No More Dryer Sheets

A year and a half ago, I decided to stop using dryer sheets. I read an article about them and it forever changed my opinion on them. I used to LOVE the smell of my clothes and linens scented with the dryer sheets, but after reading about them, I decided to try getting by without them.

There are several related articles such as:

http://healthylivinghowto.com/1/post/2013/04/healthy-body-7-toxic-reasons-to-ditch-dryer-sheets.html

https://www.amoils.com/health-blog/top-ten-tips-why-you-should-ditch-those-dryer-sheets/

http://household-tips.thefuntimesguide.com/2011/07/fabric-softener.php

http://ecowatch.com/2013/04/05/why-you-need-to-ditch-dryer-sheets/

I can't say that I agree with everything I've read, but a lot of it makes sense . And since it's an additional expense, I thought I would try not using them.

I purchased (yes, this an expense) some wool laundry balls. I started with 4 and now have 7.

They can be a pain sometimes! They often get stuck in sleeves and pant legs. They fall out on to the laundry room floor when I am taking clothes out of the dryer. And they make some noise when drying.

My son's nylon sports shorts still get a lot of static. Sometimes I wet the wool balls and that helps. I don't notice much static with most of our laundry though. Even when we used dryer sheets, we still had some static.

I thought I would miss the smell of the dryer sheets, but surprisingly I don't. I have learned to love the smell of "clean"! At first when I made the switch, I noticed that my son's marching band practice clothes were super smelly, even after washing/drying. I guess prior to this, the dryer sheets help to mask the smell. Now, when I am washing his band practice stuff, I just use a laundry detergent geared toward smelly clothes and that helps. I've read that you can add drops of Essential Oils to the wool balls to lightly scent your clothes, but I've decided that I like the plain, clean smell just fine.

I can't say that I am saving money by not using the dryer sheets, but I really like that I am not coating our clothing in chemicals any more. And honestly, I don't miss the dryer sheets. I guess I was only using them out of habit. And that's one habit I have kicked!