Did I ever tell you about the time I went for about a year and a half without a working dryer? Our boys were little, money was tight, and our dryer went out. Replacing it seemed like a bad idea at the time since buying groceries was also necessary. A dryer? Neh. I could do without.
And so I did. For over a year. In the spring, summer, and fall I used a clothesline. In the winter though? Oh boy. I had a tiny wooden clothes rack that my mom had used in college. That held a few things, but otherwise I hung or draped clothes and towels and little boy socks all over the house on any surface I could find. It worked. We survived. In the big scheme of things, it wasn’t a terrible hardship.
Eventually we bought a used dryer that is still working for us. (We always buy used appliances, by the way. We’ve learned that people are often trading in their “old” model for whatever is the latest and greatest. “Used” doesn’t always mean “dead.” Usually it just means “costs less.” We’re all over it.) We do at least two loads of laundry each day, so I’m very thankful for a working dryer now!
But for all the clothes we prefer not to put into the dryer, I’m excited to now have the Homestead Drying Rack that Homestead Store sent us a few weeks ago to review. This guy puts my tiny little drying rack to shame. Check it out:
What I like most about this rack is how the rods are so efficiently spaced away from one another. It makes for much easier draping and drying, offering many places to hang our clothing. It’s big, but it grows up instead of out so it doesn’t take up any more space on the floor than my smaller one did. (They also carry an even bigger one, the Homesteader Drying Rack, which looks marvelous!)
Now that the boys are older, they have quite a few items of clothing they prefer not go into the dryer. We’re going to be getting years of use out of this gem, I can tell!
Can’t put the nice basketball uniforms in the dryer, of course!
Homestead Store offers several different sizes of drying racks, and originally I selected the small Tabletop Drying Rack thinking of saving space. I’m so thankful they came back with the suggestion that I try their bigger and most popular Pioneer Drying Rack instead! That is the way to go for a family as big as mine. We put it in our school room (hence the U.S. map on the wall), which works well for us now that the boys are older and only use the school room as a hub for all our books and software (and guitars and video equipment and microphones and…).
One thing to note: Putting this drying rack together was a two-man job. Matt and Elias (our 14-year old) worked together on this project that took just a little longer than we anticipated. It was worth it though. The rack is super sturdy. I have no doubt it will stand up to years of use.
A Homestead Drying Rack Discount!
Homestead Store is offering us all a 10% discount on all drying racks! Use the code homemaker10 for the discount. This offer is good through March 31, 2016. Be sure to check out their Facebook Page while you’re at it. They share some really fun info there!
Special thanks to Homestead Store for being a site sponsor this month and for providing our family with this wonderful drying rack
Donna says
When we moved from our big city home to our farm way off the beaten path we chose to bring our washing machine and leave the dryer behind……..that was 4years ago. Like you we have a line to dry our clothes outside when weather permits. We get a lot of rain and cold winters so we needed something for inside drying……I just did not want to use electricity or gas to do it. We have an old Amish built home so it is roomy…….I bought one of each size of the Homestead drying racks that were offered at the time. I LOVE my drying racks! We have five adults at our house so these are used constantly. The largest rack will hold a large load of laundry. I can put another large load to dry using both the medium and small racks. We hang our sheets and Queen sized quilts on them. These racks are very STURDY. You just cannot compare these racks to the other ones on the market. It is like comparing apples to oranges….they are not the same. The racks are a costly investment but have definitely earned their worth for my family. I would buy these all over again, but I won’t have to because these suckers will out last me! Sorry I was long winded here but I truly LOVE these racks and their well thought out design. They still look new after four years of hard work.
Keri Tallerico says
Good Morning,
I have been reading your blog for a few years. Your blog is one of the very few blogs that I have kept and can’t wait to get in my inbox. I have used many of your ideas and recipes. You are so practical and realistic and most of all you love our Great Savior Jesus. My husband and I have been on the journey of learning to eat whole foods and you have helped tremendously. Me more than him, but he gets what I put on his plate. Haha!!
Thank you so much!
Keri
Kentuckylady717 says
Thanks for telling us about this great looking drying rack…..I am checking into them, and I may order one……and get the discount….I have one I’ve had for yrs. but it is flimsy …..but I hang a lot of washed items on it weekly…..
I have a dryer, but I still hang up a lot of my clothes to dry overnite and then in the morn. I just put them in the dryer for about 5mins. and spritz them with water and they look and feel like I dried them in the dryer…..and it saves on my electric bill….I hang up my towels, sheets, jeans, sweat shirts & pants, most everything I wash except my dishcloths….and I wash them separately and will dry those in the dryer……..I know people say why do you do that ? I say I have more time than I do money :) and really I enjoy doing it……I remember growing up, all clothes had to be dried outside year round…..so now I appreciate my laundry room and it is well used……just saying :)
Amy-Joy says
I used to hate beets too. But then I ate a salad in a cafe in Ireland that changed everything… It’s really simple – cooked cold beet cut into small/medium chunks (I use the vacuum packs, Greek yoghurt, a dash of ACV, and a good sprinkle of slivered almonds. It is yum!!
Amy-Joy says
Whoops for some reason my beet salad recipe posted on the clothes drying post instead of the post where you actually asked for beet recipes…
Rebecca D says
Anyone having trouble using the code for the discount? I have tried multiple times with different things in my cart, but it keeps saying that it does not meet the requirements. I don’t see any specific requirements in the post… Thanks!
Laura says
I’m not sure what’s going wrong! I will send this to Homestead Store so they can get back to you with some help!
Janet Kiessling says
We have 3 of their 4 drying racks! We love them & use them everyday! Our dryer is the dry rack!.LOL..
Enjoy……
And Blessings the Kiessling family