Category Archives: Eco Friendly Home

How to Deal with Crunchy Towels and Jeans After Line Drying Laundry

Line drying your laundry saves a lot of energy and money. It’s even pretty good exercise as you hang out your clothes, not to mention carrying damp laundry from the washing machine to the backyard.

There’s just one problem. Not everything dries nice, soft and comfortable to use.

Jeans and towels are notorious for this. They usually feel stiff and crunchy when you pull them off the line.

How can you get rid of the crunchies?

Take Them Down Damp

The simplest solution is to let them dry most of the way on the line, but take them down while they’re still a little bit damp and throw them into the dryer. It won’t take long to dry them and you’re still saving energy.

The towels and jeans will feel as though they’d spent the entire time in the dryer. No more nasty crunchy feeling.

Air Fluff

If they’re dry, you can still throw crunchy items into the dryer and just give them a few minute on the No Heat or Air cycle of your dryer. The motion will break up much of the crunchiness.

Add Baking Soda to the Washing Machine

Baking soda works as a water softener, and can help your towels and jeans to dry softer as well if it has been used in the water. They won’t get completely soft this way, but it may decrease the crunchy sensation enough.

You can also add vinegar to the rinse, which should help to soften everything.

Don’t use fabric softener on towels; it’s bad for their ability to absorb water, which is kind of contrary to the whole point of using a towel to dry yourself.

Double Them Up

Many people say that if you fold the towels in half to line dry them or hang two together, they will not be as stiff when they dry. The reason is that they tend to be less stiff if they dry more slowly.

Give Them a Snap

Some swear by this method. Give the towels and jeans a snap before hanging them on the line, maybe another when they’re about halfway dry, if you remember. This helps to limit how crunchy they get.

Get Used to It

Some people actually like their towels a little crunchy. It’s a feeling you can get used to.

Same for jeans. The crunchy feeling decreases as the jeans get older as well, so the problem may not be serious for long.

Give a few solutions a try and see what works for you. Your results may vary due to the weather you’re having, the age of your towels and jeans, and the hardness of your local water.

Should You Believe Food Health Claims?

I read an article recently about Kellogg agreeing to drop their claim that Rice Krispies are good for children’s immune systems. They’ve had to drop claims about Frosted Mini Wheats too.

Companies love to make claims about foods, especially when children are the target. Parents want the best for their kids, and it’s not always easy to tell what’s true and what isn’t.

What to do, what to do?

My first rule is to be skeptical about the health claims of any processed food. Want your children to have good immune systems? Feed them fresh fruits and vegetables, encourage them to be active, and don’t overuse antibacterial products. Remember a little dirt is a good thing.

When it comes to cereals, take a good look at what they’re really offering in terms of nutrition. Some are much better than others. But also remember they’re still pretty heavily processed for the most part.

My kids love oatmeal. This makes me happy, as it’s a much healthier option. We’re trying to get them over to steel cut oats, but so far that’s a bit too much of a leap for them. But regular oatmeal isn’t a poor choice at all.

I know cereals are a quick and easy breakfast, which is why we don’t avoid it entirely. But there are many other quick ways to have a good breakfast. Oatmeal doesn’t take that long. Homemade fruit smoothies are great, and you can add vegetables to improve the nutritional value. I even put in some cooked oatmeal to make smoothies more filling. Not too much, as you don’t want to ruin the taste, but a little does it good.

I even freeze them into popsicles and allow the kids to have the popsicles for breakfast. They’re the same as they were before I put them into molds and froze them, after all.

Try more cooking from scratch when you can for any meal. It’s wonderful having more control over just what goes into your food, and you can focus on providing highly nutritious meals and know what went into them.

How to Limit Your Use of the Air Conditioner During the Summer

Summer’s coming. It’s not too warm where I live yet, just mid-80s at the hottest part of the day, but I’m hearing my neighbor’s air conditioner running in the evenings already. That kind of amazes me. Our own home hasn’t gotten over the mid-70s yet, so I know they can’t be that hot, and opening the windows to let the air flow through is still really effective.

I know that’s not how many people think. But it’s a good idea to really think about how much you use your air conditioner. You can save a lot off your energy bill, and it’s better for the environment as well.

