green(er) dryer balls
I never really thought about dryer sheets much until I turned into a health nut a few years ago. It was then I first learned about questionable fragrance additives like pthalates, so being the good green sheep modern mother that I am, I switched to “free and clear” versions, occasionally buying some floofy natural versions. So, it was through reading the packaging on method brand dryer sheets that I discovered they “didn’t use animal fat”. Wha? There’s LARD in my DRYER??
Turns out, neuvo-homemakers, that the lovely charmingly-scented greasiness on commercial dryer sheets is typically animal fat. That cheap grease is what rubs off on all your clothes to combat static cling and keep that Fresh Breeze smell stuck to your clothes wash after wash…
Hmm, sounds like good fact-fodder for the next time you help your favorite mainstream-yet-PETA friend with her laundry.
If you’re not up for adding more mammal to your wash, but have problems with that naughty skirt-lifting static cling, I’ve had some success with those dryer ball things. There are name-brand ones, but I thought to myself “hmm, heating up plastic repeatedly, all over stuff I have on my skin ALL THE TIME; I think I’ll go with the green ones. Yeah…”
They have some hole inside for a “Nellie’s fragrance stick” but that just seems like a Bad Idea, so I stuck a cinnamon stick in there and when it stopped smelling like cinnamon, I put some essential oil on it and stuck it back in there. Rinse, repeat, stop if it’s on fire, you get the idea.
Or, you could always go the line-drying route… *wink-nudge*
