Did you pause at the title of this post? I mean, how can you mess up line drying? I hope most of you have it down perfectly, but so many people quit after a bit because:
1. Their clothes come out stiff and wrinkled
2. They get black marks from the line
3. Their neighborhood won’t allow the line
4. It takes too much time
Here are some tips for you to help you stick with it.
1. Know why you want to line dry. Is it the fresh smell? The savings from electricity? The stain removal and disinfecting power of the sun? Whatever your reason, make sure it’s good enough to help you stick with it.
2. To prevent marks on your clothes from the line, the first dry after a long break with the line, give the line a wipe down with a damp cloth. This removes any dust marks left by the rain or winter snow so they won’t end up on your clothes. It should only take a few minutes.
3. Before hanging your clothes on the line, shake them out really well. This will smooth any wrinkles–especially the wrinkles that form in ruffles. If they dry straight, you won’t have to iron.
4. Think about where the clothespin dimples will end up on your clothes. I like to hang my shirts upside down so that any dimples will be at the hem where they are hardly noticeable and not right at the shoulder.
5. If you have any stains left on your clothes, make sure they are facing the sun when they line dry. Chances are the stains will be gone when the clothes are dry.
6. Don’t leave clothes out too long when they are dry. The sun can fade the colors, it might rain, and it makes neighbors cranky.
7. Store your clothespins inside. It might be a pain, but it keeps the pins from getting weatherd and moldy. I have a hanging clothespin bag that will slide along the outdoor line while I’m using it, but also has it’s own hook in the laundry room for inbetween uses. This is very convenient, since I often use clothespins for indoor tasks, such as closing food bags.
8. If your clothes come off the line too stiff for your taste, 3-5 minutes in the dryer with a dryer ball will have them soft in no time and takes very little energy compared to drying them in there.
9. If your neighborhood won’t allow clothes lines, consider getting a fold up drying rack. These are useful for indoor and outdoor drying and camping too.
10. Some clothes dry well on a plastic hanger. Men’s button-down shirts are one example. I like to secure the hanger to the clothesline with a clothespin to keep them off the ground. Knits don’t do well on a hanger as it tends to add big dimples in the shoulders.
11. If hanging clothes on the line takes up too much time, try training a child to do it. Even a young one can learn to do it well, and often a healthy dose of praise is the only reward they need :).
12. I’ve found I prefer the wooden clothespins over their plastic counterparts since I store them indoors. The plastic ones break very easily while the wooden ones have lasted for years.
This book applies to you even if your chosen business is not Mary Kay. It’s written by Mary Kay herself and tells the story of how she took a product that she made in her own kitchen and built a multi-million dollar business out of it. One of the secrets to her success is basing her business principles on the teachings of the Bible–which the experts told her would fail.
Again, even though Gillian Ortega found success with Mary Kay her practices and standards that made her successful apply to everyone. Gillian was born in Ireland and grew up extremely poor. She came to the United States with $17 in her pocket and big dreams. Now she makes $17,000+ a month and will teach you the attitudes it takes to be successful too.
This is a very short book written in novel form. It tells the story of an injured war veteran and how he stopped at nothing before reaching success. We purchased it as an audio book and love to listen to it in the car. The children enjoy it as much as I do, and the story makes me stop and think before I say I can’t do something.
This book was shared with me by my husband, and it’s a tear jerker. It is half novel, half instruction. The story helps you think through what you could to do if you needed 1 million dollars earned honestly in a certain amount of time or you would lose your children. It helped me think a little deeper and a little harder about my business plan and if I was doing all I could to maximize the potential there.
I have a love-hate relationship with this book. While the author is candid and knows how to tell a great story, I found him to be somewhat of a braggart and shady in his business practices. On the other hand, he helped me rethink all of my businesses to maximize my income, while minimizing my time away from my family. I’m still working through the ideas I’ve jotted down since many of them require technology that I’m not familiar with, but there is a lot of potential here. Before this book, I considered closing down all my businesses several times to focus on my family, but now I’m starting to see how I can do both–with much less time spent on business.
This book is a must read for every person and is required 8th grade reading in my homeschool. It tells you how to interact with people in a way that works well for both of you. If you are easily offended or offend others easily, this book will help you see why and make some simple changes for a happier life. In business, it helps you sell without being pushy and find a win-win situation for your customers.
This is timeless wisdom from Zig Ziglar that will make you proud to be in sales and give you techniques to make more money while making more people happy. I’ve received a few emails since I started this series on small business from people upset that I would focus on sales and making money. I used to feel the same disdain towards sales professionals, but after reading this book, I have a new respect for the field that I am proud to be in myself. There’s nothing wrong with making money honestly (even a lot of it) if you use it for good. 
and everything written by 
