The Responsibility Project^®. Exploring what it means to do the right thing

Underwear, Outside

51 Comments

August 26, 2008 by Kathy McManus

You have the right to bear arms.

But do you have the right to bare underwear—or sheets, shirts, socks, and the rest of your laundry--on an outdoor clothesline on your private property?

Perhaps not, if you’re one of tens of millions of Americans who live in houses and condos governed by local homeowners associations, many of which ban outdoor clotheslines for aesthetic reasons.

There’s more on the line than laundry, which the associations contend is responsible for lower property values.

“When realtors show a home, as a buyer do you want to see clothes hanging in the backyard of the neighboring home?” asks a supporter of the ban. “Or if clotheslines are allowed, what if a homeowner chooses to leave the same clothes hanging for weeks on end?”

But where some see an eyesore flapping in the breeze, others see an answer blowing in the wind. According to the Right to Dry movement, clothes dryers account for five to ten per cent of residential electricity use, second only to refrigerators. Line drying allows environmentally responsible consumers to reduce their energy use and save money.

“Everybody has to do their laundry,” says a proponent of the movement. “The clothesline is beautiful, gorgeous, sentimental and nostalgic for many.”

And the clothesline has become the focus of protective legislation. Florida, Utah, and Colorado have enacted laws upholding their citizens’ right to dry. Seven other states are considering similar safeguards.

That the clothesline would be hung out to dry as an unsightly endangered species has left many people scratching their heads and putting their thoughts on the line. “We see clothes, including underwear, in stores all the time, and no one I heard was offended,” said one. “What’s the worst that can happen hanging laundry?” asked another. “Heaven forbid you might actually have to talk to a neighbor hanging theirs.” And this: “I believe that we all have to take some responsibility in ‘cutting back’ and ‘going green.’ It just seems that a ban on clotheslines is a step backward and shows irresponsibility on the part of the homeowner’s associations.”

Tell us what you think: Should outdoor clotheslines be banned as irresponsible, view-ruining relics of the past? Should you show greater responsibility to a homeowner’s association or to what you think is best for your family and the environment? Where do we draw the line—if clotheslines can be banned for aesthetic reasons, what about pink flamingos, holiday decorations, and other personal public displays?

51 Comments

What do you think? Leave a comment

• August 26, 2008 by heavensabvus

  Yes, I actually do want to see neighbors with clotheslines when I'm looking to buy a house. It tells me that I might be finding neighbors who a) care about the environment, b) are not wasteful of resources, or c) pay attention to their finances. These are all good things in my book. As long as the clothesline is in the backyard, why would I see it anyway? I don't expect to be peeking over my neighbor's fence. Should I also tell them what type of patio furniture or plants they should have in their backyard?

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  • August 26, 2008 by Dave Washburn

    Perhaps things are different in different areas of the country. I reside in southwest Ohio. Most, if not all, of the planned neighborhoods I've been in have fences that are no more than about 4 feet high. I'm sure this is due to guidelines set in place by their HOA, as it is in my neighborhood. I can see everything in my neighbors' yards.

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    • August 26, 2008 by heavensabvus

      I've never heard of backyard fences being only 4 ft. I've lived in NJ, NY, CA and OR, in urban, suburban and rural areas, and the standard for a backyard fence has always been set at a maximum of 6 ft. Front fences have consistently been a maximum of 3 ft. Can't figure out the point of a backyard fence being only 4 ft. as it wouldn't provide either privacy or animal containment (not to my dogs anyway). 6 ft. does both.

    • August 29, 2008 by Melissa S

      We live in a town with no fences, just stone walls here and there, and lots of laundry lines. We have one on our southern lawn, and another in our kitchen. Last year I ran our dryer about 6 times and shaved about $30 off of our monthly electric bill. Our clothes are cleaner, fit better, less faded, less worn out and last longer. To me, it is a little inconvenient but very much a win-win. I'm proud to see our undies and shirts flapping in the breeze, right down to my son's Cars underpants.

    • November 2, 2008 by virginia Blackwelder

      I think it is absurd to say that a person cannot hang their laundry out. How can this be offensive when nothing on TV is offensive this day and time? If we are going to be environmentally concerned then let’s think clearly.

