Any opinions on clothes lines?

[figaro]

Hubby and me are having a "discussion" of sorts, I want a clothesline for the back yard. I want just a simple umbrella style line and he is insisting that I get a T-line (like his MOM'S!) and since he is so opinionated, we are at a stand still.

I would like to hear any and all of you on the merits of both. I like the umbrella style as I will not have to push the laundry basket full of wet clothes along as I put them on the line and he says the T-style will hold more and the one I want, well the lines are 6 inches from each other. (not sure why that matters, its not like clothes are fat or anything!) So, while I am waiting for hubby and I to agree on one, I get to go out and buy the line it self and string it up on the pool patio in the meantime!

So, can you tell me why you like the style you have or the one you grew up with or why the other style has its disadvantages?

Thank you all so much!

[Mike]

Get the T-style with pullies. Then you don't have to push the basket along.

If I ever get one (thinking about it) it will be the T-type. I've never been impressed with the circulars for some reason.

[Eccie]

I would go with the T style too. If you run two lines, one on each of the outer point of the T it seems like more space. I had an umbrella style one once, it never seemed as sturdy to me and sometimes the clothes on the inner lines were still damp when the outer ones were done.

[newamy]

I'm not sure what you mean by T style. My grandmother had an umbrella type and I grew up with a retractable and that is what we have now, like this http://www.organize.com/clothesdryer.html. My only comment on the umbrella type is I am not sure they make them as sturdy as my grandmother's was, the pole was a strong metal like you find for a tether ball pole and the umbrella never sagged, she could rotate the top to so as not to move around to much. With the retractable I put the basket on the ground and move around a bit to hang, but hey, it's good exercise.

Either way you will save electricity and help the environment with a clothes line. I love ours and have used in from warm spring days through early fall for 10 years and I live in Oregon, where it rains a bit. We have the retractable mounted to a wall of the house, then my husband put an extension of wood up from the shed the end is mounted to that. My parents currently have the extendable end mounted to a tree. When I was little and we live in a different place it was mounted between two trees. We never un-retract it, but one could if they must. There is a lot of tension in the lines so it can be a bit tricky to initially set up. Mine will hold at least a load of laundry, possibly two depending on what I wash. Often on a really hot day the clothes dry faster than they would in the dryer. So I am taking down one load as I hang up another.

Another clothes line tip...people complain of stiff clothes and yes this does happen. Most soften with use. But a warm windy day will yield softer clothes than a blasting hot still day, both conditions will dry your clothes but with different results.

[Knit4Pie]

We had the long clothesline, with pulley. I loved going to the backyard and seeing the clothesline stretched across with clothes and sheets drying on it, but I know sometimes space isn't available for those. We had an umbrella one for extra laundry and it would never stay up in even a not-so-bad wind. We had it reinforced, etc, and it was still not very sturdy. I think I would go with the T line.

[Sewing Angel]

I have the T style also. That is all I have ever used. I use mine most of the time. Even in the winter we have some nice days and I hang the laundry out then.
Angel

[Lucy78green]

We've always had a long line - not T-type, more like a bit of sailing cord strung up in the yard. The tension isn't good so my dad made a clothes prop to hold it up when it's full. Our clothes smell like the rosemary bush in the garden! Never had the umbrella type - I guess they're more practical if you have limited space. We had one in a cottage on holiday once - didn't stand up to gale force winds spun around really fast and some of the clothes fell off!

[vaknitter]

Personally can't use a clothes line b/c of allergies. However, my mother has both, the umbrella syle is great for shirts, socks etc and the long line is better for blankets and beach towels. The biggest probelm with the T line is that it needs a center support or it sags under the weight of weight blankets. It can only be hung so high b/c my mom is only so tall ...

P.S. I know all about opinionated husbands and stand stills. I sometimes find that if I just do what I want and don't ask for his help or tell him if he wants a T-line then he can do laundry.

[Phaedra]

I grew up in a rowhouse the city; we had a line on 2 pulleys that reached from one bedroom window to a side bathroom window (this is all on the 2nd floor). Somehow we figured out how to be able to use both lines on the pulley --remember we're hanging out of a window.
I'd vote for the t line, 'cause every umbrella type I've ever seen in a yard leaned and didn't look too stable.
And besides, you'll be able to take wonderful future pictures of all the dyed yarn and lacey stuff you are/will be creating.

[nefferbea]

I grew up with the umbrella type, but I use the retractable type. I really like it because it's out of the way when you don't need to use it and it can hold more laundry on it at a time than the umbrella type can.
Jennifer