Top 10 reasons to hang out

I've been feeling very list-y lately, making lists left and right, so it seems appropriate to include a list on the blog. So today I present you with my top 10 reasons to line dry your clothes, inside or outside, January or July.

1. Hanging clothes outside on a beautiful, sunny day is like meditation. It calms me down. It makes me slow down because it is something that can't be hurried. It allows me to soak up some Vitamin D while getting a chore done... and both things serve to make me happier.
2. A laundry line of clothes gently blowing in the breeze on a sunny day is one of those picture perfect things. Seeing a laundry line always makes me stop and appreciate the simple, utilitarian beauty of it.
   
3. Drying clothes on a rack inside in the winter helps raise the humidity in our dry, Wisconsin homes. This was brought to my attention by my Weather & Climate professor in college. An indoor clothes rack or line is like a free humidifier. Why whisk that free winter moisture out through a dryer vent?
   
4. Clothes last longer when they are line-dried. This is obvious when you think of all the tumbling and rocking and rubbing that clothes do in a dryer.
5. Clothes don't shrink when they are line-dried. This is typically a good thing, but my sister, a recent clothesline convert realized that she had actually been banking on the shrinking to help clothes fit her kids. Now she has to re-think sizes. I think this is an isolated problem with a solution.
6. It saves money. According to laundrylist.org it can save households over $100 in electricity in a year. One hundred dollars a year. That amazes me. Of course, that number may be for households in sunnier climes than Wisconsin, but still.
7. Perfectly crisp cloth napkins, no iron required.
8. It is just one more little thing you can do that can help slow global warming. I personally find the little things to be hugely empowering.
9. It makes me feel proud that I live in a neighborhood that hasn't banned clotheslines (many newer subdivisions across the U.S. have for aesthetic reasons). And when I can see 4 clotheslines on my block just from the vantage point of my front yard it makes me even prouder.
10. It makes me feel retro, cool, and eco-saintly. All from one chore!