Preaching to the dryer?

[Ymir's blood]

Thoughts or opinions about dryer sheets?

Personally, I use them. It started out just to keep my socks from being all clingy, but they ended up being used on every load. Not really sure why. Actually I'm not sure what else they are supposed to do.

The ones I buy are unscented, as is the detergent. My olfactory sense is rather poor, but most manufactured scents still produce a chemical odor. They also tend to aggravate my allergies. This is especially bad, as a few occasions have left me nearly unable to breathe after being around someone using heavy perfume or cologne, when I couldn't actually smell the stuff.

[roastelk]

a cup of vinegar in the washing machine helps reduce static, not as good as the dryer sheets though.

btw...don't use vinegar in the wash if you use bleach. It releases chlorine gas, which you probably don't want to breath because it will burn your lungs

[Ymir's blood]

Oh, believe me... I do NOT use bleach.

[lisarea]

I use vinegar in the rinse cycle (in a Downy ball), and also, I line dry most of the time, especially in the summer. You don't get any static that way. The downsides are that you do sometimes get lint, and it's not as feasible in humid climates. Here, it's like 90F and 10% humidity pretty much all summer long, so it's almost silly to use a dryer.

I don't have allergy allergies, at least not in any debilitating sense, but lots of different artificial scents give me headaches and/or make me sneeze. (Matlock and TLM do use dryer sheets, but I don't like them.)

[Ymir's blood]

I air dry my jeans and some of my shirts, to prevent wear and shrinkage. In the past, I've tried air drying all my clothes, but it doesn't work so well. Too many thunderstorms in the summer and a high humidity in general. The other seasons are either too cold, too rainy or too windy.

[Gonzo]

Dryer sheets are the bomb. The scent is stronger than detergent plus it softens cotton to a consistency you just don't get without them. I like to use, like, 4 on a load.

[viscousmemories]

I use dryer sheets to reduce static, otherwise I get shocked as I pull clothes out of the dryer. This time around I'm using Seventh Generation brand, so they're all good for the environment and shit or something but they're still effective.

[Watser?]

I'd never even heard of dryer sheets.

I only bought a dryer recently (actually a washer/dryer combo), I used to hang the washing but it takes way too long to dry and starts to smell a bit.

Dryers make stuff wrinkle way more though.

[teasasue]

I love downy, the lavender scented one. I put it in a downy ball that goes in my waher. I dont care for the dryer sheets that much, I dont think they keep the scent strong enough, but they are great to remove pet hair from washed clothes.

[teasasue]

Dryer sheets are the bomb. The scent is stronger than detergent plus it softens cotton to a consistency you just don't get without them. I like to use, like, 4 on a load.

That is why the scent is so strong on your clothes. I never thought to add 4 to a load before, I might try that later. Thanks

[Janet]

I use unscented drier sheets and I love them. Even when I line dry my jeans I will still put them in the drier on air only with a drier sheet to get the stiffness out. It doesn't entirely fix my static problems, but it helps with most of them.

[erimir]

Dryer sheets are the bomb. The scent is stronger than detergent plus it softens cotton to a consistency you just don't get without them. I like to use, like, 4 on a load.

That is why the scent is so strong on your clothes.Tissue is smelling Gonzo?

I didn't know you knew each other in person, much less that you sniff each other.

[Qingdai]

I hates them. I also hate fabric softener or whatever you call that shit. Smells like toilet cleaner. You may not have static, but the grease it leaves on fabrics also disgusts me.

How much synthetic clothing do people have that they have to worry about static?

The worst is a heavy smoker that tries to cover up with fabric products and freebreeze. It's not working.

[teasasue]

Dryer sheets are the bomb. The scent is stronger than detergent plus it softens cotton to a consistency you just don't get without them. I like to use, like, 4 on a load.

That is why the scent is so strong on your clothes.Tissue is smelling Gonzo?

