Someone today asked me “is there ONE thing I can do to get rid of bad chemicals in my house. Whats going to give me the biggest bang for my buck?”
STOP USING DRYER SHEETS, USE DRYER BALLS! If you are only going to pick one, that’s it. Use organic wool dryer balls and an essential oil of your choice for a custom smell.
Dryer sheets are designed to have a ridiculous number of chemicals in order to mimic natural scents, and to have the smell last an unnatural amount of time. (anyone see the commercial that claims your clothes ‘still smell good after 3 months’?)
Here are a few articles on dryer sheets/softeners that detail the chemicals a bit more:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/greener-laundry/
https://www.cnet.com/…/stop-using-fabric-softener-or-dryer…/
Dryer balls on the other hand, are a renewable product, help soften clothes, and you choose what your clothes smell like. I love lavender and rosemary. My husband thinks that’s too girly, so for him I use lemongrass. My son LOVES lavender and bergamot (which he pronounces booger-mot since he’s 5.) Each of us have our own set of 2 dryer balls that go in with our clothes if the smells need to be different. We all agree lemongrass is a great scent so I tend to use that mostly. Now that it’s getting cooler where I live, I’m starting to use thieves oil on the balls. Its spicy, homey, comforting and it’s the one scent that seems to last longer than all the rest.
Have you ever needed to dry a HUGE comforter? And remember the advice was to use tennis balls to help dry it? Ew. When rubber, plastic and glue heats up all the chemicals in those leach out on to anything they touch. Dryer balls to the rescue! Wool balls serve the same purpose as the tennis balils and are way safer.
What about static, you ask? Using a safety pin on the dryer ball will give the electrons a place to discharge. No more static!
What scents do you gravitate to when you start up your diffuser? Floral, woodsy, or fresh? Use those same combinations on your clothes. I think you’ll love it.
