Monday, May 3, 2010

Solar Clothes Dryer





It was not until I moved to Denver in 1987 that I discovered I love the relaxing ritual of hanging laundry on a clothesline and taking them down when dry. Back then I worked my butt off 7 days a week from spring to fall as a landscaper, and my clothesline there gave me rare chances to be calm, watch the sky and birds as I hung or took down laundry. So as soon as I moved into my "old man house" here in Tampa I put up a clothesline that does double duty supporting a hammock. But as a tightwad I've noticed that my wood clothespins have short lifespans, and a long time had passed since I'd seen them cheap at Dollar Tree....I was down to barely enough old discolored ones to hang laundry and they were WAY too expensive at regular stores. Last week they FINALLY got some in at Dollar Tree....packs of 36 pins for $1. So I stockpiled four of them. In an effort to make them last longer, I put them in a plastic cookie tub I'd scrounged and poured over them some 'Thompson's Water Seal" that has been in my shed for years after I had dumpster dived it. I let them soak for a few minutes, then hung them on my clothesline to cure and dry. I have a feeling as a pathologically cheap tightwad that they will last MUCH longer. John

1 comment:

  1. What a great idea to water seal your clothes pins. I live in a house that I can not have a clothesline but I air dry all my clothes on a clothes drying rack. I often use clothes pins on it for socks and other smalls. I can't wait to try out your sealant method on my bag of clothes pins.

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