1. Set the thermostat high and program it.

I know a lot of people like a really cool house. They always make me wonder how warm they try to keep their homes in winter, since a lot of people try to keep their homes cooler in the summer than they tried to heat their homes to in winter. It makes little sense.

Most people can easily stand keeping their homes at around 80 F. It’s not that bad. You will get used to it if you give yourself the chance.

Put in a programmable thermostat and program it for appropriate temperatures throughout the day and night. If you regularly aren’t home for a part of the day, you really don’t need to cool your home that much. If you know evenings are cool enough to turn the AC off, take that into consideration as well.

2. Use fans.

You’ll feel cooler while still using less electricity than the air conditioner uses if you use fans in your home. Ceiling fans are best, but standing fans help also. They all blow hot air away from your body, helping you to feel cooler.

3. Use a damp cloth.

A damp cloth or shirt feels wonderful if you’re feeling too hot. The water evaporation helps to cool your body.

4. Open windows as the day cools.

This doesn’t work in all areas or all the time, but if your evenings are pleasant enough, open up your windows and let the breeze flow through. It’s a wonderful natural cooling that only costs you a little bit of time.

5. Plant shade trees.

I like these to be fruit trees also when possible, for a touch of hyperlocal produce. But even if your tree doesn’t grow food, it can shade your home, helping to keep it from heating up so much during the day.

6. Cover windows.

It’s not attractive, but a flattened cardboard box in the window keeps out an amazing amount of heat. You can also drape blankets over curtain rods if you want something that looks a little better. Mylar film is another good alternative. The kind used for emergency blankets is very cheap. You can find them for as little as $1 each if you look around a little.

Should You Raise Backyard Chickens?

I got a treat from my younger sister recently. A bunch of fresh eggs from her backyard chickens. They started raising them a while ago, and generally have excess eggs to give away to family. I don’t live close enough to get these often, so when I do it’s a real treat.

I’m not in a situation to even think about getting them for my family. We’re renting in a house that doesn’t allow pets, and I’m pretty sure the Homeowner’s Association would flip if they caught us at it, even with chickens just in the back yard. Beyond that, we’d like to move back closer to family within the year (ideally), which really wouldn’t be fair to any pets. Too much stress.

So backyard chickens are on my “someday” list. Doesn’t mean you have to wait.

Advantages of Raising Backyard Chickens

Fresh eggs are the big advantage most people think of with backyard chickens. Lots of fresh eggs from chickens that are eating as chickens ought to, with bright, healthy yolks and a taste that grocery store eggs just can’t beat. But there are more advantages.

Chickens eat bugs. They’re a very natural pest control.

Chickens eat bugs. They’re a very natural pest control. Just give them some time to roam freely in your yard and they’ll cut down your bug population for you.

Chickens also eat weeds. Other plants too, no doubt. They love vegetable scraps from your kitchen.

Chicken poop makes great fertilizer, so long as you’re careful. It’s powerful stuff that can burn your plants if you use too much or too soon. Let it break down a while.

Many kids love chickens. They make fair pets. I’ve seen how my nieces sometimes carry the chickens around, and the chickens are pretty tolerant of it.

Backyard chickens also help kids to learn where food comes from. You may or may not choose to kill and eat your own chickens as they get older, but letting the kids see where eggs come from is a good lesson.

Disadvantages of Backyard Chickens

As with any other animal, backyard chickens need to be cared for. You need to provide some sort of coop for them so they have shelter from predators and weather. When you go on a trip, you will need someone to come over and feed the chickens, pick up eggs and so forth.

Not all neighbors appreciate chickens. This is particularly true if you have a rooster, but hens make some noise too.

Not all neighbors appreciate chickens.

It may be difficult to get around city ordinances in order to have chickens. You usually have to be able to keep your chickens a certain distance from your home, your neighbors’ homes and property lines. If that’s not possible, you may be out of luck. Some areas ban chickens completely.

You have to clean up after chickens, which can be a smelly job. You’ll want to wear gloves and wash up after cleaning up after chickens, as their poop can carry diseases.

Chickens love to eat plants in general. It’s nice when they eat your weeds, but rather less convenient when they go at your lawn, the young plants in your garden and so forth. You may need to limit their range. They also scratch up the ground quite a bit in their search for bugs.

