A common example is a washing line with a built in stand. There’s a few varieties available, but most fall into one of two categories, weighted bases or tripod style stands.
Weighted Bases
Lines with weighted bases are designed in a similar way to most patio table parasols. They have a very heavy base, that’s either plastic and filled with water or sand, or alternatively are made of solid metals like iron. They provide the obvious advantage that they remove the need for a ground spike to support the washing line, but they’re cumbersome and difficult to move around (especially cast iron bases) regularly if the space you use is also needed for other purposes.
Washing Lines With Stands
Another approach is a line with legs that support the line like a camera tripod. These are far less bulky and easy to put away as they’re significant lighter than weighted bases. The trade off here though is that they’re no match for strong winds, which can easily knock the whole line over.
On days with a gentle breeze this type of line is great, but it might be a a good idea to keep an eye out for the wind picking up too much in case you return later to find your freshly cleaned laundry has been blowing around the yard, still attached to a runaway line.
Where these types of line really excel is that they can be considered portable too, so if you like to go camping or are lucky enough to have a motor home to take to the open road in, a portable washing line with a stand is a really attractive option. Many campsites have washing facilities on site, and this means you don’t need to wait for their dryers to – just return to the pitch with the wet laundry and hang it out to dry. Even if you wash clothes in the van, it’s the drying problem solved. They’re even great if you’re camping near the beach or have a swimming pool on site to hang those beach towels out.
Just be aware that the
Are Spike-less Lines A Good Substitute?
In general, we’d only recommend looking at weighted bases and washing lines on stands if you really don’t have anywhere to use a traditional solution mounted properly in the ground. There’s a reason why they’re still so popular in gardens across the country, and if someone had invented a more convenient way to install a rotary line without installing a ground spike, you can bet they’d be popping up all over the place.
If you’ve got grass and want a rotary solution, then you really need to do things properly, and that means mounting them in the ground. You can see some great options on our homepage here. That doesn’t mean the two options above are useless, far from it, they’re just more of a workaround for those properties where ground spikes aren’t an option.
If that’s you, then here are some options from Amazon…
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Minky Freestanding Portable Rotary Airer Washing Line for Indoor, Outdoor, or Camping Use, Silver
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Taylor & Brown Clothes Airer Clothes Drying Racks 4 Arm Washing Line Airer Portable Foldable Freestanding Clothes Line Indoor Outdoor Umbrella-Style Clothes Drying Rack Aluminium Alloy Material
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lakeland Free-Standing Outdoor Rotary Airer 158.5cm – Place-Anywhere Clothes Airer 19m Drying Space
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Other Considerations For Avoiding Ground Spikes
If you’re still not sure, and you’d like to try something like a weighted base, there are temporary solutions you can try.
For example, if you’ve got a patio parasol, you could try using the base of that filled with water or sand temporarily to see how you get on. Of course, it only works if you’ve already got a rotary washing line and the vertical pole fits snugly into the hole in your parasol base, but it’s certainly worth a try to see how you get on.
As a permanent solution it’s not ideal, as you’ll almost certainly have times when you want to use your parasol at the same time as drying clothes outdoors – after all both activities are ideal in the sun.
What it will tell you is how practical it is as a solution for you without spending any additional money, and you can then buy a second base if you’re successful.