Bob and Charmayne's line laundry

Line laundry is the stuff hanging from the kite's flying line. Generally speaking it does not qualify as a kite since it can not fly on its own accord. It does however fill in large pieces of sky with lots of color and design. We first discovered line laundry in Europe in 1996. We now are traveling with as much as I can squish in! One can never have enough... Some of the photos and descriptions below lead to other pages for more photos. Lots of different pieces here. More can be found in the individual galleries by year.

Three years of Peter Lynn sealife kits..... And in 2023 we made Peter Lynn whale sharks. You can read about them here: Whale Shark Construction (a new window will open)
2022 were dolphin kits. More information here: dolphins! (a new window will open)
First in 2021 was the year of the Peter Lynn whale. See more photos here: whale line laundry (a new window will open)

Way, way back in our kite making adventures, was our first line of color coodinated laundry from blue Soar Coat. I have not figured out exactly when David Gomberg gave us rolls and rolls and more rolls of it, but it was probably over 3 decades ago. The width varied from perhaps 9" to maybe 15". Crazy of us to think we could make anything from it. We did. A giant elephant, a hippo, 5 "worms" as one man called them and a Ringel snake. Plus a Peter Lynn octopus kite. Soar coat has a steep learning curve. We learned. To this day in 2024, we love our blue line laundry and fly it often. By the way, we still have rolls of David's gift! Click here to see our blue line up close.

A project in 2005. Geometrics!	And the star in 2006.

Our big 6-legged ball guys. This project spanned 6 years! 2003 to 2009 (more photos in the 2005 gallery) (They also have their own page.)	Our first spiked ring.	click on this photo to see a larger view

Spiky Balls! Click here for their page	Coke Bottle line laundry	The Coke Bottle was designed and taught by Franchesca Caton at Ft. Worden 2000. It was designed to be inflated at the base, flying upside down. That idea made me crazy so we finished it at home after adding a bottom piece and re-doing the neck edge. Now it hangs properly. It is a double-walled piece so it is very heavy. The two walls give it the ribs and keep it in shape.

The black and yellow line. This was our second color-coordinated line. It was finished in 1999. 7 pieces ripstop nylon		From the ground up the school bus fast spinning bol the Tiger Duck giant 3-legged spinner Rolands Caterpillar pillows Zwirbel
The School Bus is our biggest piece. Built in 1999. Click on the first photo to be taken to the school bus page to learn more about the bus and for more photos.



Our third color coordinated set was made in 2000-2001 and consisted of 7 pieces. It was pink and green and was Soar Coat. This fabric is hard to work with but wonderful for line laundry. It is silicone coated on both sides and is slippery. It actually slides off the cutting and sewing tables. You pin it. Tape doesn't stick. It self-inflates. This set has been pretty much retired. (but see below!) The pink faded and so doesn't look good. 15 years was about the life span with many hours in the air.	the full line	short ball worm
Bob's original spiked ring. The cones inflate in to the ring's center.	Chain (designed by Andrew Batchlor) Second rendition. Click on image for both. This one is better by far!	Soar Coat attracts sand like bees to honey.
Balls and Zwirbel (designed by B. Knupfer)	Combo balls and tubes with the very long spiral tube.	Showy with the clouds.

In 2020 we resurrected this line. You can see more in the 2020 Gallery. Here are photos of the new Zwirbel and green hippo. lower resolution movie of the hippo

Our Bol, made from shower curtains.	Pattern courtesy of Jos Valke of Belgium. 2004	Rotating triangle tube. See Gallery 2006 for explanation.

Ancient fish. Ft. Worden class by Lyle Morgan.	Ducks! 9 plus Daffy Duck. Click here for a new page.	Mouse sand bag. Right. Not line laundry.

	Another set of color coordinated laundry is our purple and florescent yellow. Bob designed this line. Only one main template was used for 5 of the 8 pieces. The Zwirble, Rowlands' catepillar, and star are the exceptions. We made this line in 2002. Once in awhile we will fly the 6-legged Mickey on this line, too. Look on this page for more photos.

Our most recent set is dark blue and florescent yellow. Color-wise it looks a lot like the purple and yellow, as the blue and purple are both so dark. Not so shape-wise.		When we retired the pink and green line, I decided to make those same shapes in a new color combination. From the ground upwards they are the chain, Zwirbel, balls, combo tubes and balls, and the Italian Spiral tube and ball creation.

Madonnas or Pimple Wheel bols	Each has 96 cones. Fly them singly...	...or in counter rotating pairs.

Manta Ray was designed by Peter Lynn. It is a cute, small, and totally fun piece of line laundry. I made it in the Fanø Classic workshop taught by Andreas Fischbacher in 2014. (more photos in the 2014 gallery)

Snowman designed by Frank Steinert. (more photos in the 2002 gallery)		Donut Guy (another photo here, too)

	The Gummi Bears started with a class at 2004 Ft. Worden by Eva Dietrich. Her Gummibärchen were small. We upsized them and used Soar Coat. (more photos in the 2004 gallery)