When we asked readers to weigh in on line drying their clothes, we received a flood of e-mails. Island people are passionate about hanging their laundry out to dry in our lovely sunshine and tradewinds.

We thought we might hear from folks who live in dry areas such as Hawai'i Kai, Kailua, Kona and Kaimuki, but residents of Kane'ohe, Honoka'a and Nu'uanu did not let rain and humidity discourage the practice, either. They found a way, hanging clothes under an eave, in a carport or on a line in the bathroom.

Line drying makes economic sense, of course. Electric dryers are a major energy hog in the average Hawai'i home.

Hawaiian Electric spokesman Peter Rosegg said the company estimates hanging laundry on a line instead of using a dryer eight times a week will save up to $29 a month. HECO even gives away clotheslines from time to time, calling them "solar clothes dryers."

Clothes last longer without the duress caused by dryers. It's also great exercise (all that bending and lifting) and gets you in the sunshine (wear sunscreen). Another benefit: The sun's ultraviolet rays are an antiseptic — they kill bacteria.

Many homeowners' associations and condo boards in Hawai'i do not allow line drying out of doors. Some line-loving readers have found creative ways around these prohibitions.

LOVE THOSE LINES

Adrienne Sweeney of Kane'ohe loves the way her clothes look and smell when line dried. "I enjoy the process," she said. "I like being in my yard and I find it relaxing to hang the clothes." She estimates that she saves about $250 a year by line drying, and she keeps three lines under cover for rainy days and five lines in the open air.

Even in rainy Honoka'a, Margaret Fowler has never owned a dryer. "Honoka'a style is you have the outside, in-the-yard line, which you only really use during the dry season. If you use it the rest of the time you're watching the weather all day," and you also have a line in the carport, she said.

In less-rainy Hawai'i Kai, Paula Bender has seven clotheslines in her garage. On a breezy, sunny day her sheets dry in about an hour. Denim dries overnight. For Bender there's an added benefit: "Doing the laundry is cathartic for me. ... It's a quiet me time when I get to think about things."

For Barb Bedient of Foster Village, it's all about the environment. "We live in a state full of free wind and sunshine. Our choices for drying clothes are eco or HECO," she said. "As a cost comparison, that's a handful of clothespins to a barrel of oil."

A downside of line drying can be rough towels, Bedient acknowledges, but "this can be fixed with five minutes in the dryer. Basically we use the dryer tor a couple minutes to beat the wrinkles out of everything, then it all goes on the line. Line drying is a simple, downsized way to calm your day and connect with your pioneer ancestors. An easy way to join the green infantry."

Julius Ludovico of Liliha said his family began line drying when they moved out of a condo into their home in Liliha. Now, he said, his wife "feels she's cheating if she has to use the dryer."

Carrie Hermstad of Kailua said she saves $80 a month on her electric bill by line drying her laundry. "I have a bedroom in our house that we avoid because it's a very hot room so I decided to put that heat to use. I strung a clothesline. The clothes, towels, linens, etc. dry within the day, and I don't have to worry about rain." She also has a line outside for sunny days.

New mom Teri Luna of Mililani wrote, "I find that hanging laundry is my R&R. Does that sound weird? Recently my husband gave me two extra lines, and you would've thought I was a little kid in the candy store!"

Many readers expressed nostalgia for line drying. "This brought back many good memories of playing hide-and-seek in Nana's clothesline filled with sheets," wrote Susan Polanco de Couet of Kailua. She lives in a condo that does not allow laundry lines, but she gets creative, with indoor clothes racks and a small line in the laundry closet.

"When my children were little, it was my therapy to hang all the diapers outside and also keep a tan," said Dolly Phillips of Maunawili. Now that they are all grown and we hang on the deck which faces a beautiful mountain, it still is my therapy."

PRACTICAL APPROACH

Annie Leighton of Lihu'e, Kaua'i, takes advantage of the high ceilings in her bedroom to use a Canadian clothes hanger with a pulley system to dry her clothes overnight.

In Nu'uanu, Judy Fujisue hangs three lines outdoors. "The shorter ones are on the mauka line and longest ones are on the makai line. Wind blows from mauka to makai so all lines benefit from the wind," she wrote.

Victoria Kiikuni's 'Aiea homeowners association prohibits hanging laundry outside. "However, I think they should consider allowing it in backyards, where it can't be seen from the road," she said. "In this 'green' age and with the cost of electricity, I feel associations need to rethink some of their rules. We use a dryer for our linens, and we had a rod installed indoors on which we hang our clothes."

It never would have occurred to Penelope Kaiser of Kaimuki to use a dryer. Growing up in England, she said no one had a dryer. "Here it's crazy not to because you always have sun. It doesn't even matter if it rains a little because it just dries up again right away."

Arlene Emi Kuniyoshi, who grew up in Waipahu and lived in Pearl City for 30 years , always dried her laundry on a line. When she moved to Mililani Mauka, where the community association forbids line drying outside, she missed it, so she put up lines in her garage.

Frances (Taffy) Wells of Honolulu set up a pulley under the eaves, just over her washing machine, which is outdoors. She reports she can stand in front of the washing machine with a bag of clothespins and "just keep moving the line as it fills." She offers this tip: "Never wash in hot water. It 'sets' our iron-rich soil."