Hey, Green Junkie!
In my attempts to always live a green and sustainable lifestyle I am consistently evaluating the practices I do every day to see if there are areas for improvement.
With new products and inventions hitting the market daily, I always try to stay on top of my own practices to see if there are even greater ways my family can do their part to help take care of the planet.
One of those areas – that I think many forget about – is the laundry
Every time we wash or dry our clothes we are exposing ourselves to nasty chemicals that are not only leaking into our clothes but also being blown into our air. And not only that, but when we are using dryer sheets we are disposing of materials that end up in landfills and are harmful to our environment.
So today, I figured I would help you tackle the laundry situation and talk about how you can be more environmentally friendly when it comes to taking care of your clothing.
In this episode we will discuss
- Why you should consider replacing your dryer sheets
- Substitutes to replace your dryer sheets
- Easiest way to avoid drying your clothes
- DIY dryer sheet recipe
- How to avoid soaking our clothing in chemicals
- How to soften clothes without the dryer
- Green options for anyone who loves dryer sheets
You’ll discover that and so much more in this episode.
By the end of this episode, Green Junkie, you’ll be able to make a few small changes to your laundry routine and rid yourself, and your loved ones, of harsh chemicals and routines that are not only hurting you but also the planet.
If you love this podcast be sure to leave a review and share a screenshot of this episode to your IG stories. Tag @greenjunkiepodcast so I can shout you out and publicly say thanks.
Thanks for listening and being here.
Your green bestie,
Xoxo Stephanie
Previous Episodes Mentioned:
Episode #22: The Eco-IMpact of Fast Fashion
Sources
https://ohsospotless.com/dryer-sheet-alternatives/
https://www.simplemost.com/dryer-sheet-alternatives-why-dryer-sheets-bad/
https://www.goodgirlgonegreen.com/dryer-sheets-alternatives/
https://www.cleancult.com/blog/substitutes-for-dryer-sheets
https://greenathome.ca/5-natural-dryer-sheet-alternatives/
Resources
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https://www.goodgirlgonegreen.com/green-sustainable-coaching-calendar
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Produced by: Alecia Harris
Music By: Liz Fohle
LISTEN BELOW
TRANSCRIPT FOR EPISODE 26
0:07
Hey Green Junkie. I'm your host Stephanie Moram, and today we're gonna be talking about dryer sheets and eco friendly alternatives. Did you know that the average family does anywhere between eight to 10 loads of laundry a week. That is a crap ton of laundry, that a family is doing each week. Think about how many dryer sheets it takes. If there are about 10 dryer sheets used every week for 52 weeks a year – that's over 500 dryer sheets a typical family uses in one year, not counting if you decide to add two dryer sheets to your load of laundry. Ingredients used and dryer sheets end up on our clothing we wear and in the air we breathe in our home. Plus, these harmful chemicals in dryer sheets can potentially cause allergic reactions, skin irritation, and other potential issues. I personally do not like the smell of dryer sheets. And I know right away when I'm out for a walk if someone's doing their laundry, because it smells so strong inside.
1:19
So why keep using potentially harmful dryer sheets when you can use alternatives like wool dryer balls to achieve the same effect. In this episode Green Junkie, I will teach you substitutes that exists outside of dryer sheets, and how you can use them to keep your clothes clean, and your family healthy and free of toxins. But before we dive in, please subscribe to the green junkie podcast on whatever platform you use. Now let's dive in to dryer sheet alternatives.
1:57
The first thing is you don't actually have to use the dryer. You can hang dry your clothing and just skip the dryer altogether and dryer sheets all together. I typically hang dry my clothing, I have a couple of drying racks. In the winter, I dry my clothing inside. And in the summer, I use the drying racks outside and also find other ways to hang our towels and blankets and stuff like that. So you don't actually have to use dryer sheets, you can just hang dry your clothing. And you won't have any static because your clothing isn't banging together in the dryer. So right there, you're avoiding static, by just drying your stuff outside. If it happens to be towels, and they're pretty stiff, after you dry them, you hang for them, you can just pop them in the dryer for like a couple of minutes just to soften them up.
2:57
If you decide that you want to use a dryer, but you don't want to use dryer sheets, here are a couple alternatives. The first one is you can just DIY your own, it's super easy. And you're probably going to use ingredients that you already have at home like vinegar, some sort of cloth, and totally optional – essential oils. So what you're going to do is you're going to grab the cloth, it could be old T shirts that you cut up and you're going to stack them in a container, you're going to mix the vinegar with the essential oils. You could use orange, you could use lemon, you could use a flower oil, whatever it is that you want your clothing to smell like you're going to pour the mixture of vinegar and oils over top of it. And then it's just going to let it sit and it's going to soak up the vinegar and the oils. When you're ready to add a dryer sheet to your dryer, just wring out the cloth over the jar and pop it into the dryer. And when you're done, you can just now add that sheet back into the mixture. So you're saving money, you're potentially reusing an old t shirt and you're not lacing your clothing with crappy chemicals. You can find this DIY recipe in my show notes. It's from oh so spotless website.
