Hanging clothes to dry

How to Hang Clothes to Dry Properly

Mary Smith
By Mary Smith. Updated: January 16, 2017
How to Hang Clothes to Dry Properly

When it comes to clothes, there a trick for everything: washing, drying and ironing. There are certain tips and tricks for hanging clothes on a clothesline to avoid marking or creasing them. OneHowTo.com shows you all these little nifty ways to hang clothes to dry properly.

You may also be interested in: How to Prevent Clothes Smelling Damp

Contents

  1. Before hanging your clothes
  2. Hanging colored clothes outdoors
  3. Tips for dry hanging shirts
  4. Avoid wrinkles when hanging clothes
  5. Dry hanging bed linen
  6. Hanging other clothes items properly
  7. How to hang clothes to dry indoors

Before hanging your clothes

Knowing how to hang clothes properly will ensure that they do not crease or stain as they dry. Doing so is more simple than ironing, without mentioning more time and cost effective.

The best way to hang your clothes will depend on the material they are made from.

You may have seen your grandmother or your mother shake clothes before hanging them; this is done for two reasons: to eliminate any lint remaining in the garment and also to stretch it so that it dries with as few wrinkles possible.

Hanging colored clothes outdoors

When it comes to hanging colored clothes, here's a good trick if you usually hang them in the sun: do it inside out to keep the color intact. Similarly, avoid leaving clothes outside for days; bring them in as soon as they are dry.

Make sure your clothesline does not have direct sunlight if you want to avoid the colors from fading.

How to Hang Clothes to Dry Properly - Hanging colored clothes outdoors

Tips for dry hanging shirts

For shirts, hag them on a hanger as they dry; this will make ironing a lot easier and quicker. You also need to make sure there is plenty of space between the shirt and other hanging garments to make sure that they are not touching.

This also applies when you hang dresses, as they are usually made of more delicate fabric and will crease easier on the line.

How to Hang Clothes to Dry Properly - Tips for dry hanging shirts

Avoid wrinkles when hanging clothes

Make sure that you hang out the clothes as soon as they are washed; otherwise, they will wrinkle and might start smelling if left in the washing machine. This also means that ironing will be quicker. Note that this trick is also useful for clothes made of delicate fabric.

To prevent garments from wrinkling, place pegs on the seams. We recommend buying plastic pegs rather than wood peg, as they are less likely to cause creases.

Dry hanging bed linen

One of the biggest doubts comes when we need to hang bed linen on a clothesline.

The best way for them to dry properly is to hang them over the clothesline so that there is half of the fabric hanging from each side. Make sure that the sheets are properly spread out and attach clothespins around twelve inches apart from each other.

If you want to hang a duvet, blanket or other heavy fabrics, it's best to hang them over two clotheslines so the weight doesn't make them drop.

How to Hang Clothes to Dry Properly - Dry hanging bed linen

Hanging other clothes items properly

There are some clothes items that need to be hung in a specific way so they can hang properly:

Underwear

Underwear is usually made of delicate material, so it's even more important to hang it properly. For bras, the best way to do so is by their hooks. Underpants need to be hung by the waistband and socks should be hung by the toe end.

Pants

Pants or trousers, like underpants, should also be hung by their waistbands. To do so properly, fold the waistband over the line and add two clothespins to each end.

T-shirts

In order to allow t-shirts to dry properly and to avoid too many creases, as we have noted above, you should make sure you hang them by the

How to Hang Clothes to Dry Properly - Hanging other clothes items properly

How to hang clothes to dry indoors

Some people don't have a clothesline or a space where they can hang their clothes indoors. The best aid for indoor drying will be the drying rack, so make sure you make some space in your home to place it when you do your laundry. It's best if you choose a room that has plenty of natural sunshine and breeze so that your clothes dry faster, so open those window once all your clothes are hung up.

You can also use clothes hangers to optimize space, use them for more delicate clothes, as we have pointed out above. If you want more detailed tips we advise you to take a look at our article on how to dry clothes faster indoors.

As clothes tend to take longer to dry indoors, make sure you change the sides over and flip your clothes after a day or two to make sure they don't end up musty.

How to Hang Clothes to Dry Properly - How to hang clothes to dry indoors

If you want to read similar articles to How to Hang Clothes to Dry Properly, we recommend you visit our Home cleaning category.

Tips
  • For medium or big sized clothes items, make sure you use at least two clothespins to make sure they don't fly away or fall.

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How to Hang Clothes to Dry Properly