Solving the Big Issues: The clothes horse

It would appear that this image on my post earlier today caused some controversy. And why wouldn’t it?

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Mis matched pegs. PEGS ON A CLOTHES HORSE. That’s just crazy behaviour.

Got me wondering if this really was madness? I mean I have written about how to hang out washing before and I know that my mismatched peg business is quite unsavoury to many of you out there but I didn’t know that pegs on a  clothes horse wasn’t a done thing? OR IS IT?!

I have always gone for the pegs. I mean, any job doing, is worth doing well. If I move the horse around (neigh!) or outside the clothes are secured in place. And even if I DON’T move the washing, even if it’s just going to sit there, inside, in the sun, in the one spot, surely pegs are required? SURELY the mere throwing over of wet washing in any casual way will a) cause uneven drying don’t even get me started on the time required to dry clothes that are doubled over on themselves and b) they will slip and c) reduce the amount that you can hang out on the horse in the first place and then d) they will have this big bendy line in them?

Over to you guys. Because clearly I am crackers or clearly this is one that will divide the nation. Much like cutlery up or down in the dishwasher, or buttering both sides of the bread when making a sandwich.

What IS the story?
When it comes to the clothes horse, is the peg required or not?
And is mismatching your pegs on any said item of washing a crime against homeliness?

Comments

  1. no pegs! I hang my undies on the inside rungs just incase anything flies off the balcony I won’t find them hanging on my doorknob later!

  2. Michelle Buckland says

    I don’t use pegs on a clothes horse, and don’t care about matching pegs on a clothes line. Bring on the lynch mob!

  3. Madeleine Morris says

    Pegs. Definitely pegs. Makes for quick movement from in to out if needed, more economical hanging space. I’m not so fussed on the matchy matchy.

  4. I don’t peg on a clothes horse – never have. I think it most likely comes down to what your mum did? I had this discussion with my bestie recently whilst folding towels at her house (as we do). We did it completely differently to each other, then our husbands pointed out that our mums folded it the way we each did respectively. Aha. In terms of the pegs on horse debacle, I also think it could be a big person/small person clothes issue? I’m under the impression that perhaps soon I will become a peg-on-horse person washing and hanging little persons clothes? Husband and my clothes sit just fine on the horse, but I can see little things being problematic. As for moving the horse, mine’s on wheels so I wheel that sucker from a to b no worries. And peg marks bother me far more than a fold line (something which has never been a problem as a no-pegs-on-horse person). Don’t get me started on cutlery up people in dishwashers.

    • Kimberley Atkinson says

      No pegs. And oops – i am a cutlery up person… Husband always re-stacks dishwasher. I always re-peg clothes on line when he has hung them out. I think it is a what your mum did thing…

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      Can we still be friends? I stack knives up. UP!

  5. craftymumma says

    I don’t peg BUT that is probably because my pegs live in the laundry and my clothes horse doesn’t… more lazyness for me than anything else! 😉

  6. Well I actually looked at that picture and thought, ah pegs on a clothes horse – that’s a great idea. I haven’t pegged in the past but it infuriates me when socks and what nots drop off here there everywhere and I figure the pegs are my answer. Madness or not, I like the idea.

  7. Ha! I don’t peg on a clothes horse and have no problems. In fact I think it would be quicker without pegs. I have however discovered the Heg which is peg with a hook so you can get more on the line. You use the hook part to hang bras etc. over other washing. Or hook the loops of your jeans so you don’t get peg marks on them. Check them out http://hegspegs.com/.

  8. Anita Holmes says

    I peg BUT they don’t have to match………………..yet.

  9. Pegs. Definitely pegs. Mismatched pegs. Always.

    http://llibbyslifestyle.blogspot.com.au

  10. Melissa Gasson says

    Ive never pegged on a clothes horse and mismatched all the way outside. Who has time to match their pegs?!! My husband on the other hand chooses to not use pegs ….EVER!

  11. Pegs on the clothes horse? Madness. Ain’t got time for that! Now, coat hangers is another matter, you can fit so much more if you hang all tops and trousers on coat hangers on the top two outside rails and all the smalls etc in the middle. This from years of apartment (no clothesline) living. Oh, and I don’t give a fig what colour the pegs are on the line.

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      My sister embraces the coat hanger on the line…I do it on the clothes horse for shirts! I do! And no ironing…

  12. Stephanie says

    I’m very big on clothes horses and believe Leifheit are the ferraris… Mine comes with matching pegs and a peg holder and… 12 coat hangers WHICH are special wind busters… They have these special locky things to make them not fly off in the wind should it be outside… And these little things to pop your smalls and socks on…

    So my reckoning is if Leifheit have designed matching pegs and coat hangers seriously it must be done!!!!

