Setelah mencuci rambut, saya menggantung handuk basah di balkon.

Setelah means after. It introduces an action that happens first.

So in:

Setelah mencuci rambut, saya menggantung handuk basah di balkon.

the order is:

1. mencuci rambut = washing hair
2. saya menggantung handuk basah di balkon = I hung the wet towel on the balcony

A very literal structure would be:

After washing hair, I hung the wet towel on the balcony.

In Indonesian, the subject in the first clause is often omitted when it is already clear from the main clause.

Here, saya appears in the main clause:

saya menggantung handuk basah di balkon

Because of that, the earlier clause mencuci rambut is naturally understood as (I) washing my hair.

You could also say:

Setelah saya mencuci rambut, saya menggantung handuk basah di balkon.

That is grammatical, but it sounds a bit more explicit and slightly less streamlined.

Indonesian often leaves out possessives when they are obvious from context.

So mencuci rambut literally means to wash hair, but in normal use it often means to wash one’s hair or, in this sentence, to wash my hair.

If you want to be more explicit, you can say:

mencuci rambut saya = wash my hair

But in everyday Indonesian, leaving out saya here is very common.

Mencuci means to wash.

Its base form is cuci = wash.
When Indonesian forms an active verb, it often adds the meN- prefix. With cuci, this becomes:

meN- + cuci → mencuci

So:

• cuci = wash
• mencuci = to wash / washing

This is a very common verb pattern in Indonesian.

Gantung is the base word, related to hang.

Menggantung is the active verb form, meaning to hang something.

So:

• gantung = hang / suspended
• menggantung = to hang something up

In this sentence, saya menggantung handuk means I hung the towel.

Using menggantung makes it clear that the subject is actively doing the action to an object.

No. They are related, but they are used differently.

• menggantungkan / menggantung = to hang something
• bergantung = to depend, or sometimes to be hanging

For example:

• Saya menggantung handuk. = I hang the towel.
• Handuk itu bergantung di balkon. = The towel is hanging on the balcony.
• Saya bergantung pada teman saya. = I depend on my friend.

So in your sentence, menggantung is correct because the subject is hanging an object.

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

• handuk basah = wet towel
• rumah besar = big house
• air dingin = cold water

This is the normal word order in Indonesian.

Di is a preposition meaning in, on, or at, depending on context.

So:

di balkon = on the balcony / at the balcony

Here it shows the location where the towel was hung.

Use di for location:

• di meja = on the table
• di kamar = in the room
• di balkon = on the balcony

If you wanted to emphasize movement toward a place, Indonesian often uses ke instead:

• ke balkon = to the balcony

But in this sentence, the important idea is the location of the towel, so di balkon is natural.

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So menggantung can mean:

• hang
• am hanging
• hung
• will hang

The time is understood from context, time words, or the overall situation.

In this sentence, English often translates it as past:

After washing my hair, I hung the wet towel on the balcony.

That past meaning comes from context, not from a special verb form.

If you wanted to make the past more explicit, you could add a time expression such as:

• tadi = earlier
• kemarin = yesterday
• setelah itu = after that

Yes, and it changes the nuance a little.

• menggantung handuk = hang the towel
• menjemur handuk = put the towel out to dry / dry the towel in the sun

So if your focus is simply that you hung it up, menggantung is good.
If your focus is that you hung it specifically so it would dry, menjemur may be even more natural.

Both can work depending on what you want to emphasize.

Yes. Setelah can be followed by either a shorter verb phrase or a full clause.

Here are both patterns:

• Setelah mencuci rambut, saya menggantung handuk basah di balkon.
• Setelah saya mencuci rambut, saya menggantung handuk basah di balkon.

Both are correct.

The shorter version is often preferred when the subject is the same and already obvious.

Balkon is a loanword, ultimately from European languages, and it means balcony.

Loanwords are very common in Indonesian, especially for household, technical, and modern-life vocabulary.

So di balkon is a completely normal and standard phrase.

Yes, but the tone changes.

• saya = neutral, polite, standard
• aku = informal, personal, casual

So:

Setelah mencuci rambut, saya menggantung handuk basah di balkon.

sounds neutral and standard.

Setelah mencuci rambut, aku menggantung handuk basah di balkon.

sounds more casual and conversational.

Both are grammatical. The best choice depends on the situation and level of formality.