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Have you ever slept on sheets dried in the sun? Have you ever gotten dressed and your clothes smelled like a crisp autumn breeze or the warm rays of a sunny spring day?

The simple way to experience these wonderful sensations is by using an old-fashioned clothesline. Before the invention of the electric clothes dryer, everyone had a clothesline. It was a normal part of backyards, porches and laundry rooms.

If clothes smell so good after they have dried on a clothesline then why do people use electric clothes dryers? The big reason is convenience. It’s easier to toss wet laundry in the dryer than to use a clothesline, with a clothesline you are at the mercy of the weather. Cold or rainy days are not good for drying laundry outdoors.
                                                                                                                                             
Electric clothes dryers are not environmentally friendly. In fact ,they are the second largest users of energy in our homes. The only appliance that uses more energy is the refrigerator.

Electric clothes dryers can generate over one ton of greenhouse gases. Many scientist argue the abundance of greenhouse gases may be a  partial cause of global warming.   

Solar clothes dryers/clotheslines use a simple renewable source of energy everyone can afford. This renewable energy is the sun and the wind. The cost of energy to dry laundry outdoors is zero, and you can decrease harmful effects to our environment, which is priceless.

But what can you do on cold, wet days without using an electric clothes dryer? There are indoor retractable clotheslines. These can be hung in a laundry room or enclosed back porch. A clotheshorse is another good option. These wooden, metal or plastic frames hold small loads of laundry and fold for easy storage. In the winter, the warm air from your furnace can serve double duty as a source of energy for indoor clothes drying, plus you will add moisture to dry indoor winter air.