In the summer, the hot sun blesses us in so many ways.  It brings people out of their homes and together; it warms our swimming pools and feeds the plants in our gardens.  There is also one thing the sun is perfect for, LAUNDRY.  Hanging up your clothes to dry and letting the sun do all the work not only can save energy, but it can save your clothes. Not to mention, it is really easy.

The clothes dryer accounts for 5.8% of residential energy use per year and is the third biggest user of electricity in your home according to the US Department of Energy.  According to Laundrylist.org, if each American hung their clothes up to dry, we would save enough energy to close down several power plants.

Another plus: Hanging  your clothes to dry not only saves energy but it also saves your clothes.  When clothes are tumbled dried, the fibers of your clothes are broken down, which causes your clothes to wear much quicker.  Where do you think dry lint comes from?  If your clothes are hung up to dry they can last longer, which in turn saves the material needed to buy new clothes.  It also decreases the amount of clothes thrown out into the land fill.

Here are a few simple tips from  the Queen of Clean and a few of my own to help you on the road to line drying your clothes.

• A tension curtain rod hung up in a laundry room can make a great place to hang up clothes.  Project Laundry List also has many styles of clothes lines to choose from.
• Want eye-popping whites?  Hang your clothes in direct sunlight.
• Use caution when hanging colored clothes in direct sun.  Just as the sun bleaches your whites, it can bleach your colored clothes.
• Hanging clothes on plastic hangers with sloped ends will help them dry without “shoulder dimples.”
• Don’t like how your clothes can be a little stiff after line drying?  Toss them in the dryer with a wet washcloth or hand towel for 5 minutes and it will soften the clothes.
• The sun and a little lemon juice works wonders on stains .  Pour a little lemon juice on the stain, sit it out in the sun for 30 minutes and then wash.  No more stains!
• Clothes will have fewer wrinkles when line dried if you don’t spin to much water out of them before you hang them up.  Shut off your washer half way through the spin cycle and then hang up your clothes. You also save a little extra energy that way.