Drying Laundry

My niece just moved back to the states after living in Singapore for the last year and a half. She brought back a folding laundry rack cuz no one uses/has a dryer over there. Nor does much of the world. But, here in the states, we all have electric clothes dryers.

After my trip to Japan two years ago, I lusted after a simple drying solution. But all the outdoor drying tools in the USA were permanently attached to your house or inconveniently placed as an umbrella in the lawn. All vetoed by the other person in the household.

All amazon sells is the tiny version of the foldable rack above - suitable for drying lightweight items like lingerie.

I was raised to be environmentally conscious. I compost, re-use what I buy for other purposes, try to keep my (destined-for-the-landfill) garbage to a minimum and generally leave the planet a better place for my children.

So I wanted this foldable, small footprint rack above bad enough to beg my friend in Kyoto to send me two. They are each big enough for a medium load of laundry.

In Singapore and Japan, they also have rods across their patios for hanging big stuff and these racks just hook over them.
I still want to install a big rod across my patio  but I have found a way to use these racks year-round just by hanging it off my kitchen chair.

What I have found in nearly two years of using them?
1. My knit tshirts stay long and no longer shrink "up".
2. Less pilling and everything lasts longer.
3. duh - less energy usage.
4. In the summer, most items are dry by the end of the day. In the winter, inside my house, they are dry in less than two days.
5. Planning ahead if you want to wear that favorite shirt/shorts on a certain day skillset.
6. I still have a dryer for emergencies.
7. In my two person household, in the winter, I use the dryer once a month for sheets and towels. In the summer, they go outside.
8. With my auto-immune bloating tummy, I love the fact that my tshirts stay the original length still.
9. It only takes 5 -10 minutes to clip everything on to the rack.
10. Pencil Girl asked if clothing got musty in the winter and I haven't found it to be so.

This very quickly became my routine and I don't really think about doing it differently.
It's easy to do - my first indicator of success.

Can't recall if I showed pictures of the two planes in the hangar. Still doo-hicking around with the J-5. Still hasn't gone on it's maiden voyage.
And the big old Stearman biplane.

Hope you hop over to my IG feed - RocketGirl50. I just figured out how to use my gorilla tripod to take a video of me skinning tomatoes. Exciting times, I tell you.

Boring Sewing

On Sunday, I surprised myself with energy to complete several "must do" projects around the house. Usually, on laundry day, I spend some much needed time recovering from the work week, getting myself in shape to go another week at work.
Especially after the last two weeks of copious amounts of overtime.

I finished voting (Oregon is a  Vote-By-Mail state ). Wrote four thank-you letters, readied my Halloween care packages, paid bills - cleaning off my kitchen island counter in the process.

I re-strung my Duette honeycomb blind (hunter douglas) - Thank You Youtube! After 26 years, the strings are starting to give up the ghost due to reefing on the strings and the dratted UV sunlight.

 I couldn't find the 9mm cord locally. I had to order online - found a seller in Florida who included a recipe for Pumpkin bread staple to her packing slip (sweet).


I then made chocolate chip cookies on my cleared off island. I wrapped several bundles for the freezer to go into the aforesaid care packages.

And I sewed.

I did some fun sewing right off the bat - playing with black & white patchwork to make some boring hotpads be spectacular. Then I did the chore sewing.

No photos because swearing was involved. I sewed together some 1/2 inch felt strips to go under the windshield of the Piper J-5. Didn't have to be awesome sewing because a flange seal goes over the top.

The problem lay with the copious amount of spary adhesive used by the hubby and the hissy fit  my sewing machine pitched. That adhesive gummed up everything,. The needle, the thread, me.

My intention was to sew two parallel lines for durability but my sanity won out when I told my hubs that one line of stitching was all he was gonna get.

I printed shipping labels for my packages (four!) and also wrote some other letters (8!).

Between  my split shift on Monday, I finished putting together my care packages.
I was sending trail mix to the nephews and needed halloween chocolate eyeballs to make eyeball stew.


DS camped near Mt. Jefferson this weekend and got these photos for me.

Fresh snow on Mt. Jefferson

Mt. Jefferson

DD is now in Latvia, having given Estonia her best. This is The Armoury Bar.

Japanese Laundry Hangers

 I received Happy Mail last week on a very difficult day.
It is amazing what a little package can do.

 Kyle, from Vacuuming The Lawn, sent me some labels to sew into a bag.

PLUS, a turquoise leather tassel that she made and some chalkoners - chalk markers that she bought because she likes them- she thought I might too. These chalk markers are to transfer different lines on your sewing pattern to your fabric. As you 'wheel' along, it dispenses chalk in a nice even line. The different colors are for dark and light fabrics. White won't show up on light colored fabric, so you could use the red or blue instead.

I have a white one from forty years ago that is very similar, but now they come in colors!

 Now, I need to sew  up a tote bag to do this tassel proud!

 This is my other happy mail. While I was in Japan, I noted how everyone does laundry there and really liked the portability and the storability of these hangers.

Back in Oregon, can I find them? Only the tiny lingerie sized ones. Maybe 16-20 pegs.

These are around 50 pegs. They both fold up to about 16 inches square by 3" deep. Easy to store by the washer.

I had wanted a clothes umbrella tree for years to dry my laundry outside. This is not usual in the states as we all have electric dryers.

Looking for a place to put a line up, or an umbrella, or anything, it was always gonna be in the way. Of people's heads, of airplane clearance, in the way of the other person in this household.

What I like about these is the small footprint. I can hang them out on my patio and then take them in when the clothes are dry.  They are in absolutely no ones way. Nor are they permanent.

The footprint is much smaller than a fold out laundry tree. My wind tunnel would blow over anything not secured - which just makes you cranky as you pick up laundry off the ground. Since these Japanese laundry hangers hook over something, they won't blow over.

I bought one in an aluminum frame. My friend in Kyoto and I both think this one will last the longest. The second one is plastic and the UV just kills these, making them brittle with age. The aluminum one also has clips that look like I can fix with household parts if they break.

 I finally took the plunge and asked my Japanese friend to purchase two for me and I am so happy I did. Each rack will hold a small to medium load of laundry which is normal in my house nowadays. I can even hang them inside if a case of Oregon rain comes by.

And you get a peek at  my laundry. 


 



***last day......SALE continues in my friend's Etsy Shop;
CraftyTokyoMama on etsy. Use Coupon code AUGUST20 throughout the month of August to get 20% off your purchase.

Don't forget about Etsy Love - even if you don't buy anything - just hover over the heart on each listing and tap on it. (thanks!)