Making Do - Homemade Dryer Sheets, sort of
Ok, first off, I love fabric softener and feel it's a necessity 90% of the time. I get extreme static electricity, to the point where I hate touching anything metal in my office (yikes, sparks fly!)
But in my Year of Zero ... it's not really on my necessity list at the current prices I see, even my Kirkland brand, (very compatible to Downy, by the way)
so when I saw this, I though, heh, what the heck, lets give it a try with some of the stuff I have left. Oh, and don't come back and yell at me if you spend 3 hours browsing that site!
Anyways ... this is super easy. I'm on my 2nd round (and the 2nd time, I made it even easier!)
Pour a little bit of liquid fabric softener into a container such as a bowl or other large, round open dish.
I used a tall deli type container. Dummy me, should have used a shorter dish to make it easier to get the whole cloth in!
Take an old washcloth, or even a torn up towel, I'm thinking even one of them bad stray socks that everyone holds out for the mate to come back ... and push it down in to the softener. Turn it over and move it around so it soaks up the liquid.
Hang cloth to dry. Once dry you are ready to use for about 12 loads or so. I can't guarantee the number, because I'm really bad at keeping a running count on the number of loads I wash a week, but this is the general number that all the other sites I've visited say.
To use: simply toss in dryer when you dry your clothes. Woohoo. That's pretty dang easy!
NOTES:
So first, I had an old red washcloth that I was going to use. Fortunately, the little light bulb came on BEFORE I did that. Use a white or light colored item to prevent any possibility of color bleed!
Do this the night before you are going to want to use. I did it in the morning and then started laundry. Ummm, you shouldn't use the cloth when it's still wet :-/ although some sites say to. I think that would create stains on the clothing if WET fabric softener touches clothing that's not soaking in water. I don't know, but that just seems to be something I can remember from my laundry beginner days.
I didn't soak mine in the stuff as I didn't want to have to wring out the cloth (hard on my hands, and well, that just seemed excessive anyways), so you can see that the fabric softener is really just kind of here and there. So far it seems to be sufficientbut I may add a bit more next time I do it to see how much 'softer' the clothes get.
The second time I did this (after the first one wore off) I just poured some right in the middle of the cloth, worked it in and then hung to dry for a day or so. Much easier and way less mess! I'm opting for this way in the future. You know me, I'm always looking for a short cut and reduction of cost!
Linking up to:
Works for Me Wednesday, Tip Junkie, Frugal Tip Tuesday, Frugal Fridays
But in my Year of Zero ... it's not really on my necessity list at the current prices I see, even my Kirkland brand, (very compatible to Downy, by the way)
220 Loads! Wow, that's a lot!!
so when I saw this, I though, heh, what the heck, lets give it a try with some of the stuff I have left. Oh, and don't come back and yell at me if you spend 3 hours browsing that site!
Anyways ... this is super easy. I'm on my 2nd round (and the 2nd time, I made it even easier!)
Pour a little bit of liquid fabric softener into a container such as a bowl or other large, round open dish.
I used a tall deli type container. Dummy me, should have used a shorter dish to make it easier to get the whole cloth in!
Take an old washcloth, or even a torn up towel, I'm thinking even one of them bad stray socks that everyone holds out for the mate to come back ... and push it down in to the softener. Turn it over and move it around so it soaks up the liquid.
Hang cloth to dry. Once dry you are ready to use for about 12 loads or so. I can't guarantee the number, because I'm really bad at keeping a running count on the number of loads I wash a week, but this is the general number that all the other sites I've visited say.
At last, some color on all these white on white on white pics!
To use: simply toss in dryer when you dry your clothes. Woohoo. That's pretty dang easy!
NOTES:
So first, I had an old red washcloth that I was going to use. Fortunately, the little light bulb came on BEFORE I did that. Use a white or light colored item to prevent any possibility of color bleed!
Do this the night before you are going to want to use. I did it in the morning and then started laundry. Ummm, you shouldn't use the cloth when it's still wet :-/ although some sites say to. I think that would create stains on the clothing if WET fabric softener touches clothing that's not soaking in water. I don't know, but that just seems to be something I can remember from my laundry beginner days.
I didn't soak mine in the stuff as I didn't want to have to wring out the cloth (hard on my hands, and well, that just seemed excessive anyways), so you can see that the fabric softener is really just kind of here and there. So far it seems to be sufficient
The second time I did this (after the first one wore off) I just poured some right in the middle of the cloth, worked it in and then hung to dry for a day or so. Much easier and way less mess! I'm opting for this way in the future. You know me, I'm always looking for a short cut and reduction of cost!
Linking up to:
Works for Me Wednesday, Tip Junkie, Frugal Tip Tuesday, Frugal Fridays
Could you recycle old dryer sheets? The store brand I just bought are really thick. I've been stuffing them into a little basket in hopes I can soak them & reuse them.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if that would work or not Nancy ... the cloth soaks up the softener and dries out. Not so sure if a reusable fabric sheet would work like that? Would hurt to try (just use a little fabric softener on the sheet, hang to dry and see what it does?)
DeleteNot sure about reusing the drier sheets for this but you can reuse them to clean with. I use them for my bath tub and bathroom sink. Just get them a little wet scrub with them then wipe away the residue they leave behind. They smell great
DeleteI love this idea and have done this but didn't allow the cloth to dry. I didn't get any stains on my clothing but had to add a little softener each time I did a new load. I'm definitely going to try your method, thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteI got a large supply of fabric softener for $.50 each with coupons last year. But my supply is nearing it's end so this would be a good way to stretch it out. Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteI did this not happy, I let it dry for 1 day and then put in a ziplock bag. Then 2 days later used it in the dryer. I notice it was not as good smelling when I first put it in the baggy. I noticed it only worked with two loads. I used Gain. Not happy with the results. I am thinking next time after it dries use it the next day and see the results.
ReplyDeleteI always let mine dry a few days and just leave it in the dryer in between loads (so I dont' forget to put it in) ... always good for about 10 or so loads
DeleteI use old dryer sheets (store bought ones) after they have no residue as a cleaner in my bag less vacuum. Tear into smaller pieces - already tear a dryer sheet into 3-4 strips - seems to work just fine keeping static down on clothes. Then when they are really limp I tear into small pieces and drop hither and yon on my floors and carpet and suck up when I come to them. This seems to help keep the dust cup in my vacuum cleaner and keeps the static down especially in the winter. We have a cat and of course cat hairs are plentiful.
ReplyDelete