Vintage Folding Laundry Racks for Small Spaces
Since publishing a recent post about styling a small stoop, I received many questions about our space-savvy drying rack. It’s been our goal to not use our shared dryer at all during spring and summer, so the rack is now a common sight in our garden.
It was a vintage Etsy find, so I’ve rounded up similar designs below:
Right now, laundry is not simply laundry.
It’s a family activity meant to educate and entertain a preschooler about household tasks (shared by BOTH parents— not just one). It’s a well-worn collection of reusable goods meant to reduce our trips to the store as we attempt to keep our communities and families healthy by staying Safer at Home. It’s a round of linens washed together on cold and dried in the sun to help us reduce our negative environmental impact. It’s a vintage rack meant to save precious space in our tiny thoroughfare garden while supporting a small business. And it’s a bunch of overgrown plants — some edible — meant to enhance our positive footprint.
To make laundry lighter on the planet, we handwash delicates, wash on a cold setting (unless it’s a seriously mucky batch), and do fewer, larger loads vs smaller, color-divided loads.
We use our secondhand (but new-to-us!) collapsible rack in combination with two other tools: a folding rack from Helen Milan home (which is compact enough to easily use indoors or outdoors), and a makeshift drying line.
We do a fair amount of laundry, as we use washable/reusable goods in lieu of disposables, and because indoor/outdoor life with 2 dogs and a preschooler generates a bit of a mess.
Luckily I find laundry rather enjoyable and therapeutic. (Dishes, however, are Adam’s forté… I’m not a fan. And we share our household, parenting and business duties here.)
If you’re newer to line / sun drying, Simply Living Well: A Guide to Creating a Natural, Low-Waste Home by Julia Watkins offers some excellent tips on this topic (among many, many others).
