We are exposed to a plethora of toxins everyday, and while we can't remove every toxin from our life, we can take measures to lessen our exposure, as well as enhance our bodies' ability to detoxify. In today's blog post I'm going give you 7 toxic reasons to ditch dryer sheets.
Why I Decided To Ditch Dryer Sheets
My mother has a form of dementia called Lewy Body Disease (LBD). It is neurological in nature, with no known cure. Most research suggests those who are inflicted with the disease live 8-12 years post-diagnosis. This is not a new disease, but a disease, not commonly diagnosed until post-mortem. Due to the worsening of her symptoms and test results that continued to come back “negative,” my mother had a frontal lobe biopsy, wherein, she was diagnosed with LBD.
Update. My mother passed away in December 8, 2015.
I have routinely challenged her neurologist for insight into the cause of the disease and have never been given much to hang my hat on, except for one thing. With certainty, he has repeatedly said, “the only thing we know for sure, is, environmental toxins contribute to dementia.” You mean like pesticides, herbicides, pollutants, chemicals, heavy metals, and stuff like that? Yep.
That is all the motivation I need, to do my very best to lessen the toxic load, not only for myself but for my husband and children as well. As a family, we made a commitment to remove toxins from our food, by going organic. It was the first step in our journey. We started with food and then I found the best in natural cleaning products and gave my make-up a make-over.
As I delved further into how toxins contribute to dementia, I came across the book The Brain Wash. This remarkable book explores how exposure to toxins are linked to not only neurological disease, but how they impact our overall health and what we can do to reduce our everyday exposure.
7 Toxic Reasons To Ditch Dryer Sheets
Unless you live in a nudist colony, wearing and washing clothes is a part of life. Of course, some of us may hang our clothes to dry on a line, but I would guess, most of us choose the modern-day dryer.
If this is true, one of the most toxic things we do, on a regular basis, is use fabric softener or dryer sheets (we'll pick on laundry detergent another day). Those perfume-laden (even fragrance-free) sheets and liquid are full of toxic chemicals.
Chemicals that infiltrate the clothes we wear, which in turn get on our skin and absorbed into our body. And according to my mother's neurologist, and other experts in this arena, contribute to dysfunction and disease of the nervous system.
So here's the deal…don't pick up a box of dryer sheets or fabric softener and expect to see a list of ingredients like you would a box of cereal. That is because there are no laws in place which require the manufacturers of these products to list all the chemicals used.
Often, what you see listed is something along the lines of “biodegradable cationic softeners”. These so-called softeners that make our clothes fluffy and static-free, are toxic chemicals which build up in our body, and, over time can wreak havoc on our nervous system.
Studies have looked at what chemicals are “released” by laundry products, like dryer sheets, since manufacturers don't have to disclose the ingredients used in them. One study found more than 25 “volatile” air pollutants — including carcinogens, acetaldehyde and benzene. Another, found the fumes to cause irritation of eyes, nose, throat, and lungs.
According to the author of The Brain Wash, here are the seven most common chemicals found in dryer sheets and their effect on the central nervous system:
1. Alpha-Terpineol causes central nervous system disorders. Can also cause loss of muscular coordination, central nervous system depression, and headache.
2. Benzyl Alcohol causes central nervous system disorders, headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, central nervous system depression, and, in severe cases, death.
3. Camphor on the US EPA's Hazardous Waste list. Central nervous system stimulant, causes dizziness, confusion, nausea, twitching muscles, and convulsions.
4. Chloroform on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list. Neurotoxic and carcinogenic.
5. Ethyl Acetate on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list. Narcotic. May cause headaches and narcosis (stupor).
6. Linalool causes central nervous system disorders. Narcotic. In studies of animals, it caused ataxic gait (loss of muscular coordination), reduced spontaneous motor activity, and depression.
7. Pentane causes headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness, and loss of consciousness. Repeated inhalation of vapours causes central nervous system depression.
Yikes!!! Right?!
There's just one more thing that needs to be mentioned. The author of The Brain Wash did not address the toxic issues surrounding fragrance in fabric softeners and dryer sheets. However, Mike Adams, editor of Natural News, does a fine job explaining the dangers in this article.
Ok, so I presented a problem, but as any good blogger knows, I can't leave you without a solution. Enter How To Make Wool Dryer Balls.
