by Kaitlyn Hamilton

Created on: September 03, 2008

If you're clever and a little creative, then you find plenty of places in your apartment or dorm to hang your laundry to dry. These days, clothes lines outside are pretty much banned in all of the nicer neighborhoods, apartment complexes, and dorms. So, those of us who want to save some money and electricity or gas by drying our clothes inside must resort to some unusual measures.

I do have a clothes dryer, but I choose not to use it unless I'm drying very heavy items such as towels, bedding, or other bulky items. I've found that my shower rod makes for a great hanging rod for my damp clothes. If it is warm out, then I open the bathroom window and turn on a fan in the room. It dries my clothes surprisingly fast.

I also have a hanging rod above my washer and dryer. When I run out of room on my shower rod, then I hang my shorter items like skirts, t-shirts, and shorts on the rod above my washer and dryer. I also have a small desk fan that I turn on when I hang wet or damp clothes. The main key to getting your clothes to dry within a reasonable amount of time is to not hang them too closely together. They need room to breathe.

As for my thin, light-weight clothing items such as blouses and light jackets, I iron them straight out of the washing machine. The heat from the iron causes the water to evaporate and I get all of the wrinkles out at the same time. The iron uses very little electricity to operate, so I save money. If you don't already have an iron, then you can pick one up for very little money at your local Wal-Mart, Target, or other department store. You can also find the smaller half-size ironing boards that will fit under your bed or in the closet.

I've also used cup-hooks in my ceiling. These are the little hooks that are sometimes used to hang thin curtain rods and sometimes they are even used to hang potted plants from the ceiling. I don't recommend littering your entire ceiling with these little hooks for the sake of hanging your clothes on them, but you might be able to get by with putting a couple of them in a less visible area of the room. If your ceiling is fairly sound, then you might even be able to tie some nylon cord between the two hooks which will make a miniature clothes line.

I've also discovered that you can find a portable clothes rack at Wal-mart and Target. These racks are easy to assemble and disassemble, so you could store one in a small space, but be able to quickly put it together when you need a place to hang your wet clothes.

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