THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES: (if you don't know what clotheslines are, better skip this)



1. You had to wash the clothes line before hanging any clothes - walk the entire lengths of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.



2. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang "whites" with "whites," and hang them first.



3. You never hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail!. What would the neighbors think?



4.. Wash day on a Monday! . .. . Never hang clothes on the weekend, or Sunday, for Heaven's sake!



5. Hang the sheets and towels on the outside lines so you could hide your "unmentionables" in the middle (perverts & busybodies, y'know!)



6. It didn't matter if it was sub zero weather ... clothes would "freeze-dry."



7. Always gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes! Pins left on the lines were "tacky!"



8. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothes pins, but shared one of the clothes pins with the next washed item.



9. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed.



10. IRONED?! Well, that's a whole other subject!





A POEM



A clothesline was a news forecast

To neighbors passing by,

There were no secrets you could keep

When clothes were hung to dry.



It also was a friendly link

For neighbors always knew

If company had stopped on by

To spend a night or two.



For then you'd see the "fancy sheets"

And towels upon the line;

You'd see the "company table cloths"

With intricate designs.



The line announced a baby's birth

From folks who lived inside -

As brand new infant clothes were hung,

So carefully with pride!



The ages of the children could

So readily be known

By watching how the sizes changed,

You'd know how much they'd grown!



It also told when illness struck,

As extra sheets were hung;

Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,

Haphazardly were strung.



It also said, "Gone on vacation now"

When lines hung limp and bare.

It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged

With not an inch to spare!



New folks in town were scorned upon

If wash was dingy and gray,

As neighbors carefully raised their brows,

And looked the other way .. . .



But clotheslines now are of the past,

For dryers make work much less.

Now what goes on inside a home

Is anybody's guess!



I really miss that way of life.

It was a friendly sign

When neighbors knew each other best

By what hung on the line.

Yep, I was taught most of those rules! But not by my mom, by someone elses mom. :-)

I still hang clothes out when the weather is nice except for towels(hate scratchy towels). I use the dryer on rainy days and all winter.

I told Gary I wanted a clothesline down on our farm. He won't let me have one in town, says that they are tacky for some reason in town.

Towels come out softer when you add some vinegar in the final rinse and do a double rinse cycle to remove all the soap. Least that is what I remember when I had to use a wringer washer and line dry before Gary and I moved here and my aunt gave me my first automatic washer and dryer

I hate scratchy towels also Sandy, they were always the one thing I wouldn't hang out. Shelle, I use vinegar in the rinse every now and then to eliminate odors, not too much though because then your clothes will smell like mayonnaise.

Many of the subdivisions have association rules against using a clothes line.

That is why I will never live where there are association rules