I didn't know you knew each other in person, much less that you sniff each other.

oh shit, dont you know it was our little secret, now I let it slip.

Yeah I realized a little too late that I worded that kinda funny. I actually know other people that do the piece in the bold. I just never gave it much thought till he posted that.

[teasasue]

I hates them. I also hate fabric softener or whatever you call that shit. Smells like toilet cleaner. You may not have static, but the grease it leaves on fabrics also disgusts me.

How much synthetic clothing do people have that they have to worry about static?

The worst is a heavy smoker that tries to cover up with fabric products and freebreeze. It's not working.

I have never noticed any kind of grease on my clothes from fabric softener.

[Ymir's blood]

You know what else I like to put on clothes to soften them?

PIE

[Ymir's blood]

Dryers make stuff wrinkle way more though.How long do you leave the clothes in the dryer after it stops? Taking them out immediately prevents wrinkles, for most fabrics.

[wildernesse]

I don't use dryer sheets or fabric softener most of the time. The only thing I notice static with is a few things, but it isn't something that rises to a problem in search of a solution. We do use them when we wash fleece blankets that the cats have slept on because it helps get the cat hair off in the dryer.

Otherwise, I don't notice that my clothes need improvement if I don't use dryer sheets. We usually buy about a box of dryer sheets per address, so maybe every 3 years or so we use a box.

[Watser?]

Dryers make stuff wrinkle way more though.How long do you leave the clothes in the dryer after it stops? Taking them out immediately prevents wrinkles, for most fabrics.

It does not have an alarm like your fancy 'Murkin dryers apparently do. :cuckoo:

[Ymir's blood]

Dryers make stuff wrinkle way more though.How long do you leave the clothes in the dryer after it stops? Taking them out immediately prevents wrinkles, for most fabrics.

It does not have an alarm like your fancy 'Murkin dryers apparently do. :cuckoo:Oh, I guess when one lives in a European chateau, sound doesn't travel far enough to hear when the machine stops turning. :P

Our dryer has an alarm, true. It doesn't go off at the end however, but once or twice during the cycle, for God knows what reason.

[Doctor X]

You wash your clothes?

--J.D.

[Watser?]

Dryers make stuff wrinkle way more though.How long do you leave the clothes in the dryer after it stops? Taking them out immediately prevents wrinkles, for most fabrics.

It does not have an alarm like your fancy 'Murkin dryers apparently do. :cuckoo:Oh, I guess when one lives in a European chateau, sound doesn't travel far enough to hear when the machine stops turning. :P

Not when there is music on.

That is: no.

[Ymir's blood]

Dryers make stuff wrinkle way more though.How long do you leave the clothes in the dryer after it stops? Taking them out immediately prevents wrinkles, for most fabrics.

It does not have an alarm like your fancy 'Murkin dryers apparently do. :cuckoo:Oh, I guess when one lives in a European chateau, sound doesn't travel far enough to hear when the machine stops turning. :P

Not when there is music on.

That is: no.Fair enough. If you know which things are prone to wrinkling, do this. Set the dryer so that it turns off with the material still damp. Take that stuff out (when you notice it) and hang it up some place. Then let the rest of the load continue drying.

If something does wrinkle, putting it back in the dryer for a few minutes may take the wrinkles out.

[teasasue]

Dryers make stuff wrinkle way more though.How long do you leave the clothes in the dryer after it stops? Taking them out immediately prevents wrinkles, for most fabrics.

It does not have an alarm like your fancy 'Murkin dryers apparently do. :cuckoo:Oh, I guess when one lives in a European chateau, sound doesn't travel far enough to hear when the machine stops turning. :P

Not when there is music on.

That is: no.

yep me and my hubby argue about that problem all the time.

[livius drusus]

I use unscented dryer sheets for static reduction too. I have a disturbingly excessive rage reaction to socks sticking together. I use fabric softener and dryer sheets to keep my towels fluffy, but now Q has me all paranoid that they're layered in grease without my realizing it.

