Doing laundry seems like a perfectly harmless chore. Dump your clothes in the washer, add detergent, throw your clothes in the dryer, add a dryer sheet, and enjoy your fresh, clean clothes. Sadly, it’s not as harmless as you might think.
Many laundry products such as fabric softeners, laundry detergents, and dryer sheets contain harmful chemicals that irritate skin, cause headaches, flare up asthma, affect air quality, and degrade the environment.
Since we’re a company that believes in only providing safe home products without any harmful chemicals, we’ve created these simple, reusable dryer sheets that you can make at home with supplies you probably already own. They’re non-toxic, environmentally friendly, good for your health, and great for your wallet. We hope you’ll give them a try, and let us know how it goes!
This is what you’ll need:
- Scissors
- Sealable jar
- Your favorite essential oils
- 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
- Whisk
- Cotton fabric (you can use an old t-shirt, towel, washcloth, etc.)
Step 1 – Cut your fabric into squares, roughly around 6×6 inches.
Step 2 – Pour the 1/2 cup vinegar into a sealable jar.
Vinegar acts as a natural fabric softener and prevents static cling. Don’t worry, your laundry won’t end up smelling like it.
Step 3 – Add 8-10 drops of your favorite essential oils.
We used a blend of lavender oil (7 drops) and tea tree oil (3 drops). Both oils are antiseptic, antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory. And, as many know, the scent of lavender helps the mind relax.
Step 4 – Whisk together the liquids.
Step 5 – Roll up your squares.
Step 6 – Place the rolls in the jar.
Once they’re all sealed inside, you can flip the jar upside down to evenly distribute the liquid.
You’re done! Now you have your very own dryer sheets that can be used over and over again.
Once you’ve used your dryer sheet, add it back in the jar to moisten up again. Once all your dryer sheets are completely dried out, simply stir up a new batch of vinegar and essential oil to pour over the fabric rolls.
As for other safe, eco-friendly laundry supplies, we recommend these items: