natural laundry line?

I recently bought some laundry line from the hardware store.  I had been using the rope covered by vinyl sheathing, but that is starting to break at the tension points where it goes through the frame of the laundry hanger thingie...(not sure what it's called...)

So I got instead the braided laundry line, but I noticed the other day that when I was hanging my clothes, I saw it shedding minute dust-like particles in the sunlight every time I touched it.  UGH!!  It's not even that old.

I tried to find natural line online, but nothing seemed decent.  People seemed to complain that natural rope would sag, leaving their clothes dragging in the dirt.

What are people using for laundry line?  

I know biodegradable means it breaks down with the weather, but is there something not too expensive, that might last a decent amount of time, without spewing toxic, persistent plastics into the environment?

Have you seen this thread?

https://permies.com/t/188944/Biodegradable-Trellis-Twine-Options-Nylon

Alina Green wrote:I recently bought some laundry line from the hardware store.  I had been using the rope covered by vinyl sheathing, but that is starting to break at the tension points where it goes through the frame of the laundry hanger thingie...(not sure what it's called...)

So I got instead the braided laundry line, but I noticed the other day that when I was hanging my clothes, I saw it shedding minute dust-like particles in the sunlight every time I touched it.  UGH!!  It's not even that old.

I tried to find natural line online, but nothing seemed decent.  People seemed to complain that natural rope would sag, leaving their clothes dragging in the dirt.

What are people using for laundry line?  

I know biodegradable means it breaks down with the weather, but is there something not too expensive, that might last a decent amount of time, without spewing toxic, persistent plastics into the environment?

Kinda goofy, but for something that is semi-permanent wouldn't a stainless steel wire kind of fill the niche?

Don't have to worry about replacing, no toxic dust coming off. Its a little overkill but a one time investment.

As long as the wet clothes don't rust the wire and stain the clothes. Probably wouldn't be good to drape the clothes directly over the wire either, use clothes pins.

I asked this very question not so long ago and got some good responses here
https://permies.com/t/222761/clothesline-kind-line

T Simpson wrote:As long as the wet clothes don't rust the wire and stain the clothes. Probably wouldn't be good to drape the clothes directly over the wire either, use clothes pins.

When I used stainless wire i never had issues with rusting, not sure if it was because the wire was not actually stainless (came with the house, not sure what it was, it's almost ubiquitous here) or because i never left it on for more than a day.

Its not really "laundry line" but a lot of people I have seen use a wooden drying rack. That is pretty natural.

I use a wooden drying rack too. Don't put a wet white shirt on it, though: the tannins will seep out and you'll look like a zebra at the office.

The coated steel lines I used at my old place held up for a long, long time. But I put them in the shade between two giant pine trees. Full-strength-barbecue UV isn't good for the lines, and isn't good for the clothing you put on them.

Edit: my coated steel lines were permanent and static. If they were circling through a pulley, all bets would be off.

Thanks.  This gives me several options to try.  I'll see what the hardware store has.

Alna, something else I just thought of.
Not sure where you are, but talking about sagging lines- here folks often just use what they have/find/scrounge (good amount of clotheslines here made from fiber optic cable, for example: poles get knocked down, there's no metal in the cable, ends up on the side of the road, someone grabs it).
No matter what lines they are, they eventually get saggy. Here it's super common to find a fixed line with a pole near the line. Usually a long piece of bamboo, notched at the top.* As tall as the line can go from its fixed points. When you're putting the clothes out, save a space in the center of the line, and when you're done loading the (now very saggy) line put the rope in that notch, stand the pole up, and bob's your uncle. The pole moves with the wind and keeps the clothes high. If you're on top of a slippery surface the pole might occasionally slip out from the bottom, but I had a paved back patio and saw that happen maybe twice in the three years I lived there.

*we used this same notched bamboo pole as my fruit picking pole- good for snagging stems with that notch, giving a twist, and down comes the orange.

Do you mean something like this? (a V cut out at the top of the bamboo pole, on opposite sides)
...I attached a png; don't know how to upload an image here.

How do you use that to pick fruit?

cute pic. obviously you'd turn the pole so the rope goes through the notch. with bamboo it's really easy, but i've seen people do it with boards too.

and yes for picking fruit: snag the stems with that notch, give a twist, and down comes the orange. even better with things like tangerines or rangpur limes where the branches are covered with spikes and nobody's climbing that tree!!

Yeah, it was too complicated to do the picture realistically.

I'll have to try that for picking fruit...!

I went down to the local farm supply and bought a large roll of fence wire. This is the smooth galvanized wire. I believe it is #9 wire gauge.  This is the wire that is used for bracing at corners. My two close lines are about 75’ long.
I installed it with a long threaded “eye” bolt at one end, draw it up tight with the bolt and nut. It has no problem holding up 75 linear feet of wet clothes.
The bolt mechanism takes out most of the sag.
I did not use posts. One end is secured to a beam in the barn wall. The other end is attached to a walnut tree.
For the prop stick I added a few 3/4” PVC plumbing “tee” fittings. They slide freely on the line and when needed a stick or pipe is added help hold up that heavy quilt. Almost 10 years of service and about $20-30 of hardware.

