fun facts with Sahar, because no-one told me!
I line dry my family’s clothes as much as possible to save money (less electricity and less wear on the clothes), to sunbleach stains (two toddlers), and for the environment (less manufactured energy more wind and solar passive energy). In summer it also helps cool my home like a swamp cooler.
I installed a new laundry line with a fancy pulley system so I can hang while standing in one spot. The usual cotton rope I buy wasn’t available at the store, so I bought sisal rope - apparently more sun resistant, and it’s not plastic. I hung it on an overcast day. A week later, I had to tie a slip knot in it and pin it because it was too slack.
Sisal swells in moisture.
The hook I used to hang my pulley was unhooked by the sheer tension and the whole thing collapsed in freshly forked dirt. Even untying the slip knot was not enough to rehook it. I installed a new hook and used some chained up carabiners to rectify.
So here is the proper way to install a laundry line, particularly for sisal:
Ensure the drill is drilling in (not out), and using a ladder or otherwise boosted drill a pilot hole with a screw shorter than your hook into a solid support. I used a fence post and a shed roof on a post.
Screw a heavy duty hook in to the support. Repeat between 20 and 100ft away with another pilot hole and hook.
Hook the pulley assembly onto the hook, then run the rope around it. Gently pull it to the other hook and repeat with a second pulley. Tie into a big loop using a square knot, so the tension on the knot pulls it tighter instead of loosening once you have weight on it.
Using split rings made into a chain, or a length of chain that can fit over the hook, attach a chain to the hole in the pulley assembly with a carabiner. I recommend about 18 inches of chain. This should be at the spot you intend to stand while hanging laundry. ALWAYS STORE ON THE LOOSEST CHAIN LINK.
On a particularly dry day, go out and loop the carabiner to the hook. Retie your laundry line to its tightest. Rehook at end of chain so there is lots of slack in case of high humidity.
When hanging laundry, unhook chain and rehook at appropriate chain link or carabiner for the day’s humidity to be taut but not overtight. Every item or three you hang on the line, attach a carabiner to the lines. This helps keep the two lines of the loop together instead of tightening the empty top and slackening the loaded bottom.
Empty line, ready to hang laundry.
Image description: a closeup of a plastic laundry pulley on a sunny day, parallel to a fence with scraggly bushes. Another house and blue sky is visible in the background. The pulley is looped with sisal rope tied in three square knots with a curled 8 inch tail. Close to the pulley are black, brown then red to purple carabiners in rainbow order. The pulley is attached to a silver carabiner, which is in turn looped onto a white plastic covered hook screwed in to a 4x4 wooden post. A chain of 18 metal split rings dangles from the carabiner. The line has a slight parabola but is clearly taut.
Empty laundry line, ready to hang.
Image description. The same laundry line, taught with a slight parabola, at a different angle. The viewer is looking at a simple square blue grey shed that has the other end of the laundry line hooked to the far left roof corner. From right to left in background are visible a bush blooming with dark purple flowers, five tall skinny cypress trees, the shed, a mass of overgrown wild radish and a yellow blooming succulent, oak trees in full dark foliage, and some empty garden beds. The sky is bright blue and cloudless.
The line at rest, ready for storage.
Image description. The same laundry line at the same angle looking at the shed. The chain is visibly hooked at the furthest end from the pulley so the line has a deep slack in it.
