There are some very nasty ingredients in fabric softeners, Several ingredients release formaldehyde, which has been linked to cancer in lab tests. Others can cause asthma-like symptoms. The ingredients in fabric softeners can also irritate skin.
Instead of using chemical fabric softeners in your laundry, many organizations suggest a switch to dryerballs. What’s a dryerball? It’s football shaped or round (there are diffeent varieties), about 3” long, and bumpy. A set of two dryerballs in your dryer will shorten drying time by 15-25%. Dryerballs are made to eliminate static and soften clothes. They also cut down on ironing, because clothes come out of the dryer less wrinkled.
Unlike chemical fabric softeners, dryerballs leave no chemical residue. Chemical fabric softeners, whether liquid or dryer sheets, are designed to leave chemicals in clothes and bedding, This cloud of chemicals becomes part of the air we breathe, and remains in contact with our skin, all day and all night. The chemicals also increase the risk of dryer fires, because they are highly flammable.
Dryerballs are good for the environment too. With dryerballs, no chemicals are added to wash water, which means no chemicals to go down the drain and end up in our lakes and rivers. Everything that goes down the drain eventually ends up in the environment, because sewage treatment plants don’t filter out chemicals from laundry or other cleaning products.
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1 comment:
I'm going to try it! I heard somewhere you can use tennis balls, too. Is that right? I'm glad to stop lugging home softeners anyway. Just one more thing not to carry home and add to the laundry AND one more thing not to recycle. As Martha would say, "It's a good thing." While I really feel good about recycling, I also want to reduce the items in the recycling bin.
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