Looking for Sustainability ideas

I thought I find a way to keep costs down while still trying to stay eco-friendly. Trying to keep striving for sustainability. This a record of that journey.

Sometimes blunt and straight forward then sometimes sarcastic

This frugal crunchy hipster single momma is doing what she can to save Mother Earth while not breaking the bank!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Animal fat in Fabric Softner........... Eeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwww

So reading tonight I find out that Dryer sheets have toxic chemicals including Benzyl Acetate, Benzyl Alcohol, camphor, Chloroform and Linalool. Plus they are made with tallow. Miss Animal Right Girl will flip when she finds out that her dryer sheets are made with tallow! Animal fat all over her clothes. I know dryers are not the greenest thing to use for your clothes but I do live in Northeastern Ohio. Hanging clothes in the snow may not work to well and the basement is cold. I do however have a economy sitting and we finish drying our clothes on hangers.

They say to ad a 1/2 a cup of vinegar in your rinse cycle. Which I do......... I also have dryer balls. I like what the dryer balls do for the towels and blankets. But Miss Animal Rights says it does NOT get her clothes soft like it does with the dryer sheets (and she likes the smell!) and get that look, and then she tells me: if you want me to use the dryer less. Give me the dryer sheets so my clothes are not stiff as boards. Ok compromising works well with my daughter..... then again she has learn to turn around on me!!!
So off to find frugal dryer sheets. For the vegan dryer sheets run $5 for 32 sheets. Then I saw 100% wool dryer balls... hummm but with both off us having allergies to wool I think we will pass......... . Ad a few drops of fragrant essential oil to small cloth, she like the smell but not sure she would be happy with how soft the clothes are........... Same with the herb dryer sachet bags. Just put some herbs in a bag. Tie closed and dry with clothes.

So then I find a recipe....
Make your own fabric softener: 6 c. water; 3 c. vinegar; 2 cups hair conditioner (eco friendly that you like smell of); Mix; put teaspoonful amount on WET washrag (or same size cloth) & put in with clothes to be dried; 1 bottle should last you a year!

Or this idea with eco- friendly liquid fabric softener: pour the softener onto a washrags/squares & let it dry. Use same as the throwaways........... yea sounds like her type of project......... easy and quick plus she gets her great smell with softening..........


Plus I found a product called the Static Eliminator that is on sale at the health food stores around here that is suppose to get rid of static and is reusable for 100's of uses.. the softness and static removal is in the weave of the cloth. No chemicals used ......... well I have to learn more about it or if it is ever on sale for a good price.....

Semi green with a happy daughter and a happy mother, not bad for a nights work.......... Thank-you Yahoo................ my search is complete!!!

ivy

3 comments:

  1. I never use dyer sheets because I'm always thinking about what's in them (and am a little creeped out). But my clothes are always staticy (I have no idea if I spelled that right). So thanks for the info!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I add vinegar to the rinse cycle, too!!

    Following from FFF @ MBC!

    ReplyDelete
  3. My friend is very, very green and she balls up some aluminum foil and puts them in her dryer. She swears by it and says that it removes the static. Thought I would share. :-)

    Found you on MBC and am now following. I hope to learn more great tips.

    ReplyDelete

Labels

eco-friendly (77) sustainability (47) reuse (43) food (33) saving money (26) recycle (12) reduse (11) frugal (10) green (10) very cool (10) basics (9) crafts (9) natural remedies (9) cleaning products (7) home repair (6) free (5) upcycle (5) waste (4) BPA free (3) diet (3) dreaming (2)

Search This Blog