DIY Dryer Sheets
easy money saver
If you’ve been a subscriber for a bit now, you know I’m working on removing toxins from our home, one DIY at a time. Feel free to scroll back over the last 6 months to get caught up on all the things you can make at home, safely.
Common fabric softeners, both liquid and dryer sheets, contain numerous chemicals to create the fragrance and the softening effect on your laundry. The types of chemicals used and their potential effects are listed here for your own research- www.eewg.org
When you think about the dyes, fragrances and preservatives that go into these laundry products, mixed with the everyday scents from your deodorants, perfumes , laundry soap and room sprays, it’s no wonder why so many are dealing with allergies when they never did. This was my case years ago and why I did a deep dive into toxins in the home. It was scary, but not too late to take action. I haven’t bought dryer sheets in 10 years.
“If it’s clean, it should have no fragrance at all.” Martha Stewart
This no chemical solution is easy to make and saves money too. You can use old t-shirts cut into squares, baby wash clothes, handy wipes ( a washable cloth popular in the 80’s but still around) or soft fabric. You will need 20 squares/cloths.
Your container can be a quart size canning jar, plastic container of the same size or recycle your coffee cans (plastic).
White vinegar is the key ingredient for any cleaning product, and you’ll need 1 1/2 cups of it for this project. Next is your safe fragrances, essential oils of choice is a fun way to make your own dryer sheets smell how you want them too.
So, let’s begin.
Put as many of your dry dryer sheets into your jar as you can. I rolled mine up or you can just stuff them in there.
In a separate container, mix together 1 1/2 cups of white vinegar, 1/2 cup of distilled water (or water that you’ve boiled), and 20 drops of your favorite essential oil. A few of my favorite scents are lavender & vanilla, lemon & grapefruit, and geranium & rose.
Pour the solution over your dryer sheets in the jar and put the lid on. It may take a little bit for all of the sheets to absorb the solution. Each dryer sheet should be saturated but not dripping.
To use, just toss one sheet in your dryer with clean laundry. The vinegar smell does disappear after the clothes have dried, leaving a safe, clean smell. One jar lasts about a month before refreshing the cloths.