Sturdy Wooden Clothespins – Kevin’s Quality Clothespins
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I love the smell of laundry fresh off the line – but I don’t love cheap, flimsy wooden clothespins. They launch themselves off the line in pieces or drop wet items on the ground below the line.
Since our laundry line is on our elevated deck, when laundry drops, it really drops, falling over ten feet down. Back in 2014, I was hanging clothes and thinking, “It sure would be nice if someone started making heavy duty wooden clothespins again.”
Ask and ye shall receive, because the next time I checked my inbox, there was a message from Hilary of Kevin’s Quality Clothespins. They sent me a sample of their heavy duty, American made wooden clothespins for review.
7 Reasons Why Kevin’s Quality Clothespins May be the Best Wooden Clothespins You’ve Ever Used
- Kevin’s Quality Clothespins are hand-crafted from solid maple hardwood, specifically end pieces from a local mill that supplies wood for guitars. I like that they are able to re-purpose what would otherwise end up as scrap. The wood has a light colored grain and will not bleed tannin onto clothing.
- The clothespin springs are heavy duty stainless steel from an American manufacturer, so there’s no rust or corrosion. They are much larger and stronger than standard imported clothespin springs.
- Kevin’s Quality Clothespins are made in America with materials sourced from local suppliers.
- Each clothespin is treated with natural linseed oil before assembly to help them resist weathering. You won’t find any treatment on the nekked cheapo clothespins.
- These clothespins are big enough to go where other clothespins can’t. They are large enough to tackle heavy rugs and quilts on a standard clothesline. They can even open wide enough to accommodate a 1/2 inch dowel. No more items slipping off drying racks.
- No slip grooves at the end of the pins make it easier for the user to operate the clothespin.
- These pins are crazy strong! I tied up a 5 pound weight in an old sock and tacked in on the clothesline with one of Kevin’s Quality Clothespins. It hung there like a boss – no slipping or sliding. I didn’t even attempt hanging the weight with the imported pins out of fear for the windows located right near the clothesline.
Clothespins That Last
I had a bin in my junk drawer dedicated to holding parts of dead clothespins. Every so often the boys would go through and try to piece them back together.
The thing is, once the springs have been stretched, they never work quite as well. Usually they ended up right back in the junk bin after the next load of laundry. Since I switched to Kevin’s Quality Clothespins, that bin only gets working bag clips and clothespins, not broken ones.
As long as you take them off the line when you gather the laundry, these clothespins should be around to hand down to your children and grandchildren. These wooden clothespins are made like things used to be made – to last.
They are more expensive than imports, but less expensive than similar clothespins in a Mother Earth News article. (Those pins were also out of stock when I checked the website.)
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These clothespins are nice enough for gifts, especially if you paired them up with something like wool dryer balls or a handmade clothespin bag.
Buy Your Own Set of Heavy Duty Wooden Clothespins
You can buy your own set of Kevin’s Quality Clothespins here.
*Update May 2021: Sadly, Kevin passed away, but his wife has taken up making wooden clothespins.
I received no compensation for this review, only a set of clothespins. I liked them so much I bought more for myself and some for friends.
Update: This review was originally posted in October 2014. It’s now December 2023, and I’ve used these clothespins for over 9 years. They still work great, and not one has busted.
You may also find useful:
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- How to Homestead (Not Quite) Like Grandma Used to Do
- Portable Clothes Washer Review and Comparison – What Works
This article is by Laurie Neverman. Laurie grew up on a small dairy farm in northwest Wisconsin, and now lives on an 35 acre homestead in northeast Wisconsin.
She and her family combine the best of old and new for more sustainable living. They use solar water heating and line drying, root cellaring and freeze drying, annual gardens and permaculture. There’s always more to explore!
Last updated in 2023.
I love to hang out my wash! Nothing beats the “fresh air” smell! When the weather is bad I use an Amish made dowel type dryer. I’m too cheap to use the dryer, ha! The heavy duty clothes pins look great! I’d be so tickled to win some!
I would love to win these. I hate those cheap ones that fall apart
My best laundry tip is something I learned when taking sinning classes – never use Woolite (spelling may be incorrect) Instead use a few (very few) drops of a mild liquid, non-degreaser dishwashing soap, like Palmolive Original. Fill your basin with tepid water. Then add the drops of soap. Move the soap through the water with your hand – gently. You don’t want suds. Place your garment in the basin. Let it sit about 10-20 minutes. Don’t ring out your garment when you take it out of the basin. Drain the basin and fill it with clear, tepid water. Place the garment in the water and let it sit 10 minutes. You may have to repeat this if you have put too much soap in the first basin. Finally remove garment from basin and carefully press out the water. Roll the garment in a dry towel to remove the remaining water. Lay flat to dry.
WOW! Clothespins were actually on my list to buy this week! How great to have a better alternative than the awful ones that you but at Wally’s!!
You can’t beat American-made. I can’t think of any tips, because all I have are the el cheapo ones and they can’t even hold clothes on the line very well! Even if I win, I’m sure to be buying more. 🙂
WOULD LOVE TO WIN A SET OF THESE, THEY LOOK GOOD.
Made in the USA! The older clothes pins were the best! I am moving to a
home with a big yard and my plans are to put up a clothes line immediately. These clothes pins will be perfect!
My mother-in-law gave me her bag full of clothes pins 30 years ago, and I still have several of them. You are right, newer clothes pins are flimsy and if you don’t pick up all they pieces and then mow the lawn, you launch dangerous projectiles when the clothespin hits the blade.
My best tip when hanging clothes on the line is to use plenty of pins, to keep the clothes from coming loose in the wind. Also, bring the clothes pins in the house after use, to keep them from weathering and staining clothes.
These look amazing! Speaking of laundry, though, I use dried soapberries instead of laundry detergent. They work great, and are a wonderful natural alternative to chemicals! Someday I hope to plant a soapberry tree…
I love to hang my laundry out in the fresh air. Nothing smells better than a bed made up with fresh line-dried sheets!
I don’t know much about laundry or clothespins. We just started exclusively hanging our clothes a few months ago, and I do know that it would be wonderful to have some good quality clothespins!!
Love these! Count me in for the contest. I hate it when clothes pins come apart in my hands as I’m hanging things up! I also love that they are using quality materials and parts that might otherwise be wasted. Awesome!
I totally love this! I often wondered (seriously) if there was anything better out there. They look like they would feel amazing! What a great idea.
I’d love to have a set of good quality clothes hangers. Drying clothes on the line makes them last longer and saves us money.
I use clothespins to hang up my herbs to dry, works great.
To make our clothes last longer we hang dry all of our shirts and slacks (no clothes line in this apartment complex, so we hang inside). Socks are all clothes-pinned to wire hangers. This also saves us 25% on our laundry by not putting these two loads into the dryers.
We keep clothespins in a kitchen drawer to reclose chip bags and anything else which takes to that application. So glad for the opportunity to win some good ones.
I hang out my clothes as the weather in upstate NY permits. I use clothes pins to secure things on hangers that some times slip off.
these would be great for making old fashion inner tube guns the current cheap clothespins won’t hold up like these should….thinking back to when my dad made the gun for me now I can do for the grand kids
I can’t tell you how many times I had to untangle the cheap spring out of a pair of socks!