4:17
If you're like Stephanie, that is just too much work. I don't want to make my own. But I really like the idea of vinegar and a cloth. Well you can take the lazy way. That's what I would call it. So again, you're saving money and you're not leasing your clothing with chemicals. So all you're going to do is you're going to just lightly dampen a washcloth with either white vinegar or apple cider vinegar and throw it in the dryer. If you want you could add a dropper to have essential oils like I said lemon or orange or any scent that you love and that you would want your clothing to smell like the apple cider vinegar can also be used instead of liquid fabric softener in the wash cycle.
4:58
So also vinegar is great to do in the wash cycle, not just in the dryer. Next, you can use baking soda in your wash cycle as well. So it's easy, it's cheap, and it can replace unscented dryer sheets. If that's your preference, all you're going to do is you're going to sprinkle 1/4 cup of baking soda into the washer during the main wash cycle to freshen and soften your clothing. So this would be great if you decide to hang dry your clothing. Do this in the wash cycle, or add vinegar in the rinse cycle if you're decide not to use the dryer.
5:38
If you don't feel like DIY buying your own dryer sheets, or you don't want to grab a cloth and add vinegar to it – another option is wool dryer balls. They're very, very popular, I use them. Even though there might not be the easiest thing to make. You could potentially make your own just Google DIY wool dryer balls and you can make your own or you can just buy some like I did. So what I look for is organic. And I look for a company that cares about the welfare of their animals and that they are treating the sheep well when they are taking the wool from them. So you could go to a local health food store or maybe a farm you can find wool dryer balls literally everywhere. And the other thing is, you can add scent to your wool dryer balls just like you would on the cloth with the vinegar. So what I do is I take my dryer balls, and I add a couple of drops of let's say orange, or lemon or grapefruit or some flower scent that I like and I just drop it on the wool dryer balls. And away you go. And the good thing about wool dryer balls, they help fabric separate from each other, allowing air to circulate around the clothing. So it helps them to dry faster than if you didn't have wool dryer balls. So you're going to be getting your laundry done a little bit faster and you're also going to be using less energy, which is also a win win, right. So I use like three wool dryer balls for a medium load. But I generally have larger loads. Again, I don't use the dryer very often, most the time I'm using the dryer to fluff up clothing. Or if I need something dry like right away. So you could use four to five in a larger load. Again, it's just your preference and what it is how you want to dry your clothing.
7:33
And if for whatever reason, your wool dryer balls unravels, you don't have to get rid of it, you don't need to compost it. All you are going to do is you're going to get a sock and push it all the way into a sock and then close it up. And then now you can use that as your wish so you're not wasting and getting rid of it.
7:51
And lastly, if you really, really want to use dryer sheets, because it's just your thing. There are green options. There are better options out there that aren't filled with all the toxic chemicals that typical dryer sheets have on them. So you can do a quick Google search. I'll also link my blog post that I did on dryer sheets in the show notes. And you can find better alternatives.
8:23
And I'm going to give you one little hack for if you do end up using dryer sheets and you're like well, I don't want to use all the dryer sheets. You cut it in half and use half a dryer sheet for your load of laundry. So you're saving money because you're also using left dryer sheets.
8:39
So remember, next time you're doing laundry, that you do have a few alternatives on how to start removing the traditional dryer sheets from your home. No more hassles, no more harsh chemicals or toxins only soft, fresh clothing.
8:59
For more green living inspiration, you can listen to my latest episodes, including episode 24 All About Greenwashing. Episode 23, called Closet Cleanup, and Episode 22 Eco-Impact of Fast Fashion. You can stay connected with me on Instagram @greenjunkiepodcast. And don't forget to subscribe to the Green Junkie Podcast on the platform you're listening on. If you're curious about zero waste, living sustainable fashion, or wondering how to read food cleaning and product labels, I've got you covered.
9:34
For direct access to me your green living expert, click the link in the show notes where you can ask me questions and get a customized plan on how you can live a greener life. Hop on a one on one call with me on Zoom or ask me questions via email. Or we can chat over Voxer which is a web based app. I will be your personal Green Google and you can pick my brain. Thank you for listening, and I'll see you next Tuesday, Green Junkie.
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