Many Uses: Greener Ways to Use Dryer Sheets
If you are going for a frugal or greener drying experience and are using dryer balls, laundry softener or a dry towel to help with your drying needs in the machine. You may find that you now have an abundance of dryer sheets that you don’t know what to do with.
I have found (and tried) a few ideas that may help you use them up without throwing them out. Dryer sheets have a similar absorbing power as newspapers when it comes to odors, so you can clean and deodorize among other things:
- Push them into your sweaty, smelly shoes and let them sit overnight to reduce the offending odor
- Lay them out in dresser drawers to replace an old sachet and make clothing smell nice
- Place a few in suitcases or gym bags before you re-use them again
- Place them in between books when storing to reduce the musty smell
- Wipe the surface of your electronics to remove static and dust
- Loosen baked on grime when you drop one in the sink water with the pan
- Pick up small particles that are hard to sweep, like glass, hair and sawdust
- Dusting your blinds gets easy when you wipe them with a dryer sheet
- Run a needle and thread between the dryer sheet to prevent tangles
- Drop them at the bottom of your trash can before you put in a trash bag
- Clean mineral deposits from shower doors after a shower
- Use them as bug repellent (see also snopes list of items)
Also check out BounceSheets.com for their ideas – mostly deodorizing and some cleaning.
Additional reading: Many Uses
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Dawn C. is site owner of Frugalforlife.com where this is a repost from: Uses for Dryer Sheets. Dawn resides in Colorado with her spouse, Teri, of 11 years.
Photo credit: FrugalForLife.com.
The bad thing about dryer sheets is they are one of the most toxic products around. Take a look at the ingredients:
Benzyl acetate: Linked to pancreatic cancer
Benzyl Alcohol: Upper respiratory tract irritant
Ethanol: On the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Hazardous Waste list and can cause central nervous system disorders
Limonene: Known carcinogen
A-Terpineol: Can cause respiratory problems, including fatal edema, and central nervous system damage
Ethyl Acetate: A narcotic on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list
Camphor: Causes central nervous system disorders
Chloroform: Neurotoxic, anesthetic and carcinogenic
Linalool: A narcotic that causes central nervous system disorders
Pentane: A chemical known to be harmful if inhaled
Personally dryer sheets exacerbate my asthma. Other health effects from being exposed to the chemicals in fabric softeners include:
Central nervous system disorders
Headaches
Nausea
Vomiting
Dizziness
Blood pressure reduction
Irritation to skin, mucus membranes and respiratory tract
Pancreatic cancer
Not the best idea to wrap yourself in chemical-coated fabric-softened towels! Simple baking soda will leave your laundry soft and your health intact.
Add a quarter cup of baking soda to wash cycle to soften fabric
Add a quarter cup of white vinegar to wash soften fabric and eliminate cling.
Dawn, those are all great ideas.
Paula, thanks for the health info and for the suggestions about baking soda.
Dawn: Funny, but I just learned about the “dry towel to help with your drying needs in the machine” trick by reading Sharon Harvey Rosenberg’s new book: The Frugal Duchess. I never knew this would eliminate drying time with a wet load of clothes!
Paula: Good info there… I personally do not use dryer sheets.. even living in a dryer climate, it isn’t worth it to me.
Serena: Thank you
Nina: Oh my, I love that tip, do it all the time