Stay Connected

Saturday, August 4, 2012

My quilt-drying rack

by Lili Mounce

It's that time of year again. Time to start getting things ready for the cool months of autumn and winter. One of the things I do each August is wash and hang dry all the quilts. I could do this late spring or early summer, but our weather is better for air-drying large items in August. And I like that the quilts have that nice, fresh smell just as we're needing to use them.


I'm one of the fortunate ones, I think. I inherited this really wonderful quilt-drying rack from my parents. They bought this back in 1967, and it's still works great. 45 years old and going strong! These are some of the aspects that I love about my quilt-drying rack.

It's adjustable. I can expand it to fit King-size quilts, contract it to fit Full-size ones, and it has a built-in separator, which allows me to hang 2 Twin-size quilts at a time, side by side.

It's water-proof. I can leave it out in the rain all winter long and just hose it off in spring and we're good to go. In fact, my parents never brought it inside. It stayed out on our patio the whole time I was growing up. I leave it on our deck year round. Never had a problem with rust, corrosion, rot. Maybe a bit of moss, but that just washes off each year.

It allows air to get underneath, so the quilts do not need flipping over to dry completely. We have cool-ish summers here, so I try to get the wet quilts outside in the AM. But they're completely dry by late afternoon.

My quilt-drying rack is extremely sturdy. It can take about 800 pounds of weight, although I'm not sure we've ever tested those limits. But, yes, it is extremely sturdy.

It's durable. I think I mentioned that it is 45 years old now. It will be around for many years to come, too.

These sort of quilt-drying racks come in a variety of materials, from plastic (and even recycled plastic) to aluminum and wrought iron. And at a variety of price points. I've seen them stacked up in front of Walgreens, at Home Depot, Target and many other stores.

It's so very versatile too. Without a quilt drying on it, I can disassemble my rack and it provides seating for 4 people. Now when was the last time you took apart your drying rack and made it into seating, I ask?!

Yes, one of these new-fangled quilt drying racks is the way to go. You may already own one. If so, feel fortunate to own such a versatile and efficient appliance. Here's a photo of my rack. Is yours anything like mine?


Washing and air-drying all the quilts -- check! One more thing done on my August to-do list.


10 comments:

  1. Bahahaha...you had me gong for a minute cause I was thinking I had never heard of this quilt drying rack. lol

    Sounds just like my indoor drying rack. It's two chairs put back to back with two broom sticks across them. I hang the clothes on hangers and place them on the broomsticks. Works wonders. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Belinda,
      Glad you saw the humor!
      Hey, I like your idea for an indoor drying rack -- the 2 chairs with 2 brooms stretched across. That would work for me. I've been needing to do something about my rack, which has rusted, and the plastic-y paint finish has peeled off. Even with it in good shape, it can only handle one load at a time. I'll try the two chairs together this year. Thanks for that!

      Delete
  2. You're welcome. We used the idea for about 6 months once when our dryer went out and it worked very well for us. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good to know. I've had many winters with sheets and clothes draped all over the family room furniture. But that means there's no room for the rest of us. I'll definitely be trying your trick with brooms, chairs and hangers.

      See, this is what I love about comment sections on blogs. I get the best ideas from others in the comments!

      Delete
  3. I think you have a serious case of "Yankee Ingenuity" which I admire greatly.

    When I woke up today I had grand plans...then life happened: We were to set up communion but when we got there, we found a crew making sloppy Joes for the upcoming County Fair stand. There was nothing to do but sample for QA, doncha know.

    So much for bed making, dish washing, floor care, and projects. Now that I've had "lunch" I guess I'll do the nap thing. grin/giggle

    Someday I'll have to tell you about sharing a clothespin bag and clotheslines with my non-English speaking neighbor. Her drying rack was THE GROUND, bless her dear heart.

    You energize me, Lili, with all your projects and your sunny attitude.

    Hugs
    Mother Connie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Connie!
      You have a very kind and generous heart! Lending your neighbor your clothesline and pins probably made her work so much easier. And the kindness likely lingered in her heart for years. It's how He planned for us to "love our neighbor".

      I'm glad to know you, Connie. Kindness is contagious.

      Now, go take that nap! (Wish I could do the same. I'd be up all night if I fell asleep for even 5 minutes during the day).

      Delete
    2. Long ago, they used to dry their white clothes on bushes or grass because the chlorphyl in the plants supposedly helps with the whitening.

      Delete
    3. That's really interesting. I may give that a try with a couple of white shirts that I've been working on brightening. They need to look super bright white for a performance of my daughters'. Thanks for the info.

      Delete
  4. We use our lawn chairs to dry big things also. However, it's usually things like sleeping bags and ground cloths. My son has too many allergies to dry something outside that will go onto his bed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi June,
      I can see where that would be a big concern. Certain times of the year I don't like to dry any of my clothing outside due to hay fever. Not worth it in that case!

      Thanks for visiting!

      Delete

Thank you for joining the discussion today. Here at creative savv, we strive to maintain a respectful community centered around frugal living. Creative savv would like to continue to be a welcoming and safe place for discussion, and as such reserves the right to remove comments that are inappropriate for the conversation.

FOLLOW CREATIVE SAVV ON BLOGLOVIN'

Follow
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Be a voice that helps someone else on their frugal living journey

Are you interested in writing for creative savv?
What's your frugal story?

Do you have a favorite frugal recipe, special insight, DIY project, or tips that could make frugal living more do-able for someone else?

Creative savv is seeking new voices.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

share this post