Felted wool dryer balls are an easy-to-make, non-toxic, alternative for dryer sheets and fabric softeners. Throw 4-6 of these in the dryer, with a few drops of your favorite essential oil, and you will never go back to dryer sheets again.
And if you're not into making your own wool dryer balls, that's okay. You can order your own, along with clean household cleaners, laundry detergent, and much more for your healthy home, when you become a Young Living member.
I wonder if tennis balls be used as well? I’ve used them before when trying to get wrinkles out of one or two items that were already dry.
You would be heating rubber and who knows what toxins that might release? I suppose we could consult the almighty Google for an answer. 😉
My dryer sheets say ingredients are, cationic types and perfume. Is this bad for you?
Yes.
I recently read a post about wool dryer balls…homemade. Basically you use a skein of wool, make a dryer ball, and if you MUST make it smell like something other than dry clothes, you can use a few drops of essential oils. People swear by them, but I’ve yet to try!
Was it my post for How To Make Wool Dryer Balls? 🙂
Ummmm…it probably was!! LOL!
Tennis balls are rubber and rubber DOES release toxins when it is heated. Wool dryer balls work great. If you don’t want to make your own, NORWEX has a set of 3 for a decent price.
I have recently switch from dryer sheets to the Norwex dryer balls, and my clothes have no perfume smell, and dry quicker. I do have more static clothes, but I would choose that over the toxic chemicals that we are putting on our skin and in our bodies. Shaking the clothes releases will some of the static. We are exposed too many chemicals and too many children are coming in this world with Cancer caused by enviromental toxins.
Every step you can take in protecting yourself and your family is a must.
Some white vinegar in the rinse cycle will take care of everything,too. I pour mine in one of those Downey (I know, shudder) balls someone gave me. It’s works great and is naturally anti-bacterial so it helps on stinky towels, too. And no, the clothes never smell like vinegar.
I have used white vinegar for a long time in the rinse cycle, it works great. Cloth’s smell so clean.
Me, too. Clothes are softer. Smell disipates quickly. I feel my clothes are bacterially cleaner, too, which makes me happy!
So why when I used vinegar in the rinse cycle, all the clothes smell like the horrid remaining smell of old easter dye??
I love dryer balls… They not only have no nasties but stop static, halve drying time, can be used hundreds of times & can be fragranced with your choice of essential oils! Toxic load big enough, is great to know the product that is the safest to use is also the product you enjoying use the most!
How long do the wool dryer balls last?
I am still using the original one I made over a year ago.
I use a few drops of essential oil on a dampened wash cloth and throw it in with the clothes/towels to be dried.
By the way what nail polish do you use? 🙂
Awesome suggestions…the essential oil doesn´t spot the clothes….thats what I was worried about?
No spots so far. Been doing this for several year Dinah. Putting the essential oil on an old wet rag thrown in the dryer with the clothes or towels will ensure that. Also, it seems to keep things from getting static electricity.
What EO’s do you prefer to use? I can’t use lavendar due to allergies, but I use tea tree oil for lots of things. Wonder how it would work for this?
Pure, unadulterated essential oils can not cause an allergic reaction. If you are getting an allergic reaction to Lavender essential oil then it probably contains the very chemicals, you are trying to avoid in dryer sheets.
The only exception that comes to mind, are citrus essential oils, because they are NOT steam distilled in the traditional fashion but “cold pressed” from the rind.
I have used pure, essential oils and yes, they can cause an allergic reaction. Just ask my husband. Lavender, eucalyptus, and tea tree come to mind.
Just consulted with a pediatric endocrinologist (the reason why I’m reading these posts!) – and she said to avoid both lavendar and tea tree oil, as they are both “endocrine disruptors.” Just thought I’d share.
Thank you for sharing, it is my understanding this information is not accurate. http://roberttisserand.com/articles/TeaTreeAndLavenderNotLinkedToGynecomastia.pdf
Most mainstream doctors don’t know anything about essential oils!
What about Bounce bars? Are they any better/worse?
Bounce Dryer Bars scored a “D” (A-F) rating on the Environmental Working Group’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning.
What do you think about the Norwex dryer balls? I was using them, and then my husband pointed out that they are made of some type of plastic.
