by Nicole Lane

Created on: February 17, 2008

Been there, done that, still do it! I am a single mother in an apartment complex that doesn't allow tenants to have their own washer and dryer. Not only do I dry in my apartment, I often wash in my apartment as well. Depending on where you are doing laundry you always need to think about the drip factor when line drying your clothes. Most laundromats around here you can dry free if you wash there, however the complex laundry room isn't so accommodating. If we can't get to my sister's house to do laundry then we generally head to the wash here dry free place. I can normally fit about 6 loads of laundry into one of the big washers for about $6 and drying is free and fast (you get 2 dryers per big washer).

Either way, I don't always have the money or the time to load up and head to the laundromat. And I, for the most part, will not use the laundry room here at the apartments. Now on to the line drying inside. If you have washed your clothes in a newer machine, then they will generally come out without much "drippage" and it is safe to hang your clothes freely in your apartment. There are many inside lines you can buy for fairly cheap that make hanging your clothes even easier. I wouldn't suggest hanging on the shower rod, from personal experience, wet clothes tend to be to heavy. I usually try to put the clothes out to dry in a room that either has a ceiling fan, vents near by, or an open window. Having 2 of the 3 is even better!
You can get a drying rack if you have the space for it that makes drying pretty easy. They have some that air will blow up and through the "branches" of the rack, however I'm not sure if that is only for the ones that connect to your dryer. But I do have a trick to make a bit of a home made rack like that one, that you will read about later on.

Now if you have washed your clothes in an older washer so that they are wetter when done, you might want to lay down some plastic or an old blanket underneath your drying line. I have come home many times to a damp floor when I first started inside drying. Some heavier items, such as jeans, I squeeze out as much of the excess water as I possibly can before hanging to dry. If you are like me, and can't always make it to a washing machine, you might have to use the sink or the tub to wash some clothes in. I wouldn't normally suggest washing thicker clothes this way as it is much harder to get all the water out. Lighter garments work best with this method, however if you do have that sweatshirt or pair

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