Installing a Solar Clothes Dryer

Installing a Solar Clothes Dryer sounds so technical, in our younger days we called it a clothes line.

Clean Clothes are important to your health, we have watched a lot of survival shows and none them address this issue about clean clothes, Clean close will keep you warmer in the winter time, because dirty clothes draws in moisture and moisture wicks away heat. In the summer time or warmer weather dirty clothes traps in body moisture and make for breading grounds for fungus and bacteria which then attacks your skin and can create additional health problems

You can install different kinds of clothes lines one of which is the old "T" type where you string your line between the two "T" shape posts. we are going to install an umbrella type of  clothes line. We picked this one up at the Home Depot for just under $40 dollars.

Basic tools you need;
Post Hole Digger
1 60# bag of concrete
Concrete Mixing Tray
Small Shovel
Post Level

The umbrella type is a nice choice to use, it takes up less space. Space that you could use for other things. You can fold it up for storage when not in use, which up here in the north is a few months during the year.

Again using the umbrella type or any other type of clothes line can save on energy. Plus you don't have a gas/electric dryer heating up a small room in your home which then transfers the heat to the rest of your home during the summer months. And it is 50% less wear and tear on the clothes themselves. If you worry about fading while hanging in the sun, turn your clothes inside out.
Initially clothes can feel "stiff" but with a little wear they soften up You can also add distilled vinegar to the final rinse, for a full load 1/4 cup . Since the warm breeze dry's your clothes they smell wonderful! That alone is worth the cost. But you have no need of dryer sheets to help with static and scent. It's a little more work but the return is worth the effort both economically and ecologically.

Now the black base plug is a little short and that the instructions call for putting gravel in the hole up to the bottom of the plug, we live in a rather windy area and that a few inches of concrete base seemed to little, so I glued a section of PVC to the bottom of the plug just to hold it together while we poured the concrete. The added PVC will allow to drain if water were to get in it. We can pour in more concrete and make a much stronger base.

With the new attachment attached, we dig our hole to the right depth in this case it was 24".

Now it's time to mix our concrete, add water a very little at a time, keep stiring until your mix is like peanut butter.

Place the mounting tube in the center of the hole you have dug and start putting the concrete in a little at a time. let it set up over night.

Finally install your Solar Clothes Dryer aka Clothes Line.

Now your ready to have dry clothes, again this will save you money on your utility bills, fresh clean smell of laundered clothes is good for moral and over all they'll just plain feels good! This project's total cost was just under $45 dollars.