  13. I have used pegs on a clothes horse mainly for ‘smells’. On my new clothes horse the rails are too thick for pegs, if this wasn’t the case I would still be pegging those socks (in pairs but peg colour doesn’t matter)

  14. As I said in your other post, generally no pegs. You make the point of drying time and I have to admit in Sydney, during winter, I may have pegged to help increase drying time and because I was moving in and outside depending on weather.
    In Dubai during sumer a whole load of washing will be bone dry in half an hour (no exaggeration) so by the time you bother pegging the washing is half dry. If you use pegs you get a mark from the bendy line AND the pegs which is my main reason for not using pegs.
    Also, I just hate pegs, so I don’t actually own any pegs in Dubai. When they’re not holding up clothes they’re clutter!

  15. Krista Warren says

    Neigh! I love the madness of the mismatched pegs…you made me realize I really need a clothes horse 🙂 I love all the tips from your friends….I want the wind buster coat hanger as well.
    You have a gift with words (and an eye with your photography!) I appreciated your comments and insights on your blogging…I love how you share your experiences and cause me to reflect on my own xo

  16. Kate Fleming says

    I don’t peg at all, not even on the clothes line. However, my clothes line is protected from wind (and sun, so no fading, win/win). The decision to not peg came about purely through necessity (or laziness?) – the kids kept stealing the pegs, and when they finished playing with them, the dog ate them. I got sick and tired of replacing them. As for following my Mum’s lead? North Pole/South Pole. Go your own way, I say.

  17. Reannon Hope says

    I almost commented on this today but thought I was bonkers for noticing!!!

    Firstly pegs on a clothes horse is not something I would do, too lazy, but now that you mention the time it takes to dry double upped clothes you could be onto something…

    As for the mismatched pegs….ain’t nobody got time for that!!! But I do have time to make sure that all the shirts are in the same line, all the bottoms on the same line, socks & underwear go together as do the baby’s clothes so go figure ?!

  18. R Sommers says

    When I visited Oz, this is one of those ‘cultural’ things that surprised me the most….the hanging of the wash. (That and the fact that you’ve been hiding Lammingtons from the rest of us. LOL) I live in a house built in the 1950’s and every house in the neighborhood was built with space for a washer and they had/have a dedicated cement area in the yard for a clothesline. My space was never a paved area and is now a vegetable garden. I do hang some wet clothing on a hanger, but most of it goes in the dryer. When I was a kid growing up in Chicago, we only had a washer and I remember in winter….hanging up washing in the enclosed porch and how it would dry as a stiff frozen board!

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      It is a real Aussie thing isn’t it? I don’t understand why Americans don’t have clothes line? All that sunshine and air…why not use it? As for lamingtons….keep very, very quiet…

      • R Sommers says

        I just remember eating my first one in Tamworth and thinking, “OH MY…where have YOU been all my life?” I asked my Oz friend Tee…..”WHY did everyone talk about choccies, Pavs, Red Frogs and Anzac Biccies (on the Keith Urban message board we met on.)and not let us know about Lammingtons?” She said the same thing….”We keep them a secret.” 🙂

  19. Sew Brunswick says

    Peg all the way. No pegs is madness for all the reasons you mentioned.

  20. Definitely pegs and matching! Otherwise everything blows off if outside. I start with white pegs and then blue and if needed then red. I hang my sheets edge to edge so they come off easily and ready to fold (and iron). I hate sheets folded over the clothes line and pegged in the middle. Socks have to be hung in pairs and no single sock goes into the machine without its mate. I guess I’m fussy with the washing.

  21. Bree Di Mattina says

    I noticed my MIL used pegs on my drying rack one day and thought it was crazy. Until I tried it. If I really want something to dry quickly I peg them now. I’m a convert.

  22. Lisa Aherne says

    Positively tragic laundress, that’s me. Clothes not only pegged on the clothes horse, but pegs absolutely must match. Turns finding the last remaining pink peg at the bottom of the basket so man o mine has jocks hung properly turns the whole exercise into fun. I am sane, really!

  23. Who has done the Myers Briggs Personality test? I think all the people who don’t use pegs must be “P’s” and all the people who do use pegs are “J’s”. I am an ESFJ and I do use pegs. But I certainly don’t need to match the pegs. Bev, you are definitely a J. Look at all the comments you have attracted, ha ha ha. O and I definitely put my knives DOWN in the cutlerly basket, hello – safety issue! O I do love it when you “solve the big issues”.

    • BabyMacBlogBeth says

      It’s a talent of mine. What does J stand for again?

      • The way I see it Beth is “J’s” are organised and love spreadsheets and lists, “P’s” (my husband….god help me) are fly by the seat of your pants, don’t like itinerary’s or lists (my poor husband) and just go with the flow.

  24. Yvonne Duke says

    The pegs must match !!!

