Whether laundry is one of your favorite jobs or not, you will agree that choosing the right clothesline for your home is a crucial decision. You may be looking to buy a new one for the home you just moved into or replace the old one; there is a mind-boggling range of clotheslines available for you to choose from.
Tens of sizes and styles in multiple brands, materials, and colors! And what is more exciting is that they are exclusively crafted with the best of materials in Australia. What can get better than that?
Advantages Of Using A Clothesline:
Here's why more and more people are choosing clotheslines in Australia:
You Will Save A Lot Of Money:
Hands down, an electric clothes dryer is one of the costliest white goods apart from the fridge. Apart from the initial cost of acquiring the dryer, shelling out money for maintenance and repairs and buying a new dryer at around $1000 at the end of its term is not exactly viable.
Smaller Electricity Bills:
The dryer in your home approximately consumes 10 times more electricity than your washer in one year.
Clotheslines Are Inexpensive:
Some Clotheslines can be easily bought off the store and set up in a matter of minutes. If you are ordering from online stores, they are also shipped immediately. Most of them come with a complete installation manual and free tool kit.
Minimizes Carbon Footprint:
A clothesline is a step in the right direction if you are thinking of going eco-friendly. Even the best Energy Star dryers only marginally help with the carbon emissions and make a minuscule difference to the environment.
Naturally, Humidify Your Home
Many people do not know that drying their laundry inside their homes can make a great deal of difference to their health! There is an increase in the moisture of air by a whopping 40%. This means that your heater has to work less, and you do not have to invest in a costly humidifier. Win-win!!
You Make Your Home Safer:
Every year, the number of houses that catch fire due to faulty dryers increases. One of the reasons for this is that the lint trap is not cleaned as frequently as it should be. In other words, maintaining a clothes dryer is a serious business. If you cannot clean the ducts and empty the lint traps, then a dryer is not the best option for you.
Did You Ever Think About The Clothes?
People who have gone back to using clotheslines in their homes do not want to get back to tumble drying them at all. The clothes look and feel better when they are traditionally dried on the line. If the line is inside the colors don't fade, and they even outlast their lifespan.
Tumble-drying tears clothes at their seams, pull out buttons and zippers and even pull out threads. And if you are not quick to remove it, you will stay with wrinkles that will stay forever. Keep your designer and vintage wear from the dryer, please. The fluff you remove from the dryer is from the fabric of your garments.
Small space? No problem!
Do you have minimal space? You do not have to worry, there are wall-mounted and ceiling-mounted clotheslines that will retract and not occupy any floor space at all.
Say Hello To The Sun!
Going to dry your clothes outside will bring back your childhood memories for sure. A crisp air drying of clothes removes all the stains and prevents dust mites, fungus, and bacterium infestation. Plus, they smell great with a naturally fresh aroma.
For years, clotheslines were just written off, with many homes going in for electric dryers. But as we know today, the clothesline has remained a gold standard that can never go out of fashion. The next section will guide you on all the different types of clotheslines with their features to decide which one is going to be best for you.
Folding Wall Mounted Clothesline
The fordable frame wall mounting clotheslines are savvy for homes that are smaller in size. The biggest advantage that they come with is that they can fold away when not in use. They come in both outdoor and indoor models. The fordable ones are compact, and they look neat. There are so many models on the market today that you are going to be thoroughly confused.
The best way to determine which one it will be for you is to choose a convenient place in the house and then set out to shop.
You could dry them in the alley behind the house by choosing a wall-mounted one. You could also choose the ground mount kit and set up the clothesline in your basement.
Pros Of Folding Wall Mounted Clotheslines:
- Large range of styles and sizes to choose from
- Suitable for any family and home size
- Made sturdy with an aluminium framework
Length can vary from 0.8 meters to a maximum of 5 meters, and width can vary from 0.6 meters to 1.5 meters. The price ranges from $200 up to $800 across brands, sizes, and clothes capacity.
They usually come with an awesome 5 to 10 years warranty. Most of the models have covers available to buy as an extra. Installation is effortless, and most brands send you free installation kits with a detailed instruction manual for setup and usage.
The folding clothesline manufactured nowadays is lightweight and very easy to open and fold. Additional fitting cover means that you do not need to stress when it suddenly decides to rain. The shade ensures that the colours do not fade if it's extra sunny too.
Folding Rotary Clothesline
Folding Rotary clothesline arms fold up to remove the clothesline from off the ground. The model helps in homes with smaller backyards where space is used for multiple purposes. For example, you want to host a BBQ with friends and family to fold your clotheslines away then the next morning you could fix them back and do your laundry drying as usual.
In comparison, the fixed rotary ones are hill hoists ideal for homes that have extra space to use. The fixed ones cannot fold at all. They have a strong galvanized steel frame fitted with galvanized steel wire and are permanently cemented to the ground.
Pros Of Folding Rotary Clothesline:
- Folds when not in use
- Requires no additional installation cost
- Space-saving
- Comes in lovely colours to match your home
The clothesline head's diameter ranges from 3 meters to 4 meters, and the price ranges between $400 and $600. The clothesline is suitable for a family of up to 5 members and comes with a solid 20 years guarantee against any manufacturing defects. Installation is a breeze, and maintenance is almost zero.
Indoor Clotheslines
We bet you will wish you had got this one earlier. This type of clothesline style will save you majorly on space, so it's a great choice for homes with limited space.
If you live in a small house or a tiny apartment, finding enough space to hang your clothes is one hell of a task. Sure, you may try to optimize your space, but doing so will mean undertaking the stressful task of adjusting and moving out a few things, which by the way, is time-consuming and physically demanding. And certainly…not a good option if you have a lot of clothes to dry.
