How To Secure Laundry To A Clothesline Without Clothespins

Allowing your clothes to dry naturally has all sorts of benefits. Air-drying clothes is almost always better for the fabric’s longevity, it doesn’t shrink your clothes and it can help keep your energy bill low. If you have a clothesline but don’t have clothespins, however, you’ll need to find an alternative way to secure your items, so they don’t fly away.

When you need to hang clothes but don’t have clothespins, use binder clips from your home office, or bag clips from your kitchen. You can use a twisted two-line clothesline to secure clothes between the gaps. Alternatively, use paper clips, safety pins, or carefully tied knots to keep items on a clothesline. If you don’t have a clothesline, use an empty closet, hooks, or a coat rack instead.

If you need to dry clothes on a clothesline but have no clothespins to secure your items, keep reading. While clothespins may be the easiest way to keep your clothes on a clothesline, they are not the only option. Below is a list of eight ways to secure your clothes to a line without clothespins, and several ways to hang clothes securely without a clothesline.

Eight Ways To Hang Laundry On A Line Without Clothespins

1. Use Binder Clips

When you have no clothespins, but you have a home office with supplies, then you’re in luck. Binder clips are great for keeping documents together and can work just as well as clothespin alternatives.

Binder clips work as clasps, just like clothespins. The biggest difference is binder clips are metal. While they aren’t sharp, they do have pointed edges. 

If you are worried about your clothing snapping or ripping, use a bit of non-dyed cardboard between the clip and your clothes. This will act as a buffer, and ensure your clothes aren’t harmed as they hang to dry.

2. Secure The Clothing With Knots

If you are on vacation or have no tools at your disposal other than a simple clothesline, then try tying your clothes in a knot. This is easy to do with long-sleeved shirts, sweaters, and long pants.

It may be more difficult when you have smaller items like shorts and tank tops. Remember, when you tie a knot in your clothing to secure it to the line, the part that is knotted may not dry. Ensure you re-knot, or allow your garment extra time to dry when you use this method.

3. Create A Clothesline With A Twisted Double Line

One great way to dry clothes without clothespins is to double up your clothesline. Build a clothesline with two lines side-by-side and then twist them many times. 

Once you tighten and secure the line, you can easily fit clothes between the two ropes. Since you twisted it, you can easily put any items on the line, one between each twist in the line. This is a great way to dry clothes on vacation, as it means you don’t need to pack clothespins.

4. Use The Weight Of The Fabric To Secure It

In some instances, you can get away with not using clothespins, or anything, to secure items to the line. Use the weight of the clothing to keep the garments in place.

This works well with heavier materials like denim and bulky sweaters. It may be more challenging when drying silks and other light fabrics. 

Try to hang a line somewhere with the sun but with no wind. Ensure there is symmetry when you hang the clothes so your garments are less likely to fall.

5. Hang Clothes On Hangers

If you don’t have clothespins but you have plenty of spare hangers, then use the hangers to keep your clothes on the line. Simply place hangers on the line, and add one garment to each hanger. It should look like an open-air closet when you are finished.

For best results, use two hangers facing opposite directions for each garment. This will lock the hangers in place and prevent them from slipping off the line when there are wind gusts.

6. Carefully Use Safety Pins To Keep Clothes In Place 

Another item that you likely have in the home you can use instead of clothespins to secure clothes to the line are safety pins. To keep your clothing on a line, simply hang clothes as normal, then secure each side of the garment with a safety pin.

This method works best when there is no wind. If it’s very windy, the pins may pull at the fabric and create a tiny hole. Otherwise, this method works great.

7. Try Paper Clips

Paper clips are another item you likely have in abundance in your home office. You can use paper clips just as you would use binder clips to secure clothes. If you are worried about your garment snagging on the pointed metal ends of the paper clip, use cardboard, just as you would with the binder clip method.

8. Repurpose Bag Clips From Your Kitchen

If you are a big fan of potato and corn chips, then you likely have a bunch of bag clips hiding in your kitchen drawers. Bag clips are clothespins by a different name, albeit slightly larger.

Use all your bag clips to secure your light and more vulnerable items to the line, and use one of the other methods for the other garments you have left.

Five Ways To Air-Dry Clothes Without A Clothesline

If you can’t manage to use any of the methods above, or if you don’t have clothespins or a clothesline, don’t worry. There are several ways you can air-dry your clothes using common items you have in your home.

1. Hang Clothes On Hooks

Most homes have hooks both inside and outside. Use the hooks in your bathroom that are used for towels and outdoor hooks you hang other items to dry your clothes. This method may take more time because the garments aren’t perfectly placed, but given enough time, your garments should dry.

2. Dry Clothes In An Empty Closet

If you have a coat closet or an empty closet in a guest room, you can use it as a temporary location to dry clothing. Place your clothes on hangers and give them at least six inches of space, so there’s enough airflow to dry them fast.

For best results, place a fan in front of the clothes, and keep the closet door open. This is also a great way to boost the humidity in your home when it’s too dry.

3. Use A Coat Rack To Dry Clothes

If you only need to dry a few hand-washed clothing items, consider using a coat rack. Simply hang all your wet clothes on the posts provided on your coat rack. 

If it’s a sunny day, relocate your coat rack and corresponding wet clothes outside. This will speed up the drying process.

4. Hang Light Items On Curtain Rods

If you have stable curtain rods that can handle extra weight, you can use them as temporary clotheslines for lighter garments. If you have a few delicate items, place them on a hanger and then hook them carefully on your curtain rod.

Do not use this method if you aren’t sure how much weight your curtain rods can handle, or if the garment you need to dry is heavy.

5. Invest In A Drying Rack

Lastly, if you haven’t already, invest in a drying rack. What’s great about a drying rack is you can easily set it up anywhere you want. You can dry clothes in the house, where they won’t blow away (even without clothespins). 

Alternatively, you can place them somewhere outdoors but out of the wind. Once your clothes are dry, these racks fold up easily, so you can store them just about anywhere.

Summing Up Air-Drying Clothes WIthout Clothespins

Drying garments on a clothesline is a great way to lower your electric bill and it’s also better for your clothes than drying them at high temperatures. If, however, you don’t have any clothespins, then you’ll need to use a different method to keep your clothes secure on the line. 

Instead of clothespins, you can use binder clips, safety pins, paper clips, or even bag clips. Try twisting two clotheslines together to keep clothes secure, or tie garments in a knot to prevent them from flying away. You can even use hangers or simply the weight of the garments and gravity to keep them on the line.

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• Best Materials To Use To Build A Clothesline
• How To Build A Clothesline Out Of Pipe (Quickly & Easily!)