Pincinox Stainless Steel Clothespins for (Minimalist) Travel + Living
Over the years, I’ve needed Pincinox stainless steel clothespins for minimalist travel and living. It just took an adventure to find them.
For instance, I have a travel laundry line that doesn’t require clothespins, but it’s never quite enough to handle laundry day. Clothing sags and falls off of it.
So one of the things I love about traveling abroad is that permanent clotheslines and portable drying racks are found nearly everywhere.
And even though our current apartment in Portugal has a rarity—an electric dryer—I still try to hang dry our laundry, instead.
In fact, immediately upon our arrival here, we meandered across the cobblestone alley, into a little shop, and purchased a narrow metal drying rack. It allows room for us to enjoy our balcony as we dry laundry there, too.
If it’s raining, we can even move this portable (standing) laundry rack inside and continue drying our laundry out of the rain.
I cannot express the delight it brings to hang laundry and watch it dry. It’s my kind of mindful meditation.
And when I see another’s impeccably hung laundry, in color-coordinated hues, timed with the sun, dancing freely in the wind, it’s visual art to my eyes.
Discovering Stainless Steel Clothespins
Interestingly, nearly everywhere we lodge, we also see modern clothespins made from unsustainable materials (plastic), not grippy enough to hold laundry securely in wind, with rusted springs that easily break.
So, while in France last year, I found sturdy stainless steel clothespins for sale in a little hardware store. It’s rare to find stainless steel clothespins in stores, even in Europe.
At that time, we were staying in a tiny French loft for a month and a half, four flights up, with one narrow window. Outside our little window hung four wiggly clotheslines, just four feet wide.
If I dropped a clothespin, it fell into the alley below. With stainless clothespins, I could run down to retrieve it, run back up to the apartment, give it a little washing, and use it again.
It didn’t twist, break, shatter—nor soak up any funky liquids from the alley below. It also didn’t stain or mold.
Since then, I’ve given away some of those first stainless clothespins, whittling my count down. So I needed to find more stainless clothespins, to once again hang dry everything that tumbles out of the washer.
I wanted to buy the most sustainable clothespins I could find.
After an intensive in-person and online search, I stumbled upon Pincinox stainless steel clothespins.
Pincinox Clothespins are Compact + Packable
The clothespin on top is a Pincinox. It’s more streamlined, compact, and more sustainable than the clothespin on the bottom (my first stainless steel clothespin).
The two clothespins on the left are Pincinox. Two Pincinox are about the same width as the one clothespin on the right (my first stainless steel clothespin).
No matter where we’re traveling or living, I try to keep my possessions minimal. I try to buy items only if I genuinely need and love them—and if they fit in my bag. The Pincinox brand is all of this.
I love classic laundry accessories with timeless simplicity, so just gazing at my Pincinox clothespins soothes me. I love that Pincinox can create this visually beautiful laundry experience wherever we go.
In addition, Pincinox clothespins are so simplified, so compact, that they take up half the space of my old stainless clothespins. Meaning, there is actually room in my luggage to pack forty (!) Pincinox clothespins.
Of course, I didn’t initially think I needed forty clothespins. I thought I’d buy two packs of Picinox clothespins (sold with twenty per pack) and give ten of these Pincinox clothespins away.
But, since they arrived, I’ve enjoyed the luxury of having extra clothespins at my fingertip so much that I’m not sure I’ll ever willingly part with a single Pincinox.
Pincinox Stainless Steel Clothespins Are Sustainable
The most important reason I purchased Pincinox clothespins is due to their sustainability. A force for good that contributes beneficially to the world, they are:
zero-waste (arrived in cardboard envelope + cardboard sleeve, that’s it)
100% stainless steel
100% recyclable
one piece (no parts to rust or break)
plastic-free
rubber-free
rust-free
rot-free
mold-free
stain-free
able to stay outside all year
light
compact
easy to open + close
able to keep a firm grip on wet laundry, in high winds
elegant
a purchase for life (reusable, indefinitely)
heirloom quality to pass down to loved ones
Pincinox Stainless Steel Clothespins Have Multiple Uses (Especially for Minimalists)
In addition to laundry, my Pincinox clothespins have even more responsibilities everywhere we travel and live:
as kitchen food bag clips (grains, beans, nuts, seeds)
as office clips (to organize and weigh down papers, so they don’t blow away when we open windows)
to hang household items (photos, cards, decorations, screen backgrounds)
They’re a compact accessory that we need, helping us settle into our lodging.
The Family Behind Pincinox Clothespins
French inventor Louis Violet developed the Pincinox clothespin in 1968. He also developed the manufacturing process.
His small family business has been crafting these stainless steel clothespins ever since. But, from what I’ve read, it’s not always been smooth sailing.
Apparently, Louis discovered a competitor who was mass manufacturing an inferior copy—not made with the same quality material. It was designed to appear as a Pincinox, which harmed Louis’s small business.
Yet old and new customers who care about sustainable living, and Louis’s invention, can carefully seek out and purchase Pincinox clothespins, so Pincinox can continue to exist.
Where to Purchase Pincinox Clothespins Around the World
While searching for Pincinox clothespins, I found them at select locations around the world:
in the US, they can be found on Amazon.com (if they’re out of stock, see the last link below)
in the UK, Stainless Steel Clothes Pegs offered the best pricing we could find in Europe (at the time of our purchase)
here’s the full list of everywhere Pincinox stainless steel clothespins can be purchased
Just make sure they’re authentic: check that they’re stamped PINCINOX.