Great idea!

I'm just curious to know: aside from fighting static cling, what's the goal of using fabric softener?

I used to use dryer sheets because that's what my mom did when I was a kid and it's how I learned how to do laundry. Fast forward to my adult life and I forgot to add the dryer sheet a few times and I didn't notice anything special about my clothes so I stopped buying/using them once I ran out. Is there something I'm missing out on? Or could we all do without an additional additive to our laundry regime?

Most fabric softeners use animal tallow and water-repellent chemicals to waterproof your clothes to make them feel softer. Um, EW!!

thanks for that tidbit, muddy; I will have to start examining the labels of my fabric softener more closely! That is pretty gross.

I used to be a non-fabric softener type too... but, you really notice it with bed linens. If you sleep in the buff like me (okay, TMI!!!), one can really appreciate soft, buttery sheets that were washed with fabric softener vs. the stiff, crackly sheets washed without. And towels come out nice and spongy vs. brittle and coarse. And clothes that do require ironing tend to come out less wrinkled and are easier to iron. Just think of it like hair conditioner for clothes.

Actually, hejiranyc, fabric softener decreases a towel's abilty to soak up water, making them less effective.

hejiranyc never said the towels were more absorbent. Just spongy. I suspect that is a reference towards softness. Sponges aren't very absorbent either unless they are hard and dry.

I will always use fabric sheets on my clothes and sheets, but could skip it on jeans and any other items.

When I forgot the dryer sheet, my clothes did the static cling from tv. A sock stuck to a shirt and everything. I could definately tell something was up.

static cling is worse 1. when the weather is cool/cold and dry 2. when you have synthetic fibers in the load of laundry.

I hang to dry all nylon, polyester clothes like running shorts or sports quik-wick stuff. That really cuts down the static.

I do a DIY dryer sheet with a slight modification- I use "green" fabric softener which doesn't have much of a smell and I was never a fan of commercial laundry smells- so what i do is purchase a few of my favorite essential oils or "perfumey" oils and put a couple drops on the wash rag that I soaked in softener, make sure you only put a little bit so it doesn't transfer to your clothes and is completely absorbed and then with the dryer heat the oils heat up and make your clothes smell amazing- another trick is to use a tad bit of running alcohol with the drops of oil and spray it on the rag- the rubbing alcohol will take away any oil factor all together and prevent any oil transfer to clothes but the scent sticks!

Using light and DIY dryer sheets is a MUST for those with high effeciency dryers, if you read the manual it warns against using commercial dryer sheets-

The thing I like best about this is that I loooove perfume and i can coordinate the oil scent with a fragrance I wear- if it has vanilla tones I use vanilla oil and it is like adding another layer to perfume, like using a coordinating soap and lotion- smell lasts much longer and you don;t smell like laundry you just smell good!

I used to work at a laundromat doing wash-dry-n-fold and we used tennis balls whenever we washed something big and tangle-prone like sheets or comforters - they bounce around in there and keep things moving... which solves the static-cling problem. At home, I used them for everything because all that boucing around makes things like towels come out soft and fluffy!
Nowadays they sell these nubbly blue "dryer balls" which essentially do the same thing - you dont get the great smell of dryersheets, but you get towels that are absorbant AND fluffy.
Cheap? check. Reusable? check. No chemicals? check. All around, i'd say thats a win.

Great article, Honestly I didn't know about this. I am learning I should read more about laundry articles. Thanks for the information.

123 Laundry Solution

A much better way for the environment is using vinegar instead of fabric softener altogether. Fabric softener is full of harmful chemicals for both YOU and the environment while vinegar does the same exact thing for MUCH cheaper. There's no sickly perfume smell following the vinegar as well.

So after you "make" this fabric softner towel do you put it in washer or dryer? or both? I'm assuming just the dryer since you are getting so many uses out of it.

Meganpie, I've used tennis balls and then got suckered in by the blue nubby balls too - the blue nubby ones have about 1/3 of the lifespan of even the cheapest tennis balls. The nubs start to crack and fall off. I went back to tennis balls!

@SarahChris - do you find that tennis balls get fluffy and you end up with neon crap all over your laundry? It happened to me a couple times.. :(

well a few you can make your own fabric softner using hair conditioner, for the smell or if you want to just go all natural use a 1/2 cup of white vinegar in your wash the vinegar wont form a build up on your lint trap in your dryer causing your dryer to over work and it wont hurt the enviroment its cheap the other thing is make your own fabric softener keep in an air tight container and add your own cloth or i use spounges i use an inexpensive hair conditioner and some water and vinegar to make my own then leave the spounges in it ring them out and throw them in the dryer if I am out I just use the white vinegar in the spot on my machine for the fabric softner plus the vinegar helps keep my washer clean

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I just read that if you like using tennis balls in your dryer, but don't like the fuzz or worry about the neon color coming off on your clothes, put each one in an old white sock. It will also help muffle the clunking in the dryer.

Hi I just washed and dryer some pillows but now my dryer machine smells terrible, how can I fix it?
Thanks,