• August 27, 2008 by Randy Yale

  While few, if any, problems can be boiled down to either/or, this one comes close. Clotheslines reflect two world views. Those who oppose clotheslines in their neighborhood want a perfect world where aesthetic value can be bought through the use of energy-consuming appliances. In that world perfect lawns that require ever-increasing amounts of water and chemicals are unmarred by unsightly laundry because that laundry is kept private due to energy-consuming machinery. The other view is that there is a cost for our lifestyles. Since the cost is often paid in terms of environmental degradation or future resource shortages, then responsibility is owed not just to physical neighbors but distant people and future generations.

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• September 14, 2008 by Helen Neubauer

  I see nothing wrong with hanging one's clean laundry on the line to dry; it's environmentally friendly and in our world, where we fight wars over oil, saving energy should be considered patriotic, not shameful. People should not be penalized for acting responsibly. We live in a society that places aesthetics over ethics; while I can agree that communities may want to enact rules regarding unsightly garbage, junk cars, and weeds, I cannot fathom how someone could be offended by clean laundry! The sight of sheets and clothing waving in the breeze always makes me nostalgic for a time when family values mattered and life was simpler; I love the smell of sun-dried sheets and often feel envious when I drive pass a home on my lunch hour and see their laundry drying in the sun. When my daughters were young and I was a full-time mother and home-maker, I always hung our laundry on the line to dry. I cannot recall ever feeling offended or disturbed by seeing someone else's - nor has anyone ever complained that mine was "unsightly" or "offensive". I agree wholeheartedly with Randy Yale; we cannot continue to live in the present with no thought to the future; living responsibly in all aspects of our lives, including our energy usage, is something that should be promoted rather than prohibited.

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• September 18, 2008 by Stephen Hinkle

  I feel that homeowner associations should loosen this restriction. While I feel that some clotheslines can look bad aesthetically, I feel that they will be necessary in the upcoming years. This is because planet earth is going to run short on fossil fuels as many of the world’s oil and gas fields are in decline. Why not allow one to tap their own solar energy to dry their clothes for free? This saves energy and reduces global warming. As a compromise, HOAs could ask that clothes lines be in ones back or side yards instead of their front yard if aesthetics is an issue. In reality, I believe that Congress should make HOAs allow clotheslines in one of the green energy bills in Congress.

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  • November 12, 2008 by Granna

    Oh, Stephen, let's please not ask for another government interference in private decisions. The federal govt is not my daddy.

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    • November 13, 2008 by Stephen Hinkle

      The reason I think the government needs to get involved is that it is very hard for homeowners to change their CC&Rs;to repeal a ban themselves.

    • June 14, 2009 by ksagnostic

      No, apparently private tyranny by private HOA's are your preferred daddy, and a much more anal daddy than any federal or state government it is. Complete irony impairment. Remarkable.

• September 21, 2008 by Toni Cincotta

  Absolutely clotheslines should be allowed. I am a single mother with a small child to raise alone. The cost of electricity is soaring and I dry everything on the clothesline. I saved over $200.00 last year on my electric bill, and I am conserving for the good of the planet as well. Also, nothing beats the fresh smell of sheets hung out on the clothesline to dry.

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• October 1, 2008 by Bea Jones

  Clotheslines are only a part of the problem. HOAs and governments do not allow vegetable gardens or 'farm animals' - all of the things that contribute to not only a healthful and organic but energy-conscious lifestyle. While the populace screams for more and more viable energy resources, power company lobbyists are up in Washington trying to get 'protection' from those who want to generate their own electricity and save not only their own money but the government involvement. Even the highly touted "Green Home" in SC can produce and store its own electricity - but the providing electric company will not by government decree buy any overproduction, nor even install any reversal wiring so that the Green Home can provide more electricity to its neighbors. No matter how much governments and HOAs talk about 'going green' - the truth of the matter is that they simply don't want to see it, smell it, or hear it - as long as it is sanitized and out of sight, it can be 'organic'. Unfortunately living organically - no matter how healthy and productive for those who do it - is labor intensive and isn't esthetically correct, and is heartily banned by the very people who insist that they are supervising our welfare 'for our own good'.

