Homemade Dryer Sheets?? Who knew!

I am always looking for new cool ways to use essential oils to make my family healthier, my life easier, or to give me an excuse to buy more oils!  I have heard of people using them in laundry and really haven't put my thought to it.  I wash my clothes to get oils out of them right??  But, it kept popping up in my research that this was a great way to use oils to help keep us healthier.

I think EVERYONE loves the smell of clean clothes.  I think everyone LOVES soft fluffy towels.  We use dryer sheets to help make this joyful occurrence happen.  But, did you know that dryer sheets are FULL of nasty chemicals?  Not only do these chemicals get on your clothes and then transfer to your skin, but they also break down the mechanical parts of your dryer!  So, not only are you keeping your body healthier, your dryer will last longer.  You can thank me later.

If that isn't enough to get you running to find fabric scraps, think about giving back to the earth.  Dryer sheets have to go somewhere when they are worn out and used up after every load.  So what do you do with them?  In the trash they go!  So this is an eco-friendly alternative!  Also, since they are reusable and the ingredients are cheap, it is a frugal alternative to buying pricey dryer sheets.  Last, you can pick your sent!  You can add what ever smells you want.  Maybe you like lavender or lemon or both!  You can play with your sent until you find your favorite.  HOW MUCH FUN IS THAT?!

First let me show you how to make these simple dryer sheets.

First you need to find old towels, tshirts, or raid your fabric scrap bin.  (I went and raided my mom's as I do not have one of my own.)  Cut what ever fabric you find into squares.  I cut mine into 8 inch squares.  Seemed to be about the size of a normal dryer sheet.

You have several options to finish the edges of the fabric.  You can either leave them as is and let them fray and replace when needed.  You can cut the edges with pinking shears to keep fraying to a minimum.  You can also zig zag stitch the edges and then also cut them with pinking shears.  That's what we did!

This is a great time to get kids sewing.  It doesn't matter if they don't sew straight, unless you are OCD.  My kiddo loves to sew with his Granny.

Once you have your "dryer sheets" made, next you need to mix up the concoction that they will soak in.  To do this you need simple ingredients that, if you are an oily like me, you already have.

You need:
-1/2 cup of vinegar
-10 drops of your favorite essential oils  (I used elevation.)

Pretty easy right??

Mix all of that together and then pour into a container that you can seal.  This can be a canning jar, a pretty glass container, basically anything glass you can put a top on.  You can even put a pretty label on the front.  What ever floats your boat.

You can mix it up if you want to use them right away like I did.  Depending on the load you might want to use a couple.  All you have to do is grab a corner, wring it out, and toss in the dryer with your clothes.  Then when you are done toss them back in the jar and repeat the steps for the next load.  SO SIMPLE.


You might be wondering why this works...

Well, vinegar is a natural fabric softener and static reducer.  You can also use it to eliminate odors in clothes when you wash them.  There are a ton of uses for vinegar.  Google it!

I hope you enjoy making your dryer sheets.  I know we enjoyed making ours!  Let me know how you like them or if there is a favorite "flavor" of sent you like to use.  I would love to try it.  I am ready to experiment with our next smells once the liquid is all used up in the current one.

Reading List

I love to read.  Problem is, the past three years, all I had time to read were text books!  Now that my Masters is completed, I can read what ever I want!  It's so exciting!

Although I have lots of books on the list to read, the first one I am tackling is Captivating by John & Stasi Eldredge.

Once we head down to the library for our weekly trips for the kids summer reading, I will add to my list.

Do you have any good books you would recomend?  Josh and I are always looking for good reads.

May the rains bring blessings and provide you with more time to grab a book and read!  I know it has us.