Thanks!
Hi Alisa. Unfortunately, I’m unable to find much about the Norwex dryer balls.
Norwex dryer balls are made of a food grade plastic and have been tested to confirm that they do not leech any chemicals.
I have been unable to confirm this…as I have been asked about the safety of the plastic dryer balls. Do you have a link to the resource?
NORWEX has stated that they are non-toxic. NORWEX also now has a set of 3 wool dryer balls that are very nice. They just became available in October 2013.
I use a ball of aluminum foil. It eliminates all of the static!
a little off the subject but, what do you think about using ammonia vs. bleach?
Both get an “F” in the EWGs Guide to Healthy Cleaning. I don’t use either.
Great article.
PVC plastic contains phthalates – which can leach, especially under high heat. Why would you take that risk? Dioxins can also be released (read those Norwex labels).
I use a dime-sized amount of Ava Anderson Non-Toxic’s styling cream (for hair) on a microfiber cloth, and add to my dryer. Zero chemicals, and works fantastically.
Is the Ava product helping with static or just other things like freshness and softness?
I use a little splash of white distilled vinegar as a fabric softener in the final rinse for my laundry and it works great! It dissolves soap scum, and the vinegary smell disappears in the rinse, and the laundry comes out soft. It saves a lot of money on the high cost of conventionally produced fabric softeners, too. A gallon of vinegar at Walmart is very inexpensive and can be used for other cleaning projects.
I also use white distilled vinegar, works really well and there is no residual scent.
For those of you who use the white distilled vinegar, how much do you use? Thanks for sharing, great article!
I use vinegar in my rinse cycle and 6 wool dryer balls in my dryer, and I still have terrible static. Sooooo, I don’t know how you guys are getting such great results?? Maybe you want it to work so badly that you are just telling yourself it does while in reality you are walking around with socks stuck to your back?
You are funny Carrie! 🙂 No socks stuck to my back — just toilet paper on my shoe. I have found that I only get static when I over dry. I run a short dryer cycle and if clothes are still slightly damp run it for 5-10 minutes. If I run a full dryer cycle my clothes are over dry and full of static. I also don’t dry athletic clothes and instead hang those — they seem to create static.
Hi,
My apartment is 5 floors up from the building’s laundry room.
When people do laundry, the smell of dryer air makes me sick to my stomach.
My landlord is not doing anything about it. Is there a recourse I can take?
I would check with the rental laws in your state.
You’re only option is to move. I had a smoker move in next door and they smoked like a chimney inside their apartment and it reeked inside mine. I contacted the apartment manager, nothing. I contacted local goverment officials, they sent a letter basically saying that according to the law since smokers were allowed in the building there was nothing I could do. Since smokers have more rights in apartments than those not wanting second-hand smoke, my only choice was to move out.
Smoking has been proven hazardous, and yet there wasn’t anything I could have done. I doubt your landlord will be helpful regarding dryer air.
To me, this is the biggest injustice of dryer sheets aside from their manufacture. This is where, regardless of your personal choices to be healthy, an entire country venting untold millions of cubic feet of tainted air onto our neighborhood streets becomes the primary problem. Inhalation is a far more direct method of absorption than your skin and walking around any neighborhood in America on a Sunday evening has become a pretty toxic affair.
Because of this magnitude and because this is akin to second-hand smoke where you have no recourse but to be affected by others’ poor choices, the contents of these things should be strictly regulated and revised. A SLIGHTLY uphill battle considering that metaphorically, the cats are in charge of the mice, but thought I’d toss that out there. Happy Wednesday.
A clothes line and a hot iron end the need for all this stuff.
Spot on, no electric dryer in my house.: clothes line and clothes rack, no static cling. No need for fabric softener!
I like Nellies all natural laundry detergent and PVC-free dryer balls with an insert for a lavender oil stick also made by Nellies. You can check it out on Amazon.
For years I use a natural sponge with a bit of white vinegar soaked into it. No more static when you use the dryer.
That. Is. Genius.
Me too, and it helps cut down on dryer fires rather than using those sheets.