The stuff that has seen better days gets hung on the fence. Neighbor does not like it, he can live. Little thing get hung on one of those foldable things.

Lines made for sailboats neither stretch nor decompose. However, they are not cheap, and are certainly not made of natural materials. We have been using sailing lines for five years, they are still like new. They are put up and taken down with the laundry.

I made a rack with some broomsticks on folding wooden trestle, added some spacer blocks to keep the broomsticks seperated. Protected it with boiled linseedoil against damp clothing and done. No need for clothes pins anymore either, but this is an indoor one, no worries about wind and such.

I have a retractable plastic covered nylon line in a case attached to the garage (it can attach anywhere).  Super convenient!  I keep it rolled up when not in use.

Hi Daniel,

Welcome to Permies.

I've got 4 lines running off the the side of my greenhouse to a 4x4 brace (2 4x4's with a 2x4 across the top to attach the other ends of the lines.  The lines are vinyl covered wire, like aircraft cable. It does stretch but they've been there for at least 5 years and the sag isn't so bad I can't keep my clothes off the ground. When it is too saggy to live with, I will get new cable ferrules, cut the lines to pull up the slack and recrimp them. Should easily get another 5 years out of it. It doesn't rust (as long as the vinyl coating is intact) and I live in Western WA, the soggiest place I know of.

As far as winter time, or anytime it's pissing down rain, I'm going to try drying the clothes near the rocket heater. I will just hang shirts on clothes hangers and suspend them from something I haven't decided on yet. Pants can be hung upside down with clothespins from regular shirt hangers, too. Ideally, I will barely need my dryer this year, except for big blankets and towels.

Hi!
I’m a laundry lover… really. I enjoy cleaning our clothes as naturally as possible and hang everything outside year round. We don’t own a dryer since we live in a skoolie but we do have the sweetest little washer that fits under the counter. My all time favorite clothes line is the spool of the “green stuff”. I guess it’s heavy duty vinyl over wire. Never had one break in all my years. I use the toggles to connect to a hook end to tighten it good. Nothing better than clothes blowing in the sunshine on pin straight lines! Cause you know- nothing else will do!

Curious how big pieces of bamboo will hold up over time. Everyone knows some that has bamboo.

Our best one ever was the lightning arrestor wire off old power poles.  Nearly 1/8 inch diameter.  Rather than strands it is a single heavy wire.  It was fairly heavily plated and never got rusty.  It wrapped around a large bolt at either end and just had a crimp sleeve that anchored it to itself.   worked for basically a decade in Wyoming winds.  Not natural but recycled should almost qualify.

Thanks for all the variations on a theme...I LOVE it!

I found this.  The sideways-leaning pole cracked me up.  Ain't fancy, but it works...hard!

I use a dog line lead and I've had mine last for 20 and still great shape. It looks like its a stainless steel braid with clear rubber coating and it's 2 25 ft lengths attached together at ends by a heavy steel clip attached between two trees

Lsura Pugh wrote:I use a dog line lead and I've had mine last for 20 and still great shape. It looks like its a stainless steel braid with clear rubber coating and it's 2 25 ft lengths attached together at ends by a heavy steel clip attached between two trees

Welcome to Permies!

Hi Laura,

Welcome to Permies.

I looked at several options yesterday at the hardware store.  They had braided galvanized and stainless steel line, but those seemed way too stiff, and I'd like to be able to tie/twist it on, rather than purchase even more hardware, increasing the cost, if possible.

There was galvanized wire in lengths, but those were higher gauge, like 16, 18, and 20, I believe...at any rate, much too thick or thin to work with (like picture hanging wire).

Nothing in the fencing section.

There was a vinyl-covered cable, but that too was quite thick, necessitating hardware.

If I need to use something to secure the wire/cable, what are those crimped? pieces, what are they called, and what section of the store might I find them in?

Alina Green wrote:
If I need to use something to secure the wire/cable, what are those crimped? pieces, what are they called, and what section of the store might I find them in?

They are called ferrules and you should be able to find them in the hardware section.  I don't have the 'proper' tool to crimp them, I just used vise grips but it works. See my pictures above for what I have. The loop that I run the cable through to keep it from kinking and breaking is called a grommet and I attached mine to snaps so I could take the lines down if I needed to drive something under them (not needed anymore since I planted too many trees nearby)

Thanks, Gina.  I LOVE learning new stuff every day!  

I've actually got some, used for a different purpose, which I don't need.  So, in true permaculture style, I could reclaim them and use them, if need be!

I LOVE IT!