Green Clothes Dryer

I finally made time to look around for a sturdy umbrella clothes dryer to put up in my back yard.  I had been thinking about it for a long time.  I noticed when I visited relatives in Sweden that people didn't have electric clothes dryers.  They all used lines or umbrella dryers in the back yard.  Even the well-to-do families didn't have electric dryers (or huge houses or multiple cars).  It made me stop and think about how much we all take for granted here in the US.  What we consider a modest standard of living regarding living space and technology would be quite luxurious in many European countries.  We really could do a lot better with our conservation of water and electricity, as well as recycling and use of gas-guzzling cars.  OK.  off the soapbox.

Well, it is certainly better for the environment to dry clothes outside rather than using the electric dryer. It should also save us some money on our electric bills, since the electric dryer uses more electricity than any other appliance in the house! (Perhaps this will help offset our use of window air conditioners in this recent heat wave!)  There are so many good reasons to dry clothes outside; I don't know what took me so long, but I do tend to overthink things and get bogged down with details, and then never move forward.  Time for a change.  So I forged ahead.

Our local hardware store only offered two options and they didn't look like they'd last more than a few seasons.  I wanted one I didn't have to think about for another 5 or 10 years.  I searched online at home improvement places as well as just searching for umbrella clothes dryers.  I looked at a lot of customer reviews too.  I ended up choosing the Sunshine Clothes Dryer, made in the USA (no affiliation, yadda yadda), ordered it online, and it arrived this week!  My husband is a good soul, and while I suspect he has his doubts about how much I'll actually use this new clothes dryer instead of our electric dryer, he humored me and went out this morning with shovel and pickaxe to help me dig the hole for the pole.  The other aspect of this clothes dryer that I particularly like is that we didn't have to set a sleeve into the ground with cement.  This has metal flanges that bolt around the in-ground sleeve, and all we had to do was put it in the hole and fill in with dirt.  It feels quite sturdy.

Here it is in all it's brand new glory.

It spins nicely, and doesn't wobble.  The whole top section will pull out of the in-ground sleeve to leave nothing but a little plastic cap to make lawn mowing easy.

It is overcast and they are predicting more rain and possibly a thunderstorm this afternoon but I couldn't resist and just had to put out a load of laundry.

There's still more room, so I may put out another load and pray that it doesn't rain before the clothes dry.  I've also discovered that I really need to buy more clothespins.  I didn't have many of my own, but I have a whole bag of clothespins from my mother-in-law (that she no longer needs as she has moved to a nursing home), so I'm making good use of them.  Next I need to make myself a little apron with a big pocket for the clothespins.  I'm using an apron I have but the pocket isn't big enough.  Good incentive to get back to the sewing machine.  Maybe when I clear up the sewing table enough to sew I'll also get to that baby quilt for my nephew who is already 1-1/2 years old!

OK, the washing machine beeped, so it's time to put out that second load.  Looks like the sun is coming out a bit as well.  We'll see how well I do this year using my new old-fashioned dryer.


Shelley in CT