I didn't have time to explore more than that at the moment, so I hung the clothes on the limited line space outside AND on the patio chairs AND on the tiny retractable line I'd recently installed above the W&D in their hallway laundry closet. For the next load that HAD to get done I found some rope and a hook and rigged up some more line space. It was interesting how my attitude toward hanging laundry was not exactly the benevolent "be good to the environment" mood from last spring. No, I was feeling quite put out that it took me an entire 20 minutes to hang all the wet clothes in a space efficient manner. And then an hour or so later (it's constantly sunny and dry here) I'd have to repeat the process all while trying to keep my kids from pulling things down with their sweet little paws. No wonder household appliances were such liberating devices back in the day!!
Matt thought my additional clothes line was pretty ghetto looking. But it's grown on him and we've been hanging clothes regularly for the past few weeks. It wasn't until this weekend that we finally made time to work on the dryer together. The long delay came from me not knowing that the dryer belt was a skinny thing that wrapped around the middle of the drum. When I looked inside initially (with my dad on the phone) I saw this wide black gasket thing on the back of the drum and figured that was the belt so the problem must've been something else and we'd have to call a repairman so I stopped trying to fix it myself. Then Pappy Roy suggested a few other things to try which made me open the back of the dryer and look around closer and I found the broken belt! And the tensioner pulley! I could fix it after all. It took me another week to go buy the replacement belt.
It still took a bit of diagram checking and trial and error to figure out that the belt went back on the middle of the drum and not the end. I felt pretty dumb when I realized why our first few attempts weren't working (and the diagram that showed this very clearly!!). But now that I know how my clothes dryer works, inside and out, I'm feeling like a truly frugal woman for fixing it (with some help of course). Grand Total: $14.99 (plus tax) for the belt and $16.99 for the new cord (even if it wasn't the problem it certainly looked like it needed replacing!).
But the real question is, will I keep hanging clothes on the line or simply plunk them in the dryer? I'll wait and see what our September electric bill looks like first.... : )
6 comments:
HA! I finally figured out how to bookmark your blog with our new computer system. I'm feeling very proud. I also had to find your blog, which I did through Heather's. Felt a little silly that I didn't think of that sooner.
Love your frugality and ingenuity. The convenience is so easy to fall back on. (I'm also impressed with your photo documentation.)
I'll be stopping by more often.
i wish this were an option for me. but given maryland's humidity, my clothes would be wetter after a hanging! i do have fond memories about them, though. my grandma used a satellite-dish-looking dryer and i loved it. i too am curious about the change in your electricity usage.
You are such a man! I'm very impressed. I say to continue hanging clothes outside as long as possible. I wish I had the option. You should look at it like you are really helping the world.
Very impressive!
You never cease to amaze me. I would totally win wife-of-the-year if I pulled off a fix like that. Matt's a lucky man.
So have you gotten your bill yet? :) I'm impressed, but not at all surprised. ;)
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