Norwex also has just come out with wool dryer balls! They also come with a 2-year warranty which is a big plus
Enjoyed the article. I stopped using fabric softener and dryer sheets two years ago (my daughter is allergic to perfumes and dyes). I have used aluminum foil balls and essential oil on lint free towels. My best results for static free soft clothes are with the lint free towels and essential oil. For those of you who don’t get the results you want, attach a few safety pins to the towels. They act like lightning rods, and attract the static from the clothes. I get the lint free towels from advance auto or autozone. I also use the vinegar in the rinse cycle. Now, not only do I have soft static free nice smelling clothes, I don’t buy dryer sheets. Great article!
Thanks for sharing your tips!
Thank you, Frank! Lots of great tips in one comment. 😀
PLEASE, HOW MUCH vinegar should be added to an average load of wash????????
1/2 cup a load, I use a downey ball.
I just fill the place where the fabric softener would go, but I think 1/2-1 cups would be plenty.
Ditto.
I use a small squirt bottle to spray 15 squirts of full strength white vinegar onto the wet clothes in the dryer before turning it on. Clothes are soft and only experience occasional static with a fleece sweater.
I must ask if anyone is at all concerned about the GMO nature of distilled white vinegar? I can’t find a good local source for non-GMO, so I no longer use it. I don’t want to have anything to do with GMOs.
Spectrum makes an organic white vinegar I pick up at my local co-op. You can also find it on amazon sometimes. It’s a bit pricey for something I dump in my laundry, I use it for cooking and, gulp, buy the taboo gmo cheap stuff for cleaning and the rinse cycle. I hate buying it too but what can you do? It’s still better than the chemicals!
You list chemicals that are in the dryer sheets but do not explain what the chemicals are, just that they are toxic. I think that an explanation of the chemicals and other examples of their use would enhance this blog.
Hi Kelly, you can very easily find your information by Googling the chemicals.
There is no empirical evidence to support that dryer sheets cause harm. You don’t list the source that claims these ingredients are actually in dryer sheets, either, nor the volume/percentage of these ingredients that it takes to cause harm.
Uranium and crude oil are natural and organic, too. Just because something is natural and organic doesn’t mean that it isn’t harmful.
http://www.drsteinemann.com/Resources/Toxic%20Chemicals%20in%20Fragranced%20Laundry%20Products.pdf
All of those seven chemicals you listed only have the stated effects after very high acute exposures. You might as well add:
Water – Found in Acid Rain. Causes death by drowning.
Can you provide any links to scientific studies that show that those chemicals in the amounts found in dryer sheets have any ill effects?
I really appreciate all the info that has been shared here. I use Downy in the wash, but even with a new washer, I have issues where it stains the clothes! I end up re-washing and wasting water and time. I always swore by Bounce sheets…..didn’t think I could live without them! I too still have terrible static and have noticed that lint and dog hair still clings to the clothes…..I didn’t know what to do as I’ve never had these issues until recent! I know we as a society are constantly bombarded by chemicals in our everyday life, to the point where I just threw up my hands and said “we are all going to die by something, why give up comfort?” I take back those words now, my grandmother died with dementia, I’ve seen signs of it in my father, my son and I suffer from headaches and stomach issues that are “part of life” it is so often. Babysteps for me, but I am going to start cutting back however I can. Thanks again everyone!
Thank God for Melaleuca! Love that stuff, and they even have fabric softener and dryer sheets that are all natural 🙂
I also use melaleuca, love their laundry detergent but I still use vinegar and essential oils for my dryer.. put a cup of vinegar in a container that has a lid and 3 cups of water and about 15-20 drops of essential oils. place a couple of sponges in and when you throw your laundry in then give the sponge a squeeze for excess and toss it in .. Works great and saves me money
I have 5 Ragdolls (cats) I use vinegar, fabric softener, dryer sheets and dryer balls – I need to find something to get rid of sterilized cat fur on my clothes. I did for a long time not use fabric softener or dryer sheets, but so far they are the only thing that will help with the cat fur.
So if you can tell me how (except for getting rid of my cats) to have clean clothes I would gladly give up the sheets and fabric softener again
I would try to find a pet buster brush. They have little rubber bristles. Look on flylady.net. To see what I am talking about. But you can find them at Walmart in the pet section or sometimes the $ tree.
Why not just purchase hazmat suits?
Won’t wool balls cause a lot of static? I am prone to static as it is and don’t enjoy continually getting shocked….
I make 100% Alpaca dryer balls by the 100’s for my customers who want to use a natural solution to doing their laundry. We use them and love that they reduce dryer time and totally eliminate unnecessary chemicals from lingering on our body’s largest organ, our skin. The question is why?…….but should be why not? Why not save money every time you dry your clothes. Why not reduce the need for more electricity? Why not feel good about something you’re doing to protect yourself and your family from possible harm. Why not preserve natural resources by not buying dryer sheets with all of that packaging, etc, etc?
PS: Rosemary is a wonderful scent in the EO’s.
PS. The dryer balls are non-toxic to pets
I have them, I made them, I use them, but the essential oils just do not work. I have made my laundry detergent, and even it does not make the clothes smell like Tide. It’s driving me crazy! We have dogs, and I want me clothes to have a good fragrance.
Can you sell me your wool balls?
I could but then I would have to start a wool dryer ball business. 🙂
Use white vinegar in one of those Downy balls and throw it in with your wash. It works better than any softener and gets rid of residue from your clothing. Another plus is you have no static cling and it’s natural. Your clothes will not smell like vinegar, I promise!
this on linalool …is not bad in itself …depends on the varibales I guess …I have always known it is a component of many EOs and plants
http://chemicaloftheday.squarespace.com/qa/2011/3/9/linalool.html
This is true. Linalool is a constituent found in Lime essential oil
My wife uses Shaklee. How does that rate with Melaleuca?
would a second rinse be helpful minimizing contaminets when using frabric softener?
Not sure if anyone mentioned that dryer sheets ALSO cause house fires by clogging the lint trap with residue. Very unhealthy.
Dryer sheets do clog the lint trap and they do cause fires. I like all the ideas on here. I don’t use either sheets or liquid softeners. I don’t care to smell like that. I do like to hang my clothes on the line. They are kinda stiff, but if I throw them in the dryer for a few minutes, the wrinkles come out.
Why do you have to use a dryer, in Australia we dry our clothes out in the sun, the sun disinfects them further and most clothes don’t need to be ironed once they are dry. Oh – and its free, no money spent on electricity and green house emissions. Dryers are just wasteful.
Hi Olivia. Great question. I live in Minnesota. As I sit here enjoying my morning coffee and looking out the window, I don’t see the sun but a full on blizzard in effect. 🙂 If I hung my clothes outside they would be frozen and buried under a pile of snow.
ditto here …our winters in northern NY State can & do go well below freezing – in fact often below 0 Fahrenheit …clothes won’t dry outdoors, they’ll freeze. In summer months, I DO use the line as much as possible. I have a clothes rack that use for some things inside during the winter – but I do resort to the dryer in winter months, as I don’t want 2 loads of laundry strung up about the house! LOL …I want to add that while it’s true the sun will sanitize, it will also fade & deteriorate your fabrics …although I suppose a fair amount of that will happen simply from washing drying with any method but the sun does hasten the effect …personally I have not used dryer sheets or fabric softener of any kind in years. When I use the dryer, I never use a higher heat setting above ‘medium’ and I don’t have a lot of trouble with static cling.
Hi Olivia, my family lives in Australia in a residential area and they do the same as you. In some places in Canada residential areas do not allow outside cloths lines (apparently it is unsightly). I’m fortunate and live in the country and in the winter when laundry would still go outside and never dry, I hang my laundry indoors near the free heat of my wood stove!
I was reading this article with interest. I don’t use fabric softener sheets and never have due to my own chemical sensitivities. However, it struck me that both of my in-laws are experiencing severe neurological health issues of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and my m-i-l was a huge proponent of dryer sheets. Every load had several and they accumulated because she wouldn’t take the old ones out. My f-i-l also was big into spraying for weeds, bugs etc. I don’t believe it is a coincidence that they have these health problems. It makes me sad to see them go through this, but no one in the family believes me when I tell them these things.
I have stopped using a lot of Chems, an PErfumed Products !
For many years I was having allergy like reactions.. Took me along time to figure out why.
