There are all kinds of lines to choose from. Everything from simple (inexpensive) plastic clothes line cord to retractable lines. Have you checked your local hardware stores? The link below has some options that might work for you.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Outdoor Clothes Dryers

Have you thought of using an umbrella-type clothes dryer which can be folded up and even taken down when not in use? My dil has one on her back deck and loves it because it's so handy there. My neighbor has one in her back yard. A retractable clothesline is a good idea, too. Both types are not in the way when mowing grass, etc.

We swap out our umbrella clothes line with a 9-foot market umbrella when we use our "laundry patio" for entertaining. We designed a patio on the side yard where the umbrella clothes line is placed next to a patio (next to a sidewalk will also work). No wet feet walking through dew-covered grass to get to a line placed in the yard.

-Grainlady

Our house came with the Sunline and love it! As other said, it is out of the way when you don't use it.

The line holds 3 to 4 load of laundry for us. It's attached to the back side of the garage, and the holder is on the tree, so I have no post in the way.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunline clothes line.

I'd give anything to have the T-poles out of my Mom's yard. They are original to the house in 1959. Except for the occasional coat of paint, they never move an inch. Can't say that for the newer T-poles on the market today.

sspye, were those T-poles installed by setting them in concrete? My dh's uncle installed some for his aunt like that decades ago, in Florida soil which is basically sand, and they are still as solid as ever.

mara, yes, they are set into concrete. The poles, themselves must be cast iron or some other heavy duty metal. Not the chincy aluminum that they are using today. In fact, all of the yards have them, since the homes are all cookie cutter.

Hi Julie, I have had a long clotheline attached to a pulley on my deck and another on a big tree 100' feet away. By husband, climbed a ladder, put in a big hook and attached the line to the tree for em. There is nothing quite like the lovely smell of clothes dried in sweet sunshine. Plus, I never iron anymore. Eveything dries flat and smooth on the line. Enjoy yours!

www.faithandrewsbedford.com

We installed an umbrella line using a pipe ad a sleeve in the ground (no concrete) and we slide the clothes line pole into it. We can remove the clothes line when we want to do so. The sleeve that is in the ground is flush with the ground so the mower won't hit it or it isn't a tripping hazard.

I wonder if energy and conservation issues will ever lead to property restriction changes in areas that prohibit outdoor clotheslines. If so, I'm going to have to think more carefully about where the bird feeders can go. We always had a line in the yard when I was growing up -- and I remember my grandmother's too. There are things I'd like to be able to hang outside -- I wonder if I could come up with a clever way to have a non-clothed line to dry them on. LOL

lascatx,

I was wondering the same thing about current HOA covenants wrt. outdoor lines, etc. It seems like we may be approaching the time when a universal law is needed similar to the one for satellite dishes, where you basically can't restrict their installation (perhaps within certain parameters, like not in the front yard.)

Time for someone to form a PAC for outdoor drying issues??

A DS and DIL live in a neighborhood whose HOA bans clotheslines. She figured out a way to get around it by putting up an umbrella clothes dryer where their deck umbrella goes -- it is not visible to anyone but them.

For her this began as an emergency measure when their former dryer quit working, but she has continued using it as it has been such a good thing. She especially likes using this for swimsuits and other clothes which can't or shouldn't be dried in a clothes dryer (drying such items when there is only shade on the deck).

They saw a huge drop in their electricity bill when they had no dryer and only used the umbrella clothes dryer.

Lascatx, funny you should mention a PAC to promote line drying. There is a non-profit organization, Project Laundry List, that is working to promote the use of line drying clothes, including trying to get states to pass laws that will prevent HOAs from banning them. I love the photos and clothes line art work they have on the website. (Yes, laundry on the line can be beautiful!) Also, CBS ran a story on the CBS Sunday morning show a couple of weeks ago, called the "Right to Dry." Here is a link to it.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5153411n

Here is a link that might be useful: Project Laundry List

In Florida no one, no HOA or otherwise, can tell you you cannot have a clothesline. It's a right to dry state.

Now in Chicago, my right to dry outside would last all of about a week this summer so the dryer it is.

hi, dgmaire,
What did you mean? I live in Chicago too, and I use my clothesline all the time.