The Prologue: I have long been reluctant to add a clothesline to our basement. There is a space that is occupied by my husband's car. There is a small utility space then there is our workshop which is often filled with flying sawdust, various crafts, wet paint and large pieces of pipe being swung around. Its also cold and damp so Im not sure how well things would dry even if I got tough with myself and cleared out space to string up a clothes line. This summer when we added a sloped roof to our house we also gained a small attic. Its only 4 ft at the highest point, but that was enough to string up a clothesline. 
The Cons. There are a few cons to doing laundry this way. First, hauling a heavy basket of wet laundry up steep attic steps might not be good for the physically frail or naturally clumsy. Next, I discovered that a 40+ ft clothes line takes a considerable amount of strength to pull along especially when you add 30 lbs of wet clothing to it. If I had to do it again, I might go with a fixed line rather than a moveable line on pulleys. Then again, maybe not. Carrying a heavy basket of wet clothes in a stooping position while stepping over rafters would have had its own set of problems. Most of which would probably center around my back.
The Pros. We are almost completely dryer free all year round now. We still use the dryer for a few things (dress shirts and towels). I have also discovered there are a few advantages to an indoor clothes line I had never considered in all my years of using an outdoor clothes line. One is that you dont have to worry about the rain. If It starts to rain, our clothes will continue to dry. It also means that I can do a load of laundry right before I leave on vacation and not worry about it. I would be reluctant to leave my laundry outside for three or fours days even in the summer. It also helps if you are shy about your underwear.
The Lessons:
- When I started hanging my laundry in the attic, I naturally started hanging up thing early in the morning just as I had hung my laundry on our outside line during the summer. After about a week I realized that this was not the best strategy. I reasoned that the best time to take the laundry into the attic is late afternoon when the attic is at it warmest. That way I dont dump all the cold attic air into the living room.
- In cold weather, it takes about two days for the laundry to dry in the attic so every two days or so I open up the attic and take down the dry laundry and put up a load of wet laundry.
- I have found that although I can fit our queen size fitted sheets on the line, the flat sheet is too wide even folded in half so it has to go in the dryer with something else.
- For each large garment I hang (t-shirt, pants, dress, etc), I set one aside. That way I know when I have reached the middle of the laundry pile. I then hang all of the short items like socks and underwear in the middle because that part of the line hangs lowest. This is important when you only have 4'. Then I continue with the large garments again.
I dont mind the chore of bringing my basket of wet laundry up from the basement, pulling down the stairs and climbing up with my basket. In fact, I rather like it as chores go. Its especially fun on a stormy afternoon to listen to the rain on the roof while pinning up clothes on the line to dry.
The Side Note: We had this giant role of coated aluminum wire that I purchased from the salvage yard and then re-donated after I used what I needed. If I had kept it, I wouldnt have need to buy new materials for this project. Sometimes Im torn between keeping stuff so that I dont need to buy new things and the practical limitations of our storage space. Hoarding isnt green because what you have tucked away, cannot be used by someone else. We try through our re-use co-op to encourage sharing of things and we have been fairly successful but its not perfect.
We hope our readers can do even better then us by planning ahead and finding creative materials. Thats part of why we keep this blog. So that others can learn from our mistakes and do it even better and greener!
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