One the first things I noticed came one spring, when grabbed fresh wisteria off the vine, an put on my reviw mirrow I been doing for years. To naturally refresh my car. I got bad sick.. Every time I got in the car I got sick.. Realized only change, was the flower.. I Removed it an was not sick no more. I got anther , an I got sick.. I Thought Great all these years not a allergy one, like my family has. The family HAy/f;lower allergy caught up.. So I thought.. OTHEr flowers I could handle but certain I could not. Few years later Went to Er with Sever allergy reaction, OR Strong Virus. Doc said Well you have Milk Weed allergy to, as h came in flipping through my chart.>No I have no allergies I know of, though had trouble with wisteria while back in spring. HE says well hon you allergic to Milk Weed.. I said how you know no test? HE said your the 55th person I have seen today, same syptoms ! So then I knew why I was sick every Seed season nearing fall. MIlk Weed is in seed season heavy then. As time passed O learned more an more effected me, Including DRYER SHEETS, Candles, Room Deoderizers plug or non plug type, Petroleum, deoderants, colognes, perfumes, an much more. MY MAin TRoubles were BLEACh, PINE SOL, An Ammonia ! Big NO NO I am passed out nearly before can get away from them. HAnd sanitizers too do so ! I finally get my regular doc to listen, she sends me to an allergist. THE allergist did 25 prick test.. Said I had NO Allergy to even MOLDS.. HE said most have allergy to mold if nothing else. I Said them Why am I having trouble like allergy? HE said the ONLY thing showed RED from reaction on the test was HiStamine ! I said you just said I had no allergies ! YEp.>HE said Histamine is not a allergy, but what your body does when it thinks you are sick ! ITs a disease you have ! He said chem an perfumes trigger it..an ya body fights it. HE said worst are.. I Answered BLEach, Pinesol, an Ammonia.. Ammonia being the worst of the 3.. HE said You the only person that has ever noticed that. I said it takes my breath away, an I come near passing out if do not get away from it. HE was mad doctors had me on Singulair for 10 years, but never had me do a allergy test before. HE said I Should have been dead already, My histamine levels were to High..Into he 200’s. HE said singular feeds you histamine to cure allergy. HE said it was adding to your Histamine levels ! HE was mas my doc put me on COPD meds, When His breathing test shown, I did not have COPD. HE pulled me off singular an Copd MEds. HE put me On a NO Histamine medication for allergy. Zyrtec ! I Got so much better..usually in a year I got sick BAdly 6 times or more.. LAst year I was sick 2 times.. THis year Once slightly.. LAvender was a big no no for me too ! Found that out when Daughter in law kept doing clothes when I was there. I asked what are you washing with.TIde.. I said an Fabric sheet? Lavendar ! An I knew it was the dryer sheet… BEcause few times I was there, she was out of tide, an used something else. I Wuit using fabric sheets all together, because I could not Smell most of them store sold. I Was how to cut down the Static? A wet rag.. I semi Damped a wet cloth an threw in when clothes were getting near dry, it helped cut sown on static. YEt still not enough.. I then thought the fuzz from clothes, make there own batting.. I wonder? IT worked ! THe build up of the batting of fuz off the clothes, worked like a dryer sheet ! I kept breaking it up, so that the Vent could breath at all times, but left the batting in there for a sheet. I remove it every 3, or 4 cycles. THen start again. Build up an it not breath right, can cause dryer fires.. You must break it up now an then, to let the dryer breath. YES TOXIC things can HArm You ! I Warn people all the time about BReathing iN Chems an perfumes ! FREBREZE ! I LOVES it too ! Smells so Good, Covers up the ugliest scents.. I got sick One day.. I told all NO more Deoderizers ! An Not used them since ! Mom had one them auto matics.. I Could not even visit my moms own house, she would cry.>TilL We remembered her automatic.. ONce it was gone.>No problems. She had forgot about it, IT was in place you could not see it.. I Tell all FEBreze all SUCk in too BREath it cause it smells so GOOD ! THEy OVer spray it for MORe scent because smells GOOD ! When IN Fact its a chemical as well, an ya sucking Chemicals Up YA NOSE ! IN Return its tearing up ya sinus membranes ! THEn you stop an think, what else am I breathing in.. An you go through a lot, what to throw away ?
I don’t use wool since I am allergic and so is my daughter.Any other alternative to the wool balls?
