Laundry line dreams...

My laundry lines were not replaced, in part because I just love the openness of the back porch now.  Truly, every day I marvel at the wonder of what I now have.  However, I do want to dry clothing outside.

But I am picky.
Persnickety.
And an Interior Designer's daughter.

I would like a simple line that is winched tight, but that can be removed in the winter if I would like.  So, I have been watching lots and lots and lots of YouTube videos.  SIGH.

It seems to me the "Amish" clothesline is the most popular, where you have two pulleys and roll the laundry out and then back from the house.  Well, that's nice and everything, but where I want to attached the line I would still have to go stand in the yard.  So, I do not think that I need a pulley system.

I still have the rather strong hooks in the garage.  What I would like to do is have a single line that runs from the higher hook on the garage to the outside corner post of the back porch right at the level of the railing.  Standing on the ground, I could reach up and touch the line, but sitting in the GREEN chair, I could see over the laundry and the line itself would be minimally in my view.

From what I can understand, I need a hook for the post, clothesline, a clothesline tightener, and a clothesline mini-winch.  If I am not mistaken, the easiest way to take it on and off would then be to use a turnbuckle.  Yes, I have been learning lots about turnbuckles.  Mostly, I just like saying the word "turnbuckle."

However ... would the turnbuckle be overkill?

The other main question is about the line.  I had vinyl line (still have but it is old and dirty) that worked well all tied up.  Surely, I could winch new vinyl line tight.   However, there is single core metal line with vinyl coating.  It is actually not that much more in cost.  For that, I would also buy (I think) wire rope clamps.  On the garage end, I would make a loop, using a wire rope thimble to go over the hook in the wall.  On the porch end, I would loop the other end through the turnbuckle.

I cannot see how a mini-winch would work on a wire line, but some folk in the videos seem to have wire line.




This noisy and clumsy video shows the turnbuckle and what appears to be wire line that is coated and  run through the mini-winch.  What he doesn't show is the line run through the pulleys or how the loop is closed (for example, did he use the clothesline tightener???).

I like the idea of having two clamped ends on a single line that uses both the mini-winch and the turnbuckle to tighten it.  To me, that sounds Myrtle proof, if Firewood Man is too busy to take down/put up the line.  Doesn't it????

I miss my laundry line.
Lots.