In the past, we used to have clotheslines outside that we would hang our clothes on to dry. Almost every house had a set of these lines, and you could tell when it would be someone's wash day. This was a chore that all girls were taught when they were young. They were taught the right way to hang up those clothes so that they could dry just right. The nice thing about this was that your clothes would smell like the outdoors, but the worst thing about this way of drying these clothes was that your clothes would turn out very hard and stiff.



Nowadays you will have electric dryers that will dry your clothes for you. We have softeners that we can put in our water or into our dryers. The nice things about this is that you don't have to iron these clothes anymore unless you leave them in the dryer for too long, and it doesn't take all day to wash your clothes. If you want to do something else, you can. For example, if you remember that you have a hair appointment or you have to go to the doctor, you can go because these machines will shut off by themselves.

I have seen a time when one of these machines didn't shut off; it was my mother's washing machine. We had gone to church one Sunday morning, and my mother did a load of my colored clothes. Let's just say that this load of colored clothes ran the whole time we were gone. We threw them away because all the clothes turned red. My parents had to go out and buy a new washer and dryer.

Now in these days, we all have dryers in our homes and the outside lines are gone. Sometimes you might come across a home that might still have a set of lines in their yards, but these will be for when it is just too hot to run their dryers. Sometimes I would still like to put my clothes on lines because they smell so good, but then I remember why I have the dryer. It's just faster.