Also allergic to wool – any recommended alternatives?
vinegar and essential oils.. 3parts water 1part vinegar in a container with 15-20 drops of essential oils.. I only mix up 1 cup of vinegar at a time.. place a couple of sponges in the tub with a lid and when you put your laundry in then squeeze out the excess and drop it in the dryer..
¼ cup of epsom salt in the wash load. It’s about the same cost as cheap dryer sheets, but I’ve only had one load come out with a little static. The vinegar works, but I never seem to make it back to the washer to add it in time for the rinse cycle.
Do you know where I can get the book The Brain Wash for a reasonable price? I can only find for $150ish online… I know, right!? Eeek!
Wow! Really? I bought the Kindle version. Yikes, I just checked and you are right.
Rebecca, Norwex sell dryer balls that are not wool.
I have asthma and have found that so many household things are triggering attacks.(my asthma is getting worse as i get older) so I have found Melaleuca products and have swapped to them for many things such as laundry det. shampoo and other household stuff like cleaners and bath and body stuff. but I still try to find cheaper more natural ways to do some things.. I do use vinegar and essential oils instead of dryer sheets. you can use peroxide as a all purpose cleaner as well as vinegar.
To the readers here…. I’d like to offer a bit of “empirical evidence” as to the toxicity of dryer sheets and the chemicals contained within them. Three years I was exposed to spray foam insulation in a cottage I was renting for eight months. I developed respiratory, digestive and neurological health conditions. All diagnosed by reputable Boston area physicians. I am now advised to avoid all “toxic chemicals” When I come into contact with the artificial chemical fragrance in Bounce and dryer sheets I develop immediate, painful neurological symptoms and have to remove myself to avoid further disruption.
Thank you Vanessa for this article and your efforts to educate others.
Wouldn’t you mainly get static from using a dryer in the first place? I too live in Australia but in one of the cooler areas. I don’t have a dryer & dry all our clothes on folding racks which we put out when we can & in when we can’t. It seems a bit contradictory to me to present all this great healthy info & then use something as environmentally costly as a dryer!!
Hi Jane I would love to come visit you one day! I live in Minnesota. We are still in our winter season with temps well below zero. Snow and ice and very cold. Clothes would freeze into icicles outside today.
You’re welcome any time Vanessa!! But I also grew up in the UK so I know what cold is too. When you have real winters you tend to have real heating systems. We never had a dryer growing up, clothes hung on radiators & drying racks. Might make the house look a bit messy for a few hours but much kinder to the planet.
Simple for me. I just don’t use a dryer. I hang my clothes outside. They smell clean and fresh and I don’t waist fossil fuels doing what the sun can do. For about 45 years, I’ve only used a dryer if we’re having so much rain I can’t get anything dry. Even then I’ll hang things inside to avoid a dryer when I can!
What do you use instead of bleach?
I have never used bleach. Some use vinegar for whitening.
So glad I dumped the toxins in my home and have moved to non toxic all natural anywhere possible products.
i was in shock when i read all this…. i still don’t get why industries make all this and harm humanity!! this is why i love europe! they have no shit like this.. everything is natural
You can also use baking soda in the rinse cycle. Baking soda softens the water. When it’s cold and snowing or icing outside, I put my clothes on hangers and hang them to dry in the bathroom. When they are dry, they are ready to hang in the closet. Items that don’t get hung, like socks and towels, get damp dried. I never have static cling issues.
Camphor is toxic? The stuff in campho-phenique and in many topical pain relief creams?
Okay okay enough with the static cling. In light of the health hazards and ozone destroying chemicals in dryer sheets I’ll take static cling anyday. Think.
Vanessa, may I have your permission to excerpt your chemical list to send to my state representative George Miller? I have signed a petition for individual states to be able to reveal harmful chemicals in cleaning products that our government has been hiding from us.
Ask your State Representative to co-sponsor the “Cleaning Product Right to Know Act” to require companies to list all ingredients on the label. google “Women’s Voices for the Earth” to acsess the petition. Get off the static cling and get involved.
Dryer sheets swell my tongue, causes difficulty breathing followed by loss of voice, dizziness, nausea and if not removed from my area I can’t move and need oxygen. One Mayo Clinic doctor told me I’m the “canary on the coal mine. Your body reacts to carcinogens.”
In 2010, I contacted a viral infection mistreated with ZPac.
I’ve been chemically sensitive since with the reactions worsening.
