Many years ago I read about a frugal idea of re-using dryer sheets. What was required was that you soak them in fabric softener and then hang them from clothes pins to dry... you can keep re-using the sheets over and over until they wear out. So I told Dh my plan and went out and bought the dryer sheets, the additional fabric softener and yes, even the clothes pins! Dh hung the clothesline across our laundry room floor, because I just "knew"I was going to be saving money in this new way!! I never soaked or hung one single dryer sheet.....Ever. And dh has never let me live that one down. Every once in awhile he will jokingly bring up my dryer sheet idea..that never came to fruition..... So guess what happened yesterday?
We ran out of dryer sheets.
Yes, Dh tells me that we ran out of dryer sheets. These are not inexpensive....I know because I have shopped around. I also know I have one measly 25 cent off coupon to use. That's not going to save a lot of money off those dryer sheets. Plus in talking to our pediatrician, dryer sheets are one of the biggest culprits for many kinds of contact dermatitis. So, with all those things in mind...let me tell you my latest plan....
I found a site on the net that gave me the idea to get a towel or washcloth and soak it in diluted fabric softener. Then let it dry and when it is dry, throw it in the dryer with your wet clothes. It softens and gives a fresh smell to all your clothes...AND you can reuse it like 20 times (or something like that!) Then you just soak it again and repeat!
So, I'm talking to dh after work today and I tell him my latest frugal initiative. And I watch as the grin slowly starts to spread across his face, (no matter how hard he tries to hide it.) I know what he's thinking and he knows that I know, as my own grin appears.
Hmmm.... I see me soaking a washcloth in the very near future! LOL!
Edit to add: Here is the link where I found the idea. There are many other frugal laundry ideas as well there.... Counting The Cost
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7 comments:
I have used a similiar version of this idea. I hadn't heard of soaking the washcloths but rather just putting a tablespoon or so on the cloth and just throwing it in. It works fairly well. I thought the dryer sheet initiative was so funny. It's something I would have done too!!!
I have done this myself and it is a very frgual thing todo do. I buy a bottle of fabric softner and put it in a spray bottle they before I start the dryer I spray my washcloth with maybe 5 small squirts, then throw it in. This seems to work very well and I can use a bottle of fabric softner like this for a year. I have never heard of soaking a cloth I would be afraid that it would be to strong the first few times you used it. Either way good luck!
I love it! I had read somewhere to cut the dryer sheets into 3 or 4 pieces to get more out of a box. Ugh, it worked but it wasn't worth all the static. I like the idea of the washcloth. I wonder how it does with the static.
When I sold Tupperware, they gave us the suggestion to use one of the products (whose name I can't remember!) for something along these lines. Whatever it was called was used to hold pickles or other foods that should stay in juice. It had a little tray with a handle that you would pull up so that you could get the food item out of the juice, if that makes sense.
Anyway, the suggestion was to fill the container with liquid fabric softener, then, put sponges (they were cut in half, iirc) on the little strainer thing. Then, you could just lift out the strainer, squeeze the excess fabric softener out of the sponge and toss the sponge in the dryer.
It worked really well and I can't recall why I quit doing it. I need to go back to it...but I'll have to find a more frugal way to do it than the Tupperware thing because they're expensive and I'm pretty sure I don't have it anymore! ;-)
What a neat idea. But I think I will stick to only using my .25 coupon and buy the sheets. (LOL)
Let us know how it turns out if you do it!
I too have read someone's blog about cutting up inexpensive sponges and soaking them in liquid softener and just tossing them in the dryer (sorry, whoever-you-are; I would give you credit if I remembered!).
Here's a hint--do not ever use fabric softener on infant's pajamas or towels. Infant sleepwear are typically flame retardant. The chemicals that do the softening also break down the flame retardant properties of the sleepwear, thus eliminating this feature of the pjs. Also, it takes your super-absorbant towels and coats them with chemicals so that the towels are no longer absorbant. I could go into details (I am a textile engineer), but it's a bit much to explain. Trust me on this one.
Have you tried those balls - they're blue and nubby. Either CVS or Walgreen's had them on sale within the last month. They are supposed to aerate your clothes while they tumble in the dryer. We have 2 and love 'em! I paid $10 for them (before I knew about this couponing magic!) and haven't looked back!
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