Friday, October 15, 2021

A handly little device

For years and years and years, I've hung our laundry to dry. In our last house, Don made me a hanging clothes rack I used extensively.

Later he modified the rack and moved it to another location, where it was just as handy.

Sadly, we left the clothes rack behind when we sold our house last year. It was custom-built for the sloped upstairs of the house, and since we had no idea what the configuration of our new home would be at the time, we left it behind. I've missed it ever since.

However with just the two of us, I'm doing a lot less laundry. Don built me a clothesline in the yard for warmer weather.

But as fall progresses, I'm back to using my two standing racks indoors, which handle our laundry just fine. When the laundry is dry, I collapse the racks and store them away until needed again.

But the trouble with standing racks is the issue of hanging Don's shirts. On our old rack, I hung shirts from the edge of the rack.

But standing racks don't lend themselves to this option.

So my brilliant husband whipped me out a shirt rack in half an hour.

To make it, he harvested a dowel from an old easel he made for the girls when they were younger. The dowel has a swiveling insert at each end so it won't slide out of the hole in the standing leg.

The unit can be disassembled, so I can put it away when it's not needed. Genius!

So here's the laundry system (at least during cooler months) here in our new home.

11 comments:

  1. Don is a handy guy to have around!

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  2. I love it! Your husband is so resourceful!

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  3. Side benefit is that it will add a little humidity to the house during the dry winter months. You may want to consider doing laundry every day.

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  4. I envy the dry enough climate that has made this possible for you! Our clothes, books, walls, etc would all turn to mold.

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  5. I'm curious how it collapses. Can you show a close up of the top (inside), please?

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    1. I think "collapse" is the wrong word. It disassembles. I simply withdraw the dowel from the standing legs and store everything flat. I've altered the post to reflect that.

      - Patrice

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  6. Your drier racks bring back fond memories of my childhood. My mother had two of them and I use to but the two together and make a tent when they were not in use. Seeing as energy bills might be sky high this winter i'm looking to buy some now .

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  7. I use my dryer on some things, but skirts, dresses, pants, and shirts are put on hangers. I hang them on the shower rod in the bathroom that’s rarely used now that we’re empty-nesters. Other clothes are draped over the drying rack like you have.

    (I tried to comment yesterday. I don’t know what happened to it. I must have failed to publish it.)

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  8. I've used a broom stick across the backs of two chairs to hang shirts. Folding rack is great for smaller stuff.

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  9. Nice! Is there a reason it wouldn't have worked to lay a dowel between the 2 collapsable racks? It might not be level but it looks lie there's a couple of spots the racks are close enough. Or add a cup hook to each rack and use a length of chain, and put the hangers in the chain loops so they don't slide.

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