“I think this is the right way to use clothes pegs … I have been doing it wrong my whole life. What do you think?” asked an Aussie woman in a popular Facebook group. Her proposed hanging method sparked a debate about the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ ways to hang washing on the line.

The apparently outrageous suggestion was to clip the clothes pegs onto the sides of towels, to keep them from flapping in the wind and to minimise peg marks. The Facebook group ‘Mums Who Cook, Clean and Organise’ responded with more than 50 comments sharing their two cents on the issue.

One member wrote: “Can’t say I’ve ever thought of doing it like that … I like to have as much towel hanging down as possible, so they dry quicker rather than being doubled up like that.” Another woman agreed. “… I try to have only the tiniest bit doubled over, so they dry quicker.”

“I read somewhere, I can’t remember where, that hanging them like in the picture helps make them fluffier when dried in the sun … I think it helps,” one member commented.

Some were opposed to the suggestion, arguing that doubling over washing actually intensified peg marks and takes longer to dry.  One member went as far as to call the poster ‘insane’ for this pegging method.

Some members were gentler in sharing their opinions, one writing: “Is it that windy where you are that they even need to be pegged? I think you can hang clothes in whatever way makes you happy.”

However, this radical pegging method may not be a recent invention. One member of the page commented: “I do this when caravanning, stops them flying off from the wind. Sometimes I even use four pegs, two at the top section and the others at the bottom sides, works a treat.”

“Each to their own … but funny how … they are now telling all previous generations of people who have hung their clothes to dry … how they have done it wrong … oh so funny,” one member commented.

“When it’s super windy, that is the way to go, things are less likely to blow off. When it isn’t, it’s slower to dry, and leaves marks. But if it works for you, it works for you,” one member concluded, suggesting that the different pegging methods could live happily side by side.

Smaller debates broke out in the comments, too, supporting or smearing people who leave pegs on the line between uses, and a few people piping in to share their passion for stainless steel pegs.

There are some drying tips that most experts do seem to agree on.

When it comes to hanging up clothing, it’s best to hang bottoms from the top and tops from the bottom to minimise peg marks and prevent stretching. Committed experts even suggested placing pieces of scrap material between the fabric of the clothing and the peg to prevent marks or wear.

Airtasker goes a step further and says to hang T-shirts, shirts and dresses directly onto coat hangers as soon as they come out of the washing machine. That reduces the need for ironing and makes putting them away a breeze!

And, of course, dry knits flat so they don’t stretch.

How do you hang your washing on the line? What side of this debate do you stand on? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Also read: Why does my washing machine smell so bad?