Rethinking laundry

Part of what has come with this move is rethinking all of our old solutions to "problems".   As we took steps to become a more simple, sustainable home, we had to consider how we would do things that would work in our apartment.  Well, we have a new apartment now, and it's time to solve all of the same problems... again!

In our old apartment, I'd wash a load of laundry in a common washing room, and then I'd haul it out to the balcony and hang it on our wooden laundry rack and our clothesline.  Once the days stayed below the 60s, I would use the dryer again.  Our apartment stayed cool, and in the Pacific Northwest you just can't leave damp things around in the winter!

Upon arriving at this apartment, we noticed that one of the rules is that we are not supposed to put laundry on our patio (any at all, I am assuming).  I quickly realized that the clothesline is going to take an extended vacation, and I started drying our clothes on the drying rack inside in front of the sliding glass door where there is a fair amount of light.  However, a full large load of clothes doesn't fit on the drying rack, and the clothes just don't dry as quickly inside, so they sometimes smelled a bit sour.  That's just not going to work for me.

Fortunately, we have our own washer and dryer, so I can be a bit more flexible about their use since it isn't a flat rate of $1.00 any time you want to turn the thing on.  I also decided to break the rules.  I'm putting the drying rack outdoors whenever it is warm and dry enough.  I am sticking it in the back corner, and I'm placing our outdoor chairs in front of it, so I am hoping that nobody even notices it.  If the management says something,  I'll bring it back indoors.  I'm also considering writing to the property management company to suggest that they rethink their rule and perhaps at least allow drying racks although I'd understand if they don't want clotheslines or clothing on railings.  Must.... fight... ridiculous rules....

Anyway, about being flexible with washer and dryer use...  I used to do absolutely full washer loads because I read somewhere that the motor used to run the washer worked just about as hard for a medium or small load as for a large load.  I haven't been able to find that again, and I'm not even sure it's true; however, that was my working assumption.  Here, if I do a large load there is just no way to dry it without using a dryer.  I figure that the dryer is more of an energy hog, so I have started doing medium loads.  This size of load fits on the laundry rack, and I can (sneakily) dry it outside if it's warm enough.

For all of the frustrations and backward stepping here, I have found a way that this whole thing might actually break even or come ahead energy and possibly even money-wise.  Since I can run the dryer for as short of a time as I'd like, I've decided to employ a "finishing it off" method to drying.  Unless somebody complains, I think I can continue to dry clothes completely outside during the summer.  However, now when it's cold, I plan to wash clothes in the morning, let them hang dry in front of the glass door until early evening, and then finish them off in the dryer using as little time as they need.  Sound good?