Our clothespins are handmade from hard maple that will hold up to being used daily on your clothesline. After a tedious and careful milling process, I have the halves for the clothespins which are smoothed and then coated with a finish that I am very proud of. It is made up of a special combination of completely natural oils and waxes. It is 100% food safe and provides excellent protection for both indoor and outdoor conditions. However, as with all natural materials they will not go completely unaffected if you continually leave them outside, which is why we recommend that you either keep them in a weather proof bag, or you bring them inside with your laundry. This will add MANY years to that fresh look that they have when you first receive them. If they do start to look a little bland from being outside then we would be happy to refinish them for you (see the lifetime guarantee below). After the finish is dry, each clothespin half is inspected and sorted one at a time for signs of flaws that might render them unsuitable to sell. They are then assembled one at a time by hand, with American made, heavy gauge, tight coil, stainless steel springs that are very strong and do not rust.
The strength and holding power of our clothespins is unparalleled by imported ones; no comparison whatsoever. With the quality and strength of these clothespins you will not have to deal with the frustration of washing a pair of jeans or sheets a second time because they blew off the line. Or the frustration that comes with the way that the cheaper versions spring apart regularly.
The Process of making good clothespins.
We chose to use hard maple for making our clothespins for several reasons: 1) Maple will not stain clothing by leaching natural tannins onto you laundry, 2) Hard maple is incredibly durable and wear resistant, 3) It machines relatively cleanly compared to other woods, which are prone to burn marks and fuzzy edges. I hand pick every rough-sawn board specifically with making superior clothespins in mind. Next, I begin the milling process by planning and jointing the lumber flat and true before the wood is band-sawn in half across its width, then the wood is again planned on the band-sawn surface to a precise 3/8" thickness. After that the wood is cut into 3.1/2" lengths. Next I head for the router table to take each of these blanks through a series of cuts to accomplish most of the necessary shaping and groves for your fingers to grip and the spring arms to rest in. The only part of the shaping process that isn't done on the router table is the large flat bevel that makes up the area inside the clothespin and between were your fingers grip at, which is done at the table saw using a customized jig. From there each clothespin blank is ripped one at a time on the table saw into each of the hundreds or even thousands of clothespin halves that are then tumble sanded and coated with their finish to add many years of protection and beauty. After that, each half is carefully inspected for flaws before the final and most tedious step (but also most rewarding), assembly... one at a time, by hand, using a simple jig to hold the spring still. And there you have it! That is how I take a pile of rough sawn lumber into a work of fully functional art that will be cherished through the generations!
How and why these clothespin came about.
I have been curious for some time now about the possibility of making clothespins myself. The cheap imported ones are of such inferior quality and just don't work that well for regular line dry usage. After dozens of hours of research and trial-and-error, I have succeeded in creating a clothespin that is truly what it should have never stopped being. As much as I think we can never truly improve upon the time tested things from the good old days; I believe these clothespins might be just that. By purchasing these clothespins you are supporting a movement to take back the family centered business' and crafts that were out-sourced to foreign countries for the sake of making things cheap. However that inexpensive price tag hasn't come without a tremendous loss: QUALITY, character, and the people's knowledge of the craft that had been handed down to them by their parents and grandparents.
The lifetime guarantee that comes with our clothespins.
We feel very confident in the quality we provide, as such, our clothespins come with a lifetime guarantee. Should one of your clothespins ever break due to a fault in our materials or craftsmanship, simply send us a picture of the broken pieces and we will be happy to mail you a replacement free of charge. In addition, if your clothespins ever need to be freshened up because they got a little dull in appearance after many years of steady use, you can mail them back to me and I will be happy to apply a new coat of finish and send them back to you looking like new for free!
If you have questions or need to contact me to get a replacement or to have your clothespins refinished, please use our contact page.Or, you can email me at: CottonwoodHollow@protonmail.com