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• October 11, 2008 by Kristi Jacobsen

  Our community, by ordinance, doesn't allow permanent clotheslines. The first thing we did after putting up a fence around our backyard, was to put in an umbrella style clothesline. I love hanging the laundry out to dry-the only thing I use the dryer for is my husband's dress shirts. If I don't dry them in the dryer I have to iron them and I think that probably uses more energy. And living in Florida, I can hang clothes out year round. I also have the good fortune to work five minutes from my home so if the weather threatens I can run home and take the laundry in. I agree with the poster who said if I see a clothesline in the yard when I'm looking at a house it says a lot about the attitudes of the residents.

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• November 1, 2008 by James English Smith

  We live in Roswell, Ga., a conservative Atlanta suburb where the concept of "limited government" is interpreted as allowing the city to regulate some of the most minute details of home life: grass height, number of cars parked in the driveway, and most recently, the use of clotheslines. From having attended some council meetings, I get the impression that the impetus for this suffocating trend comes as much from city planners who attend national conventions with their peers a bit too often, as much as from citizen complaints. My to-do list this weekend is to put up a clothesline to save energy and have fresher smelling laundry.

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• November 2, 2008 by susie edmonds

  While I understand the desire to set and keep certain standards in a neighborhood, I believe that I am entitled to plant tomatoes and basil among the zinnias, paint my door any color that pleases me, have a wind chime on the back porch, and -- absolutely -- hang my clothes out to dry. All environmental concerns aside, this is a simple pleasure that harms no one.

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• November 3, 2008 by mvctc

  Clothes lines are great, but come winter, unless your drying inside/ They don't do much good unless you live in Florida. However, we found something just as good. You know that vent on the back of the dryer that runs outside where it releases all that hot air into the atmosphere? Well, use it to heat your house. Just take the dryer hose, plug up the external vent, and take an old pair of pantyhose or maybe a thin sock, stretch it over the opening, and this will allow all the hot air from the dryer to help heat your house while keeping the lint trapped. Remember to keep the catch cleaned out or the link may cause respiratory problems, especially with people with allergies.

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  • July 25, 2010 by Lee825

    Good lord, don't do this!! That's an easy way to start a fire - lint is very flammable, and clogged dryer exhausts cause 4,000 fires per year in the U.S. alone (source: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/appliances/laundry-and-cleaning/clothes-dryers/dryer-fire-caution/ ). Also a great way to cause mold growth on your walls from all the heat and humidity. And if you have a gas dryer, you could poison yourself with carbon monoxide by exhausting your dryer indoors.

    Many new dryers have electronics in them that will shut off the dryer if it ductwork is blocked as fire prevention, which (rightly) prevents them from working if a sock is stretched over the exhaust outlet.

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• November 4, 2008 by Bethany Bogart

  Yes, though the scenery might be disturbed by the clothes you wear hanging outside, think of the problem this way: If global warming continues, and the environment begins to deteriorate, there won't really bee any scenery to look at. So for all the people who are offended by bras and underwear hanging outside, here's a tip: Don't ever pass by Victoria's Secret.

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• November 5, 2008 by Ginger Harden

  I think neighbors who adhere to common courtesy and are considerate seldom offend. I have a clothes line, but am careful to be observant and considerate of my neighbors by, for instance, not hanging out my underwear when my neighbors and their guests are enjoying an afternoon in their backyard or on their deck, etc. They have no issue with my clothes line because I am considerate. Also, I placed my clothes line in a discreet area behind trees and shrubs, and my neighbor and I have had fun and have enjoyed our joint effort to plant attractive shrubs, trees and plants on BOTH properties that prevent the clothes line from being too obvious, and certainly not offensive. I think selfishness and/or the lack of consideration cause more problems than aesthetics. It's important to talk to your neighbors: let them know you don't want to offend them and that their feelings, needs, and privacy are important to you. Besides, we all need to do everything within our control to save energy, not just for our pocketbooks, but for our planet. It's all in how you handle it.

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