Parents are now telling me their teenagers are having reactions to laundry detergents and fragrances.
Big money is behind these “fragranced” products so they’re attacking anyone who questions the impact of the chemicals used in these products.
Protect yourself and your children by eliminating chemicals from your lives.
It’ll help people like me who you may know and who are afraid to let you know they’re sensitive too!
My story is documented on http://www.carepages.com to learn more.
We made the switch to Charlie’s Soap as a detergent last year and haven’t needed dryer sheets or fabric softener because it doesn’t leave residue. It doesn’t solve the static issue but not over drying clothes helps. In the scheme of things, i’ll take occasional static over health concerns. My clothes smell clean, not like some cheap perfume in Tide.
Simply pin a safety pin to the inside of pants leg or skirt & leave it there. Voila! No more static cling!
I just wanted to throw this out there as I’m sure it will help someone as it did me: I have had a problem with a skirt and flyaways; I gave up dryer sheets a long time ago but needed a cure and found this: control the static by keeping your legs moisturized and pinning a safety pin to the hem of your garment. Tried it a couple of weeks ago, and NO STATIC! I’m thrilled to have found this and hope you find it helpful, too….
Oh, and thank you for the wool dryer ball suggestion – we have sheep and I have an abundance of wool, look forward to trying this!
Regarding the static cling many users commented on….I believe that natural materials, such as cotton, don’t generate the electricity that creates static (I’m thinking back to the days when I used to wear nylons all the time).
Is it bad to keep a fabric softner under the bed to leave the room smelling good? If so. Any suggestions?
I make a linen spray using essential oils. Another option is diffusing essential oils in the bedroom.
I do too, Vanessa! To anyone reading this – PLEASE do not purchase essential oils off the shelf at health food stores or on Amazon, etc. They are cut with fillers and synthetic chemicals. Find a Young Living Independent Distributor and see what the company with a Seed to Seal guarantee has to offer with their 100% Therapeutic EOs. The only EO I will ever use in my home. A few drops of Lavender or Lemon on those wool dryer balls is wonderful!!
I use vinegar in rinse cycle then throw clothes in dryer for 5-10 mins then hang just clothes on a long bar we installed from our ceiling across the laundry room on hangers. No static or winkles.
I only dry towels in the dryer and use wool balls with drops of lavender essential oil on them. In good weather I hang clothes outsid and in the winter I use. a large wooden drying rack set up near our pellet stove. If you rub some hand lotion on your slip, it will prevent static cling with your skirt.
These dryer sheets and fabric softeners have made my life unbearable. I have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and have become severely ill through dryer sheet exposures. All of my neighbors use these toxic products. When dryer exhaust is vented into our neighborhood, it enters through faulty windows and through exhaust fans on roof. We literally feel as if we are eating scented laundry products for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some of my neighbors became abusive towards me when I tried to educate them. These are highly educated well to do folks who, with their sense of entitlement, refuse to have their rights violated. Hmmm…. What about our right to breathe non-toxic air in our own neighborhoods and homes? I believe the real problem comes from these scents that “intoxicate” and get people addicted to them. It’s like getting someone to break a cigarette habit. And the companies who continue to add stronger scents to their products, know this. I hope I live to see the day these laundry products are banned and removed from the market for the hazardous waste that they truly are.
I SO feel your pain, agree with you whole heartedly about the “entitled, educate(?)”. I pray everyday for a ban on these noxious chemicals! I have a beautiful garden that I cannot enjoy 1/2 of the time due to chemicals being vented into my yard from neighbors.
Isn’t it ironic that these are the same people who scream about GMOs and what they eat? and yet they still refuse to believe that their skin is the largest organ on the body and it ABSORBS. (i.e. that’s how medical patches work).
ok, off my soapbox.
This is both and warning and a question. I have been using dryer sheets for some time now. The last washer I bought does not have a liquid fabric soft dispenser. Up until this week I have had no problem. Suddenly the dryer sheets are sticking to garments and melting in spot. I had this to happen to a 2 t-shirts and a robe. The robe I was able to get most of it off……the t-shirt…..nothing I have tried will do must of anything. I tried the heat over a brown bag (a little….tiny, tiny bit came off). Help! Does anyone know how to handle this sticky problem?