Hanging Clothes & The Clothespin Bag

When we were eating today I asked Vince if he had a clue how much it costs to the run a load of clothes in the clothes dryer. He didn’t know so I googled it and found that for a 40 minute cycle, at 12 cents per kwh, it costs 45 cents per load. Another site said if it runs for an hour the cost is 14 cents per kwh, the total cost is 70 cents. I think our cost is closer to 15 cents per kwh so I’m going with 70 cents per load.

We do have solar panels but whatever power we generate and don’t use, we send back for credit so if we could build up enough credit for the winter months when there isn’t as much sun and the panels are sometimes covered in snow, that would help so I’m going to say it costs 70 cents per load to run our dryer.

I’m always telling Addie that everything has a life expectancy so if you sit and click the button to lock and unlock the car 100 times while sitting there bored, there’s going to come a time when the motor in that door unlock mechanism breaks so . . don’t waste your clicks. I’m sure dryers are expected to run so many loads but eventually they have to be replaced too so the more I hang out clothes, the more money I have to spend on someone else.

I don’t hang out clothes so much to save money but simply because I like the idea and I prefer clothes that have dried on the line. Yes, I have allergies and I have to stop hanging clothes out during cedar pollen season but the rest of the year, my daily allergy meds see to do the trick.

This morning I was looking for my juicer and found my cute little “Wash Day” clotheseline bag by Darlene Zimmerman. Her Etsy shop is closed til May 10 but as soon as it opens, I’m ordering another pattern because (1) I no longer have mine (or don’t know where it is) and (2) this one that I made in 2008 is getting a little worn. I probably have too much weight in it and I keep it hanging all the time (in the house when I’m not using it). When I make another one, I won’t keep so many clothespins in it and I’ll find a place to set it down instead of hanging it when not in use.

Vince and I were out working . . I was tinkering around with the plants and he was cutting grass. We knew it was supposed to rain today. At first the weather said 3:00 p.m., then it said 6 p.m. About 1:30, Vince stopped the mower and came around back where I was working and asked if I had seen the clouds. They were getting a bit dark so I got the clothes in. They were dry but it’s been an hour and it still hasn’t rained.

All my inside and outside chores are done, except for taking the dogs out a few times (one more than the other one!) so I’m fixing to get back to cross stitching.