 29 Apr 2012

My DH will come and help me give a good shake on the bedding if he is around.

Visited a family and their neighborhood did not allow a cloths line not even in their backyard. Just did a search on Wal-Mart and they still sell plenty of clothline poles and pins/pegs so does the hardware stores. I like having a solar dryer especially when I'm doing bedding. Our comforter fits in the washer but not the dryer. The king size sheet have to be pulled out of the dryer every 15 minutes and rearranged just to take an hour to dry. Sometimes I can get a load of bedding dry by the time the next load is finished washing. Worked with a lady and back in the time before sanitary pads she told me that women would hang out their strips of rags/flannel pieces and the neighbors would know when someone was pregnant because their rags were not out drying or as she put it flapping in the wind. lol

1 comment

by airyfairy 29 Apr 2012

Anita - that is amazing and so interesting

At the craft store you can get them. Just ask for doll pins. Everyone in my neighborhood has a clothes line if they use them or not. Maybe they should take out the clothesline and put in a pool to make their property values go up. Do you have a clothesline? I do.

2 comments

by hightechgrammy 29 Apr 2012

Well, I don't actually have a yard. But... we do tie a thin rope from one pine tree to another to hang out sheets in the summertime. Don't you just love the fragrance of fresh sheets that have dried outside!!

by bevintex 29 Apr 2012

Just don't hang out your bloomers. If they are embroidered on it is ok. lol
Bev