Are you tired of spending money on dryer sheets and fabric softeners? Not only are these laundry additives costly, but they are also bad fro both the environment and your health, so let’s talk about it.
Toxins Found in Traditional Dryer Sheets and Fabric Softeners
When you use traditional dryer sheets, you might first notice their strong scent. These sheets are full of synthetic fragrances, which include phthalates. Phthalates are hormone disruptors that have been linked to issues such as obesity and reproductive development. In addition to synthetic fragrances, most dryer sheets also contain animal fat (tallow), which gives clothes that soft feel most of us are familiar with. When fabric softeners are heated and evaporated into the air, they release chemicals that can be harmful when inhaled.
Fabric Softeners According to the EPA
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), some of the harmful chemicals found in traditional fabric softeners (see below) can cause skin irritation, respiratory issues, and even cancer.
- alpha-Terpineol: Can cause inflammation of the skin on contact for some people. Open cuts, abraded or irritated skin should not be exposed to this material.
- Benzyl Acetate: Linked to pancreatic cancer. Skin irritant.
- Benzyl Alcohol: Skin irritant irritant, respiratory irritant.
- Camphor: May cause mild skin, eye or respiratory irritation. Some sources suggest that it is possible that epileptic-like seizures may be caused through exposure.
- Chloroform: Carcinogenic. Causes skin irritation resulting in redness and pain. Removes natural oils. Respiratory irritant. Causes central nervous system effects, including headache, drowsiness, dizziness. Prolonged exposure may lead to death due to irregular heart beat and kidney and liver disorders.
- Ethanol: Can cause central nervous system disorders.
- Ethyl Acetate: A narcotic on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list. Skin irritant. Symptoms include redness, itching, and pain. Repeated or prolonged contact with the skin has a defatting effect and may cause dryness, cracking, and possibly dermatitis.
- Linalool: A narcotic that causes central nervous system & respiratory disorders.
- Pentane: Causes skin irritation, cracking or flaking due to dehydration and defatting action. Vapors have a mild narcotic effect. Symptoms of overexposure may include drowsiness and irritation of the respiratory passages. Greater exposure may cause unconsciousness and death.
Anyone else noticing that these products, which are meant to keep our clothes soft, are seriously damaging and drying out our skin?
Safe Fabric Softeners & Alternatives
Plant Based Softeners
Some safe brands include (& personally I really like the sheets):
- Ecover Liquid Fabric Softener
- Seventh Generation Liquid Fabric Softener & Seventh Generation Dryer Sheets
- Method Liquid Fabric Softener & Method Dryer Sheets
- Mrs. Meyers Liquid Fabric Softener & Mrs. Meyers Dryer Sheets
Vinegar
You can pick up gallons of this stuff for a couple dollars. Use about a 1/4 cup per load in your rinse cycle. I like to use a Downy ball (you can find these for a couple dollars at your local store). I fill it about half full and toss it in with my load. If your machine has a compartment for softener, you can put it in there.
This will not leave your clothes smelling like vinegar! I was hesitant to try it at first because I thought it would. So, I tried it out on a load of my husband’s work laundry. I’m terrible, I know. But it worked, no smell and everything was softer! For fun scents, you can add essential oils to your vinegar.
Dryer Balls
I love dryer balls! They work and they’re always there. No need to remember to toss them in. I mostly prefer and use wool dyer balls, but there are non-wool dryer ball options as well. As a bonus it helps keep clothes from clumping and I notice that my clothes dry faster and everything gets so soft. It even helps with wrinkles.
I use vinegar, never thought to use essential oils, though, I miss the "softener smell" out of the dryer so I think Ill try that– I haven used the dryer balls because they are made w/ PVC's BUT, I just saw that Nellies has some pvc free ones now that I may try out!
You can buy wool balls on etsy!
Are nellies dryer balls loud in the dryer? Our wool dryer balls are rather loud
They aren’t terribly loud, but I would say they are just as noisy as my wool ones.
We stopped using fabric softener just to save money. I didn’t know about phthalates but I did know about the animal fat and that turned me away from them too. I will have to try vinegar to see if it makes a difference. Thanks for the information.
Use the vinegar; but really want to give a dryer ball a shot. Seems like a wool dryer ball would build some serious static – does that happen?
Came across this while doing research for another related project. Lots of useful information we didn’t know about fabric softeners. Readers here might find this useful too:
How to Save Water When Doing Your Laundry
http://www.polraa.com/blogs/eco-living/101608198-how-to-save-water-when-doing-your-laundry
Today I read ‘The Shocking Truth About Cats and Dryer Sheets” that listed dipalmitoylethyl hydroxyethylmonium methosulfate as being toxic to cats. I searched for safe alternative and was pointed to Seventh Generation’s “Natural Fabric Softener Sheet” and to Mrs Meyer’s dryer sheets. Both claimed to be a better alternative as they don’t contain animal products. However it looks as if they both do contain the toxic dipalmitoylethyl hydroxyethylmonium methosulfate as ingredients. I guess “naturally-derived ingredients” and “no animal ingredients” does not mean safe. It’s left me wondering if this is a cynical attempt to pull the wool over consumers’ eyes, just a case of ignorance, or are they plain wrong at http://www.catster.com/ and numerous other sites. God, it’s worse than trying to decipher fact from fiction in an election.