:freakout:
:freakout:
:freakout:

[lisarea]

I probably should tell you guys that I dried some clothes in the dryer last night, and then, this morning, I hadn't folded them yet, and I went to put on a hoodie because it was cold, and there was a sock and some underpants stuck onto it and I just walked around the house like that for a little while.

I WEAR MY DRYER SHEET BOYCOTT LIKE A BADGE OF HONOR.

[livius drusus]

GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF!!!11

[Qingdai]

THE GREASE THINK OF THE GREASE!

[Ymir's blood]

GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF!!!11

7021

[livius drusus]

you monster

[Doctor X]

THE GREASE THINK OF THE GREASE!

It is the word.

--J.D.

[Dingfod]

I use half a dryer sheet twice, sometimes three or four times. I could probably get by with a quarter of a sheet. Dryer sheet manufacturers are the ones that make you think you need a whole sheet in every load.

[Ensign Steve]

THE GREASE THINK OF THE GREASE!

It is the word.

--J.D.

Everybody knows that the bird is the word.

[Pan Narrans]

:glare:

Mum's the word.

[curses]

Steven Colbert does The Word.

[Gonzo]

All along, Tissue did way to instain my mother.

Worst trip to the Laundromat ever.

[LadyShea]

I dry synthetics separately. Cotton doesn't seem to get static if the whole load is cotton, and if you slightly underdry synthetics (or at least don't overdry them) they don't either.

Also I try to buy mostly cotton...it's just better in the humid.

[Qingdai]

AHA!

Nice how laundry products don't have to disclose their ingredients, that certainly makes me feel better.

Scented consumer products shown to emit many unlisted chemicals (http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-10-scented-consumer-products-shown-emit.html)

[Ymir's blood]

AHA!

Nice how I use unscented laundry products, that certainly makes me feel better.

[lisarea]

1 bar of soap--Fels Naphtha, Zote, Ivory, Dr. Bronners bar soap, or something else without moisturizers or coloring
1 c. washing soda
1/2 c. borax

Grate and blend it all up in a food processor, add essential oils if you like for scent, and store it in a jar. Use about 2-3 Tbsp. per full load.

[Chris Porter]

Is the food processor harmed in the manufacturing of this item? I've wanted to try it, but I have only one food processor, and I'm leery of grinding non-food items in it.

[lisarea]

You mean damage to the blades? Because the soap isn't all that hard or anything, and that's the only thing that really needs processed. The rest is just being mixed in. Fels Naphtha is kind of hard, so if you're worried about that, try it with one of the other kinds.

I've made it a bunch of times, though, and haven't had any damage to my food processor.

[Ymir's blood]

Make sure to stand back when you add the ammonium nitrate.

[viscousmemories]

Speaking of dryers...

If "to dry" means "to remove moisture", why does our clothes dryer have settings for "Regular Dry", "Very Dry" and "Extra Dry"?

It seems to me that if any moisture remains then the clothes are not 'dry'. So what is more dry than 'dry'?

[Ymir's blood]

Consider the reverse, 'wet.' A very humid day may leave your clothes damp. Getting caught in a downpour may leave them dripping wet. Clothes in both states are called wet, though one is more so than the other. They are wet because they have noticeable moisture in them, beyond what is considered normal. Dry is the same, except that we don't normally recognize when clothes have less moisture than the air around us.

However, the main reason for the different dryer settings seems to be for dealing with fabrics with varying levels of moisture absorption. 'Regular Dry' will work fine on light cotton clothes like boxer shorts. Thicker outerwear style t-shirts however may still be damp. Towels will likely be very damp as they can hold a lot of water. Setting the dryer to 'Extra Dry' will take the moisture out of most things (a large load of towels may still require another cycle) but also has the potential to damage or shrink fabrics that didn't need that long to dry. Once their moisture has been removed, there is nothing other than the fabric itself to absorb the heat.