Getting started isn’t cheap. It’s not just buying the chickens. It’s buying or building the coop, buying their food, and the other supplies you’ll need to keep your chickens happy and healthy.

The Chicken Coop

Even if your plan is to mostly let your chickens roam your yard, they must have a coop. This is a place where they can be cool in the heat of the day, dry when it rains, and mostly safe from predators.

You’ll have to consider what you can spend on a chicken coop. This is often the biggest part of your initial investment in raising chickens. The birds themselves probably won’t cost too much.

You’ll have to consider what you can spend on a chicken coop.

You can buy a premade chicken coop if you like – there are a lot of chicken coops available on eBay.

You can also buy instructions on how to build a chicken coop. Chicken DIY Guide is a great resource for this. It includes instructions on how to build your own chicken coop (much cheaper than buying one!), including small, medium, large and portable chicken coops. It includes a guide on city chicken ordinances. It includes a video library on caring for chickens. Plus a lot of other material to help you get off to a great start with your chickens.

Raising backyard chickens is not for everyone. It’s work. It costs money to get started. But it’s a great way to bring some pretty amazing eggs into your home and give your children still more appreciation for where food comes from.

Why Aren’t You Using a Clothesline?

There are many simple things you can do to be more eco friendly. Hanging your clothes out on a clothesline may not sound at first like a simple thing to you. But it’s really not that hard.

The Eco Advantages of Using a Clothesline

Buying and using a clothesline to do most of the drying of your laundry makes a lot of sense when it comes to the environment. It’s one of the easiest forms of solar power to use. It’s even fast on hot days. And it keeps you from using gas or electricity to power your clothesdryer.

The environmental advantages go beyond the gas and power bill, however. Line drying also helps most clothes to last longer. Dryers can be pretty hard on clothes; that’s why you get so much lint in the dryer.

The sun doesn’t cause that damage. It’s much kinder to your clothes. This means your clothes will last longer and you won’t need to replace them as often.

The Advantages to You

I know, hanging clothes on a clothesline sounds like a lot of work. It certainly is more work than tossing clothes into the dryer and taking them back out later. But it may not be as bad as you think.

I prefer to use clothespins to hang my laundry, but some other people put damp shirts, dresses, pants and so forth onto hangers to dry on the clothesline. It saves a step. If you’re in an area with a lot of wind it’s not so good an idea to use hangers because the wind can blow them right off the line.

You can still make doing your laundry more efficient with a clothesline. It may take time and effort to get the clothes up, but once they’re dry you can bring the hangers out and the clothes are easy to pop onto the hanger, as they aren’t all tangled up from being in the dryer anymore.

You also quickly save money with a clothesline. How quickly depends on the clothesline you bought, how much laundry you do and how much it costs you to run your dryer for each load. It’s likely to pay off in well under a year for many families.

Hanging out laundry is also pretty good exercise. You’re out in the fresh air and sunshine (might want to wear a hat!) and hanging up heavy, damp laundry. If you aren’t used to it, you will feel the effort.

The Disadvantages

It’s not all wonderful with a clothesline. You probably don’t want to let your jeans and towels dry completely on a clothesline – they end up kind of crunchy. But you can let them dry most of the way and then finish the job off in the dryer. They’ll come out feeling great and you will still have used your dryer less.

If you have a Homeowner’s Association to deal with, you’re likely to be facing rules against clotheslines. There are groups trying to change that, but it’s slow going. If you’re discreet about it and don’t get a huge setup that can be seen over your fence you can probably still get away with using a clothesline.

Clotheslines are also more challenging in apartments and condos. You likely just don’t have a great space to install one. However there are many good clothes drying racks you can buy and put in a space that gets plenty of sunshine and where you can open the window for fresh air.

They’re of course quite subject to weather. You’re not going to get much benefit from a clothesline on a rainy day. But even on cloudy days clothes will often dry reasonably quickly, depending on the moisture in the air that day. And when the sun goes down, the laundry’s not going to dry fast at all.

Overall, I find the advantages of using a clothesline to well outweigh the disadvantages. Give it all some thought and you might find that hanging the laundry out is a step you’re willing to take to go green.