Clever tips and lifehacks

ALL ON THE LINE

When we moved into our house, the only place to hang up our laundry was on some rusty wires, strung between even rustier poles, mounted to brackets bolted to a wall. To top it off, the contraption was in a very shady part of the garden.

I priced new washing lines and decided I’d rather try and make a framework myself, inspired by the original wall-mounted system.

Using treated construction timber and a few offcuts, I made up two sturdy wooden arms with triangulated support brackets, by sawing the timbers at 45° angles and screwing them together with some decking screws that I had in my workshop.

Into the arms, I drilled 10 mmdiameter holes at regular intervals for my lines to loop through.

Next, I selected a prime, northfacing sunny spot in the garden, which was fortunately right next to our timber boundary fence, so I didn’t have to drill into any brickwork. I attached my roughand-ready brackets to the fence using a motley selection of screws and planks, and strung some rope between the arms to make up the new lines.

I’m very pleased with the outcome – essentially free, because it was made with bits and pieces that I had lying around. It does the job beautifully, and supports a full load of towels and bedding in gusty wind. And the best part is that unlike the original version, this one won’t rust!

Daniel Rosen