If you haven't fully given up your clothes dryer yet in favor of a clothesline, there is one small (OK, really small) thing you can do to make your laundry routine a little less wasteful. Give up the dryer sheet. We did, by accident, and we're not looking back.
We were big fans of Mrs. Meyers biodegradable dryer sheets. But then one day we ran out of them. And then we got lazy.
We kept doing laundry, but we kept forgetting to put dryer sheets on the shopping list. Now it's been months and,to be honest, our clothes don't feel any different than they did when we were using dryer sheets. Occasionally there's a little static, but nothing terrible. So we're happy to be over our dryer sheet addiction. How about you?
Has anyone else give up dryer sheets?
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(Image: Flickr member geekstinkbreath licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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I can't remember the last time I bought dryer sheets. But my cessation of purchase was due to a lack of available unscented sheets. We don't miss them.
When we had our daughter, we picked up these rubber dryer balls that don't use chemicals or paper of any kind. They work great - even though the dog thinks they're toys. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2793410
I stopped using dryer sheets a year ago.
The residue from the sheets used by other tenants in our building, are sufficient.
I haven't used dryer sheets in years. Besides not caring for the smell, I also found that they left an unappealing film on my supposedly clean laundry. I now use wool dryer balls and have had no significant problems with static.
I use a Downy ball with unscented Downey. But only on the load with my tshirts... I love soft jersey tshirts.
I live in an apartment complex with only 4 washers and dryers and i HATE when other tenants leave their dryer sheets in the dryer. They have such an oily feel.
I don't normally use a dryer so I don't bother buying them for the rare occasion that I do. I do like that they make your close smell extra fresh, but it's not worth it for me.
I haven't used dryer sheets in at least 2 years. I don't miss them at all. And on a side note, when I saw that picture I was wondering what my stuffed animal was doing in that dryer... yes, I have that same bear!
as mentioned above, there are balls that you can reuse that soften your clothes. also, if you ever need dry a blanket in the machine and find that the material/stuffing gets consolidated into different pockets of the blanket (unevenly) - the ball also works wonders for such scenarios!
I sue dryer balls, but I also only put things in the dryer for 10 min, then I hang it to dry. I find those 10 minutes get rid of 90% of the cat hair and allow towels to be fluffy. If I could somehow keep my cats from shedding then most of my stuff would not go into the dryer at all
I quit using dryer sheets a few years ago and now the smell of them gives me a headache. We visited some friends at the beach recently and she washed our beach towels for me and the lingering scent from the softener was overwhelming. It's funny how fast your senses adjust! Now I use some wool dryer balls that I bought on Etsy and also my laundry detergent has a softening ingredient in it.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26800921
Occasionally when I let things dry too long I get a little static so I keep a spray bottle with water in the laundry room and just give everything a quick spritz. It takes care of the static right away!