Ordering a washing line is easy to get wrong in both directions. Buy too little and you end up joining two pieces with a knot that snags every sheet that passes it. Buy too much and the surplus sits coiled behind the shed for years.
The length you need comes down to the distance between your supports, how you intend to tension it, and whether you want to raise and lower it. Here is how to work it out before you order.
Measure the run, not the garden
The only number that matters is the distance between your two fixing points, whether that is pole to pole or pole to wall bracket. Pace it out to get a rough idea, then measure it properly with a tape. The width of your garden is irrelevant if the supports sit well inside the boundary.
Write that figure down before you do anything else. Everything that follows depends on it, including how many poles you need and whether a prop has to go in the middle.
The six metre rule
Six metres is the maximum span we recommend between supports. Past that, the weight of wet washing pulls the line into a sag that no amount of tensioning will take out.
Between six and ten metres, put a clothes line prop in the middle to carry the load. From ten to twelve metres, a second pole is the better answer. Over twelve metres, set a pole in the middle and a prop either side of it.
Our sizes and spacing guide lays this out alongside pole heights if you would rather see it all in one place.
Working out how much line to buy
Take your measured span and add an allowance for tying off at each end. Around a metre at each end is sensible, and more if you are threading through a loop and back to a cleat.
Our 20 metre washing line has a steel core inside a PVC coating, so it holds tension rather than stretching out over a season. On a six metre run that leaves a good amount spare for re-tensioning later, which you will want at some point.
If you are stringing more than one line between multi-line arms, multiply the span by the number of lines before you add the tying allowance. That is the step people usually forget.
One pole and a bracket, or two poles?
Two arrangements cover nearly every garden. One pole with a wall bracket suits a run that starts at the house; two poles suit a line sitting out in the garden away from any wall.
Both need the same span calculation. The difference is cost and where you are able to dig, and you can see what is available across the washing line poles range.
Bear in mind that around 500mm of every pole goes below ground. Subtract that from the overall length to get the height you will actually have above the lawn.
Raising and lowering the line
A pulley lets you load the washing at head height and then hoist it up into the wind. It works with The Adjustable One, and with The Multi-Line One when that is ordered with cleats.
If your line is fixed and has no pulley, a prop does much the same job by hand. You peg out at a comfortable height, then lift the middle of the line on the prop, which is why props get fitted to shorter runs and not only long ones.
One thing worth settling at the same time: set your poles into ground sockets rather than straight into concrete and you can lift them out by hand whenever you need the lawn clear.