How To Restring A Rotary Clothesline

20 July 202222 May 2024

The sun is shining – it's the perfect day for drying clothes outdoors. But just as you go to secure that first peg, the clothesline snaps! Instead of throwing your smalls on the floor, Jack will help you restring your rotary in no time.

Clotheslines can snap for a range of reasons, including being out in the weather, overstretching due to heavy laundry loads, poor stringing, general wear and tear or simply because they’re cheap and poor quality.

If yours has snapped, opt for a good quality line from our Jack range and make sure you restring it properly. It comes in two lengths to fit every style of clothesline.

Replacing a rotary clothesline might seem like a tricky task, but it’s actually pretty straightforward when you know how – and we can show you how!

What you'll need

You don't need much to make your clothesline good again. With just a few simple tools and materials, you can get your washing out before the sun goes down!

Jack Clothesline – 60m to suit a rotary line or 30m for the folding and retractable types. Always do a quick measure-up beforehand.

Choose from:

Tools & Materials

Poly Core Clothesline View Product

Wire Core Clothesline View Product

Galvanised Stranded View Product

Additional materials needed for this project:

Tape measure
Wire cutters
Pliers
2 x flathead screwdrivers
PPE (Safety gloves and glasses)

Your step-by-step guide

Wind it down
Wind down your clothesline so it’s easy to access and work with.
Snip and remove
Take the three end peg caps off and cut the snapped or worn wire from the line tensioners. Make sure you pop on those safety gloves and glasses to protect your hands and eyes.

Snip and remove
Align the slots
Align all tensioner disc slots (grey) and white end slots, so they’re horizontal using two screwdrivers.

Line them up!
Knot and lock
Pull your new Jack clothesline out of its packet, then fit an arm tie to the end of the cord. Tie a knot about 400mm from the end. Start at the centre clip position and lock in the cord just after the knot.

Make that knot tight

Start at the centre

Lock it in
Run and clip
Run the cord, clipping as you go across all four arms until you get back to where you started. Make sure you’re pulling pretty firmly as you go.

Handy Jack tip! Pull the wire tightly through each arm, using a grip or pliers to remove the slack.
Change direction
Clip back onto the first clip, then run the cord back along the arm to the next set of clips. Now run the cord in the opposite direction. In other words, if you ran the first row clockwise, now run it anti-clock.

Switch direction
And repeat
Repeat Step 5 for each row of line needed. Remember to run the cord in the opposite direction to the previous row as you go.

Again...

and again...

and again
Lock to groove caps

On the last rung, lock the cord into the end cap groove of all four arms, all the way back to the beginning
Time to tighten

Now it’s time to tighten your handy work. Begin in the centre at your starting knot, pull down gently on each line, and work your way out.

Nice and tight
Pull, push, retighten

Pull the last line through, push the end peg in halfway to hold the line, and then tighten it all again.
Secure and snip

Pull the final line through tightly and push the end cap in to secure it. Tie off the end with a double knot to lock it all in before grabbing your wire cutters to snip it off.

Push in the end cap

Tightly does it

Pull and knot

Snip it off
Square it up

Finally, check for squareness by aligning your two opposite arms to ensure they match. Nudge slightly if needed to get them in the right position.

And ta-da, new line done!