This month we are talking about going green, reducing, and finding ways to recycle. This is an idea sent in by Ruth, one of my readers. A few months ago we talked about using a clothesline to dry your clothes. It saves so much money every year and if you don’t have allergies your clothes smell great too! This DIY clothes pin holder is easy to make and totally free!
It is very easy to transform a plastic milk gallon into a clothes pin holder that will hang on your clothes line.
First, wash out the milk jug with warm soapy water. You don’t need to let it dry because after it’s completed you can use a towel.
Cut a section out of the original handle. The lower down you cut, the more weight your holder will hold.
Cut down from the opening of the milk jug, along the seam to about halfway down. Cut straight across the front of the milk jug, and then back up to the opening.
Your new clothes pin holder will hang on the line as you hang up and take down your laundry.
Some encouragement, advice and practical tips:
Lots of people are now hanging out their laundry to save money on their electric bill. The average clothes dryer uses 4 kilowatt hours of energy. Energy rates vary, even within the same company. Some companies charge between 12 and 50 cents per kilowatt hour. If you think about how much laundry you do, this can be a simple and easy money saving task.
When using a clothes line as opposed to an electric clothes dryer, remember to have some form of liquid fabric softener in the wash. I use vinegar, pouring it in the fabric softener section of my front-loading washer and it takes about 1/3C. There is no residual vinegar smell, but i suggest trying it with non-essentials first, such as towels/bathmats. The vinegar also cleans out the washer’s hoses, which is an added plus.
My 7 year old daughter was mortified at the thought of guests seeing her laundry hanging on the line. This brings up the importance of timing your loads of laundry. I have found that most things dry on the line in as little as half an hour. If you have a double line, it also helps to strategically place ‘unmentionables’ on the back line.
Nancy says
my mom hangs out clothes, and so she has a clothespin holder, but hers is cloth. I think it’s just a piece of fabric, folded up to the top at the corners, and hanging on a hook. It had to have been pretty simple. The nice thing I remember about it, is that there were the 4 openings, you just put your hand into one of them, and grab a clothespin.
I don’t see this pattern anywhere, I just saw an idea of some that use a hanger and cloth. I also just found a site with several CUTE patterns, including a shirt turned into clothespin holder!
http://tipnut.com/11-free-clothespin-bag-patterns/
I use a dryer, and hang the clothes that I don’t want in the dryer over the shower rod, so this was just for curiosity for me.
Lindsey says
This is a very handy idea. I have had an idea for a clothespin holder for about a year now, but it is always at the end of my long list of sewing projects. This would be a great placeholder in the meantime. Thanks for posting!
TheHappyHousewife says
I’ve seen the fabric ones and they are really cute. But if you are like me…. this simple one fits better into my time budget!
Brittney - Our Greener Acres says
Great article. My husband put up some clothes line poles for me, too. I also really like using vinegar for fabric softener. Have you made you’re laundry detergent? I have a great recipe that works better than Tide. Here it is: http://www.ourgreeneracres.com/greenercleaners/homemade-laundry-detergent
Katie says
Our drier “died” sometime in Dec 2010. We didn’t have the money to go buy one right then. But when we did get the money a few months later we decided to buy other things instead since we have not missed our drier at all! We live in an apartment without a yard. We have a line hung across our living room it’s up high so it’s not in the way and close to a wall so it’s not in the center of the room. I hang a load every night and take it down in the morning. We also have two lines hung out on our patio for when it’s not raining. Then I can hang about 3-4 loads a day. And we also have a folding drying rack as well for the “under garments” that way they aren’t flapping in the wind. 🙂 It’s been 5 months and I really do NOT miss my dryer. And I LOVE the extra space we have since we have a shelf in it’s place.
Clare says
I love hanging my laundry out! I also made a clothespin holder, but I used a dish towel. I sewed the seam over a sturdy hanger (a wooden one with a metal top is best- the plastic ones gets a little worn down sliding on the line) and then folded up the bottom half to make a deep pocket and stitched the sides. A little more time consuming, but still very easy and it is pretty. I did it by hand because I don’t have a sewing machine. If you had one it would probably take less than half the time! I also have a drying rack for undergarments. Where we live it would be possible to see them no matter where they were hung so they have to stay inside. I am wondering though, if anyone has any suggestions for winter time drying. We live in Colorado and sometimes when it is really cold clothes can hang for over 4 hours and STILL not get dry! I don’t really have the space to dry inside, so I am just wondering if I am doing something wrong.
Emily says
A friend of mine had her husband mount a collapsible laundry dryer (looks like a big umbrella) in a 5-gallon bucket with concrete. She put it in her basement. Now, during winter months, she has a laundry dryer that doesn’t take up much space, and since it’s near the furnace it gets a lot of warm air, and she can put it up when needed and move it if her hubby’s down there working. 🙂 Just a suggestion!
I’m in Michigan, so I feel your pain as far as winter cold goes. 🙂
Christi says
Don’t forget to poke holes in the bottom, so if it rains, the rainwater will drain from the inside of the holder. I love hanging my clothes out on the line!! I love the smell of the fresh air on my sheets, and towels!! 🙂
Shannon says
After wasting money on several store bought clothespin holders, I finally made my own from an old pair of jeans my daughter had outgrown. I just used the same pattern that is used to make a denim purse (remember those?) by cutting off the denim legs, then sewing the openings shut. I used a metal clothesline holder frame that I kept from one of the worthless store bought holders and was able to easily loop the metal frame through the waist belt loops of my new denim clothes pin holder. Works great! My husband was so proud of me that he even remembers to bring the denim holder inside if the weather looks bad. Love that man! Oh, and I used the denim legs to add more patches to a denim quilt I have been working on. Recycle Recycle Recycle …….
Kelli says
If you use a gallon jug a minor extra step that makes it nicer is to poke a nail (or the point of your scissors) carefully through the bottom where it hangs the lowest on your line. I always put a couple holes down there. This will let any water drain out if it gets left on the line during a rain.
Karen says
I come from a short family, so having our clothespins haanging high up on the line is kind of inconvenient. Instead, my mother always used a cloth nail pouch that ties around your waist to hold clothes pins. You could easily make an apron with a big pocket for the same purpose. It’s nice to put it on and not have another thing to carry in and out of the house.
Bonnie says
I purchased a clothes dryer that hangs from the ceiling from Home Depot. The rack is let down just like a blind on a window (by a string & pulley). I can pull the rack up and out of the way and not loose the extra space. Works great for drying socks and undergarments. I have used vinegar as a clothes rinse for years. Read about from Martha Stewart. She said that it gets rid of the excess detergent in the clothes. Especially helpful for towels since they loose their absorbency when there is a build-up of detergent.
Nancy says
Love this idea! Hubby is making me one right now 🙂
Sarah says
I have to make one of these! Also, I have a “hidden” clothes line for unmentionables; I call it the “panty line” 🙂
Elizabeth says
YOU are a genius! I love this idea!
Jean says
My mom sewed the bottom and sleeves from a worn out child’s shirt, hung it with a hanger and cloths pins were accessible through the neck opening.