  25. I always pegged on the line and sometimes matched pegs. Certainly hung like things together.

    I now live several floors up in an apartment block and use an airer on the balcony. Never used pegs before, but had to get some this year as afternoon sea breeze was so strong many days that my underclothes almost disappeared over the railing! Son found a container of larger size pegs to fit the bigger rails. Pegs are all grey, so no question of matching clothes and pegs, but at least knickers stay where they were place.

  26. Melanie Pogson says

    I don’t use pegs on a ‘horse. Unless I have a couple of unruly socks or some fancy slippery delicates that like to jump ship. I don’t think it’s weird that you do (being an Aussie)… but, it’s much more effort for something so unnecessary 😛

  27. Your horse, your choice I say. Who has time to match pegs, anyway?

  28. Pegs. Absolutely. Especially on little items that can easily slip off the horse (and in my case onto the dirty concrete floor thereby requiring further washing).
    I don’t care if the pegs match or not though…my OCD does have limits.

  29. We don’t have a clothes line, only a horse for outside, and 3 wall mounted racks inside. I’d like to say I don’t use pegs, but the reality is… I don’t really do much washing, my husband does most of it and he doesn’t use pegs. I’m a hanger – I like all my tops hung on hangers in the wardrobe, so we mounted a clothes rail in the laundry and all my tops, my husbands shirts and Otis’ tops get hung on hangers on the rail (full size timber hangers for us, mini timber hangers for Otis!) Such a space saver, no ironing and they go straight from laundry to wardrobe!

  30. Lisa Mckenzie says

    Yes required for sure Beth!

  31. Gibbergunyah says

    In the Highlands I find on cool sunny days it is sensible to peg the clothes on in the nice warm house, then move the clothes horse outside. On wet days when relying on the heating to dry the clothes, I used to use fewer pegs as I wasn’t moving the horse. My 1 and 3 year olds, who love to pull things off, make pegs a necessity nowadays.

  32. No pegs on a clothes horse inside. But if the clothes horse is outside, pegs are required. And yes, I do the matchy matchy thing.

  33. Mismatching is not a problem at all. They are pegs for goodness sakes….However this pegging on the clothes hoist nonsense. i aint got time for that. I have pegs all over the lawn, I do not need them all over the house…This truly is a big issue for us to solve!! ha ha

  34. You’ve really got me re-thinking my no-peg clothes horse ways…

  35. Always, always pegs! As you mention- all that uneven drying. It makes me shudder.
    As for it being called a clothes horse- is foreign to me. My mum has always called it an airer? She has an English background so possibly that’s where it’s from?
    Also, don’t even get me started on when those bastards collapse. Instant complete rage!

  36. My husband does the clothes horse. No pegs and all perfectly lined in order and the clothes line the pegs in the place where least make marks. But the bloody sheets. He murders his good work by hanging over two lines spaces and the fitted sheet hooked on the corners. Drives me crazy

  37. Pegs for me for sure x

  38. Kellie McCarthy says

    lol this cracked me up….. I have never even thought of using pegs on the clothes horse haha love it!

  39. Brydie Mac says

    So my husband and I had ridiculous argument just a few days ago about THIS VERY THING; to peg or not to peg. Seriously, I was never a pegger until I got to actually putting the clothes horse outside on the brief bouts of melb sunshine a week or so ago. But he didn’t really cotton on over the weekends washing fest that it was now the done thing. He said it’s a waste of his time. He didn’t think things falling on the ground mattered (!) and uneven dryness didn’t qualify for his extra time.I justified putting in the extra time because it would result in big volume of clothes on the horse (winner!). But anyway, we got there in the end and we are all happy little horsey pegging people now.

    Big stuff here Beth. Big. Stuff.

  40. I do not care about matching the pegs but I am A MASTER of the clothes horse. We live in a one bedroom apartment in Sydney’s inner west with a washing machine and no dryer. Our balcony is small. We only have windows on one side of our place so the air flow through isn’t great.

    To peg or not to peg is an interesting question – I do both. If I am just washing a couple of things I do not peg. I double hang – two rungs per item. If I have a full load going on I am pegging all the way.

    Such a controversial topic this one. Should ask me how I manage with the sheets – there is an art to that let me tell you.

  41. Cybele @ BlahBlah says

    Wow, I can’t get past the fact that you can move your clothes horse without it collapsing. You’re now the equivalent to an Olympic athlete in my mind. Maybe the pegs are your performance enhancer

  42. Interesting! I would never have thought NOT to peg unless it’s business shirts which go straight into coat hangers. And as for matching pegs – who’s got time for that!

  43. Blog Follower says

    Completely appealing to my slightly anal retentive side I just buy the natural timber clothes pegs which are ALL the same colour!!!!

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