Indoor clotheslines can also eliminate the use of electric dryers. The cost of electricity in Australia can be overwhelming at times, especially when you use the traditional dryer to dry your clothes. An independent survey company recently did a survey that revealed that 75% of Australians believe that they pay too much for electricity. And considering that the average household has many power-consuming devices, the last thing you want is a dryer to further skyrocket your energy bill.
Indoor Clothesline comes in different electric types with variations in the number of rods that range from 3 to 7. The width ranges from .27 meters to 08 meters, and the length varies from .8 meters to a maximum of 2.4 meters.
Pros Of Indoor Clotheslines:
- Most economical of clotheslines
- Needs minimum installation; easy to install
- Stylish European designs
- Comes with instruction manuals and fitting kits
The ceiling indoor clothesline design saves a lot of space. It conveniently folds onto the ceiling, ensuring that it does not come in the way.
In places that are cold most times of the year, they are saving grace. No more running out to collect laundry when it suddenly decides to rain. Most indoor ceiling clothesline comes with 5 to 7 rods that can be individually roped down and up. Once you dry your clothes inside the house, there is no way you are going back to your electric dryers.
You can buy them in the price range of $175 to $250, or you can also check out our smart Indoor clotheslines from $995 that replaces any modern electric dryer. With 5 years warranty on each of the lines, you know that every dollar you put in is worth it.
Retractable Clothesline
If you are extremely fussy about your interiors or if you have zero amount of space to spare, then your search ends here. It is a tough call to create a clothesline space, But you don't have to worry if you get a retractable clothesline.
All you need to do is pull the clothesline out of its cover when you have your clothes washed, attach the line to the wall exactly opposite it and hang your clothes on it. Your clothes are all dried up, and if you don't need it anymore, you retract it back into the housing, and Voilà!
Pros Retractable Clothesline:
- Can be permanently kept inside
- It looks easy, is cool, and convenient
- Comes with a special locking design
These clotheslines can range anywhere between 4 and 7 lines and extend up to a maximum of 10 meters! Lots of places to hang fitting sheets and king and queen-sized blankets too!
They can be installed differently based on the brands and their manufacturers. They can be set up in open spaces and include various setups of walls and posts. Slim-line design and complete flexibility of installations mean you can decide where to dry your clothes on any day. The retractable cabinet width will range from 0. Meters up to 0.61 meters and depth varies from 0.125 meters to 0.16 meters. The price range falls between $200 and $250 and comes with a minimum of 10 years' guarantee.
Portable Clothesline
The portable clothesline can be used if you find drying ropes and hoists not very convenient. If you live in smaller homes and do not have a backyard or access to an open roof, then these come in really handy. They look neat and can fold away when you are not using them.
Pros Of Portable Clotheslines:
- Fold and store them away when not in use
- Compact
- Come with extendable arms to accommodate more laundry
- Lightweight and durable
They are extremely versatile and compact. Every home must have a portable clothesline whether they use it daily or not. These nifty clotheslines can be optional when you need to have extra drying space when you have friends and family calling on you. When the weather outside is not suitable for drying clothes you can use a portable clothesline to dry your clothes.
They come in various shapes, sizes, and colors and fit into your interiors easily.
You can choose the material made of steel, aluminum to wood, plastic, and acrylic. Some brands come with a rack for drying shoes as well.
If you are washing a lot of clothes at one time, go for sturdier materials like steel. If you are using it indoors, then a plastic or acrylic one will do fine. You may dry 20 to 25 clothes at a time. They come in compact and mini variations, and their length ranges from 0.8 meters up to 1.2 meters; the depth varies from .6 meters to .75 meters.
FAQ's About Clotheslines:
What are the things to keep in mind when I purchase my clothesline?
The size of your family, along with a rough estimate of the size of your daily or weekly laundry. If you think of an outdoor clothesline, you may want to measure the space you can spare on the roof or in your backyard. The typical weather of the area is an important factor for you to decide where to install it, for example, Western Australia is known for its sunny and extremely hot weather so an outdoor clothesline is a perfect choice.
How much space will I require for a rotary folding clothesline?
Depending on the size of your outdoor space, you can count on a rotary clothesline that is five meters in diameter. The line space of about 60 meters should be enough for a family of five that does laundry in two or three days.
Where can I buy clotheslines?
You could buy any clothesline from home DIY improvement stores such as Bunnings. You could order them online from a different online stores such as The Clothes Line Store, Lifestyle Clothes Lines, TopLine Clothes Lines, and Aussie Clothes Lines are some of the most popular ones.
How high should my retractable clothesline be?
An optimum height of about 1.5m - 2.0m from the ground is good for fixing the line. If you cannot decide on the height, you can fix it a couple of inches above the person's average height, or the couple going to use it to hang laundry.
What is the best place to set my new clothesline indoors?
Experts advise that it is best to avoid drying laundry in all the rooms you use like the living and the bedrooms. The laundry is the optimal place, as this is where you will be getting the washing from the machine, reducing the workload of carrying your basket elsewhere.
Final Thoughts
Buying a clothesline is like investing in the future. You save energy, you save money, and you also take care of your clothes! Many people were eager to write away clotheslines as old-fashioned.
People worldwide are slowly but surely realizing that drying their laundry the traditional way is not just good for their purses but also eco-friendly. When you look at how much carbon dioxide emission each of the houses is avoiding, the impact on the environment is staggering. If you are still a fence sitter, let us assure you that once you switch to clotheslines and enjoy the benefits of it, you are never going to allow yourself to convert back to using the energy-guzzling appliance ever.