Dryer Sheets

[sebrinaw]

Does anyone here use dryer sheets? Are they harmful? What can I use as an alternative to make clothes feel soft and smell nice. I was thinking of putting a few drops of essential oil on a baby cloth and throwing it in with the clothes. Any suggestions?
Sebrina
PS. Once the weather warms up I will be hanging stuff outside to dry, yeah!!!

[LaLa]

dryer sheets are absoultely EVIL for our environment!!!I don't have time to search for the articles I've read, but they are SO nasty and they pollute air (as well as our clothes) with those chemicals. Just think every time you smell your neighbors laundry sheets venting from their house, you know your family is inhaling the chemicals!


There are some alternatives.

You can get your water softened or add water softeners to yourwash load (essentially salt)

You can use essential oils on small pieces of cloth in the dryer to add scent

You can buy earth friendly fabric softener liquids for the wash. They leave no petrochemical residue, but I don't know if they're still great, but it's maybe a compromise?

[USAmma]

I noticed that Trader Joes has a natural fabric softener liquid made from soybean oils. It's biodegradable. We just don't use fabric softeners at all. I just wash, hang dry, and then fluff no heat for 10 minutes and they come out fairly soft-- without irritating my allergies.

Darshani

[ekblad9]

I have also read that dryer sheets leave little particles in clothes that can get into little one's ears and cause ear infections. I personally hate dryer sheets. I don't use anything. Too much scent makes me ill!

[I Believe in Fairies]

So what do you do for static cling? It's not the softness or the smell that I use dryer sheets for, it's the ability to not get shocked whenever I touch a light switch.

I use vinegar in my rinse, but that seems to make matters worse.

Thanks for starting this discussion!

[USAmma]

I hang almost all of our laundry on drying racks, and then fluff for a few minutes on no heat to soften them up. I've noticed that we now have no static cling problems at all. Can't explain why though.

Darshani

[NoHiddenFees]

I find I don't have static problems with an all cotton load. For the other loads a couple aluminum foil balls in the dryer does the trick. Noisy, but no static. Not a good idea for delicate fabrics of course, but then I don't put those in the dryer. Using a dryer cycle with a cool down seems to help tonnes with softness.

[Etoile]

thanks for the foil balls idea!

[AmyG]

Check out this link on the Dollar Stretcher website for a few different ideas. Some of them aren't very natural, but others are.

[CorbinsMom]

I have designated one old washcloth as my dryer sheet. I rub in some of my Eco Sense Fabric Softener and toss it into the dryer. It works great!

[i'm amy]

maybe...

I'm not sure about this, but it seems like since I've been adding about 1/2 cup of baking soda or washing soda to each load, I don't have static cling, and everything is whiter and fresher smelling. Could just be a theory, but I don't know.... The essential oils thing is nice, though, especially, some lavender with your bedding...

[pie]

corbin's mom that is an AWESOME idea. We will try that!

[mamajane]

Very interesting to read. I knew dryer sheets were bad, I just didn't know how bad. I use unscented ones because I need them for the static. My hair just gets totally static if I have a static shirt on. I'm going to try some of the ideas here for static. Wish me luck!!

[ramlita]

yuck!

I've also read that dryer sheets use animal fat/tallow!
And I thought I was so vegi!

I stopped using them when someone clued me in that they were the reason my towels were smelling really funky...

Do the foil balls help keep dog hair from sticking?
What a wild idea!

[lorrielink]

love that idea corbins mom, that has got to be the most eco freindly thing ive heard so far,

just a reminder that just because its bio-degradable doesnt mean its good for the invironment

if you use it and throw it in the garbage and it goes to the dump it just get covered up with piles of dirt and chemicals to keep it from leaking tokins, this works out to mean that the bio degradable things with degrade in something like a thousend years as opposed to the 10 thousend years of non items

o and im definatly gonna go out and get some essential oils, what a fabulous idea

edited to add that borax rules!

[mrs_hacky]

T

This is off the subject a bit, but what is "washing soda" and where do you get it? Also, where do you all get baking soda - as I am assuming you buy it in large boxes/bags since you use it in laundry and probably for other cleaning too.

[abigailvr]

Washing soda is sodium carbonate, as opposed to baking soda which is sodium bicarbonate. My supermarket carries it in the laundry aisle. I don't buy it separately because I've been using the Arm & Hammer laundry detergent (the one with no dyes or perfume), which has washing soda in it.

I think my supermarket also carries baking soda in large boxes. I just bought one, but I can't remember if it was from the supermarket or from Target. (I'm pregnant, I'm allowed to be forgetful. )

Hope that helps!

[Sumobabe]

Some help with static cling

This is going to sound weird, but...

one day at work I was having a problem with my skirt clinging to my pantyhose. A coworker told me to put some hand lotion on my hands, rub them together and then when the lotion was mostly gone, to rub my hands over my hose as if I was rubbing lotion into my legs. It worked, and this trick has come in handy more than once.

I have a real problem with static cling and static electricity in the winter, and have really found that it's related to the dryness of my skin. The more hydrated and moisturized I am, the less static electricity I seem to generate.

I never use fabric softener when I'm washing and drying towels. They just seem to absorb better without it.

HTH.

Stephanie
Mom to Cathleen 11/99

[lorrielink]

o thats neat about the lotion, thanks for the tip.

one little trick that ive used for static cling is to spray hairspray on my legs over the pantyhose under the skirt or pants and its works perfactly, but i think im gonna switch to the lotion thing.

[nernie]

mrs. hacky - I don't know if you have WinCo grocery stores where you live, but if there's a mainstream store with bulk foods you can find baking soda in with the flour and stuff in bulk for like 19 cents a pound. That's how I get mine. I like cheap stuff!