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Electricity Experiment: Drying Sheets

March 16th, 2017 at 02:56 pm

I generally wash sheets on the first and 15th of the month (or close to it). Today is that day. And since I said I would stop using the dryer so much, I'm attempting to line dry my Queen size sheets inside our home. I want to see how much time it really takes them to dry after several minutes in the dryer. They were in there about ten minutes and really only feel slightly damp. The flat sheet is folded in half and hanging over our shower door. I will likely flip it later. The fitted sheet is draped over large chair, and the pillow cases are hanging over our wood head board. I turned on the fan in the two of the rooms where these are hanging.

I'm doing my girls twin bed sheets today, too. I think because I don't know how drying such large things will work, I'm going to use the dryer, but I'm going to put the setting for far less than usual to see if I can get them dry in less time. I should also toss in a dry bath towel as I've had luck with that helping shorten the drying time.

I do like a challenge, so we'll see how this ultimately works out over the next few months!

Posted in Organizing /Cleaning, Budget | 10 Comments »

10 Responses to “Electricity Experiment: Drying Sheets”

  1. Debt-free by Thir-ty Says:
    March 16th, 2017 at 03:39 pm 1489678777
    1489678777

    I've been meaning to try hanging my laundry to dry. We have a rather large utility room with plenty of shelves/hanging space. My husband is against it as he's worn line-dried clothes and doesn't like the feel of them. But even if I only line dry mine, we could probably run the dryer considerably less. We currently use it for everything and most times, we have to run it twice to actually get things dry. Our electricity bill is atrocious. So far, the lowest it's been is $150. We do have two fridges and a freezer though. And that was keeping the heat at 60. I'm not looking forward to the summer. DH prefers the house to be at least 70. I'm going to try and get him up to 72. Maybe I'll give him an ultimatum, he either deals with line-dried clothes or a warmer house. I think he'd choose the clothes in a heartbeat. It's going to get even worse when we get the hot tub up and running...

  2. creditcardfree Says:
    March 16th, 2017 at 03:43 pm 1489679024
    1489679024

    @debtfreebythirty, you might check that your dryer vent isn't blocked with lint...that is usually the problem if you need more than one cycle to dry your clothes. It's also a fire hazard if there is lint blocking the vent. Check it out ASAP! And good luck convincing your husband. I haven't exactly told my husband yet!

    I also read that if clothes are stiff after drying it means too much laundry detergent!

  3. AnotherReader Says:
    March 16th, 2017 at 04:16 pm 1489681006
    1489681006

    If you get things almost dry by hanging them and then finish them off for 5 minutes in the dryer, you likely will not know the difference between line drying and using the dryer. Finishing them in the dryer insures you do not fold slightly damp items and end up with a musty smell or worse, moldy sheets or towels, when you use them.

  4. creditcardfree Says:
    March 16th, 2017 at 04:21 pm 1489681306
    1489681306

    Very true, AnotherReader!

  5. Debt-free by Thir-ty Says:
    March 16th, 2017 at 05:09 pm 1489684178
    1489684178

    CCF, I'll check, but we just moved in in November and it was clear then. We do have a lot of animal hair though, so I'll check it.

    AR, I like the idea of doing a 5 minute dryer fluff after drying rather than before. That may help DH get more on board with line drying.

  6. My English Castle Says:
    March 17th, 2017 at 12:55 am 1489712100
    1489712100

    Oh I miss my clothes line in the winter. And with a foot of snow here, it may be winter forever.

  7. creditcardfree Says:
    March 17th, 2017 at 12:56 am 1489712199
    1489712199

    I wish I could put a clothes line up in my yard. Darn HOA!

  8. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    March 17th, 2017 at 03:32 am 1489721560
    1489721560

    My indoor drying tip is to look around for spots in your house where you could hang a strong curtain tension rod like this
    Text is https://www.amazon.com/InterDesign-Constant-Tension-Bathroom-Curtain/dp/B006J23OF6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1489721012&sr=8-2&keywords=shower+tension+rod and Link is
    https://www.amazon.com/InterDesign-Constant-Tension-Bathroom... or this
    You can get them in all different extension lengths. I find them least expensive at Big Lots.

    I sometimes hang the shower curtain one inside my tub-length shower, so it's a perfect fit. You could put two or three parallel in a bathroom like that. Sometimes I use a doorway to hang laundry with the smaller rods. Also the shower rods fit nicely in a couple spots on my back porch, so close to the house and surrounded by shrubs that make the laundry unsee-able to the neighbors. Wink

  9. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    March 17th, 2017 at 03:34 am 1489721681
    1489721681

    oops-- or this
    Text is https://www.amazon.com/Graber-16-Inch-Tension-18-Inch-Adjustable/dp/B0070ODWLI/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1489721113&sr=1-1&keywords=spring+tension+rod and Link is
    https://www.amazon.com/Graber-16-Inch-Tension-18-Inch-Adjust...

  10. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    March 18th, 2017 at 01:48 am 1489801702
    1489801702

    I hang my sweaters over the top of doors. Smile Seems to work ok.

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