Hills Clotheslines began in 1945 when Lancelot (Lance) Leonard Hill returned home from the Second World War. He found his wife Sherry struggling to hang the laundry between the overgrown trees in their back yard, so he took some old pipe, a welder and an innovative idea and created what was to become a world famous Australian Icon. The Hills Hoist was born. Word of Lance's invention quickly spread until one day, on a tram on his way to work, Lance overheard two women talking about wanting a rotary clothes hoist they had seen in a friend's yard. Lance got off the tram at the next stop, walked home and told Sherry that he was going into business to make the Hoist. Hills Industries was born. Since 1946, Hills Clotheslines have been known throughout the world for quality, durability and sustainability.

We discontinued selling Hill's Clotheslines in 2017 shortly after they were acquired as everything they were well known for significantly declined when they outsourced manufacturing to China in the mid-2000's throwing sustainability and durability out the window in hopes of profitability while chasing their new high-tech ventures. As an Australian publicly traded company, the stock has long traded for pennies, so it was not long after they sought cheap Chinese labor that they were desperate to rid themselves of the Hill's Clotheslines products, less than 10 years. After a failed partnership with Woolworths in 2014, they eventually sold the iconic Australian Hills Clotheslines to a publicly traded US company.

To learn more, visit our Clothesline History blog post. Buyer beware, don't let companies selling Hill's Clotheslines fool you into thinking the products have anything to do with Australia as most hide the fact the products are made by slaves in China, using toxic materials. One of the reasons we discontinued selling Hill's Clotheslines is because of the many negative reviews we were receiving from customers that have been using the products for decades and noticed a major decline in quality. As one customer told us, the 10-Year Warranty is a complete joke as you'll be lucky if the products last a couple years, at most. As they're craftsmanship, or lack thereof, spiraled downhill, I don't think they reviewed their product warranties to reflect the quality of the products since they are cheaply made in China.

We are happy to be partnered with Austral Clotheslines, two letters short of Australia, as their products are reminiscent of the original Hill's Clotheslines range, made in Australia to the highest quality standards ensuring strong and sturdy products. Austral is the ONLY clothesline company still manufacturing a full range of clotheslines in Australia and their products are backed by a 10-Year warranty.