I admit, I thought I was the only one who did this until last month's Whole Hearted Mother's conference when we talked about laundry issues in one of our gab sessions. But I have a tip that will save you roughly half the money you spend on dryer sheets: tear them in half and use one sheet for two loads.I know that may sound silly, but when you have a larger family, that means more laundry, and little things start to add up. I got the idea when I would take used dryer sheets out of a newly dried load, and it would still be a little stiff, like it still had some life in it. So since the loads didn't seem to need the whole sheet, I started tearing them in half. I tried it on all loads, and now I do it with everything except the load that has my husband's black dress socks. They are just too static-y without a full sheet.
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7 comments:
Something I found out recently, if you do use dryer sheets all the time, make sure you periodically scrub your lint filter. The dryer sheets cause a build-up that you can't really see and it can cut down on your drying time when that is washed off. It can also be a fire hazard if you don't wash it off.
(OK, I know that's horrible sentence structure but I'm so tired!)
Found the article:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/dryer.asp
I started doing this years ago not to save $$ (which is why I NOW do it) but because my clothes were "slimy". I like them soft, but I draw the line at slimy.
May I suggest that you not use dryer sheets at all! I have read a lot recently about the chemicals that they put into the air (both in your home and through the vent) and how harmful they are to your lungs. Most of them are highly toxic. (Sorry I can't put my finger on the info right now). I have used Downy most of my mothering life, but I stopped using it when I boycotted Proctor and Gamble a few years ago. That boycott is over, but I discovered that I can do without it most of the time. I'm sure it has bad stuff in it, too, but the odor is not so strong. I now only use it when I'm drying very staticky (?) stuff, like blankets--and usually in my delicates load.
Just something to think about.
I started doing that after Kristen gave me the idea a few years back. But then I moved to Colorado *sigh*. Now I use liquid fabric softener and half a dryer sheet to keep the clothes from sticking together. I tried a whole dryer sheet, but that was no where near enough. Maybe one of these days I won't have to buy the expensive liquid softener!
Vicki,
I read a little something about that somewhere too, but frankly I just shrugged it off. It seems like everything is bad for you these days. Of course I don't want to do/use anything dangerous for my family, but I get tired of being barraged by the media about all the things that are bad for you. Like now grilling is unhealthy because the black stuff on the meat is cancer-causing.
That said, if you can find the info for me I'll definitely take a look at it. :)
June,
I saw that! I do clean mine, although not as much as I probably should. But it was funny, as Kelly said that it was the first time her remembered seeing snopes report something as "true"!
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