Natural Cleaners: Homemade Fabric Softener Sheets

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I have been searching far and LONG for a good alternative to using store-bought dryer sheets.  I tried buying some “natural” dryer sheets that looked like stiff brown paper towels.  They didn’t work at all!  I still had problems with static in our clothes.

I tried the wool dryer balls.  While those worked “ok” during the summer months, I still had problems with static during the cold and dry winter months.  So I continued my search.

I tried some natural fabric softener in the washer instead of using something in the dryer and that didn’t work at all except for making the clothes smell nice.  It was so expensive and the static was still a problem.

Then I ran across several different recipes for making your own fabric softener sheets.  I tried a few different things, revised the recipe a bit, and have come up {finally} with something that is working beautifully!  Now I want to share it with you!

 Homemade Fabric Softener Sheets

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup liquid fabric softener (I use some Seventh Generation Natural Fabric Softener that I have.)
• 15 strips of flannel cut to about 3″x6″ size (I used an old flannel baby blanket!)

In a small square plastic container with lid, fold flannel strips in half and stack in container.

In a small bowl mix the warm water, vinegar, and fabric softener well.  Pour over the flannel strips in the container and put the lid on.  Allow to sit for a couple hours to absorb the liquid.

To use:  Use one flannel strip in the dryer as you would a dryer sheet (If you are drying a load with clothes that tend to have extra static like fleece, use 2 sheets).  To make sure the strips stay wet, I usually turn the stack over and use one from the bottom when I get one out to put in the dryer.  When you take the load of clothes out of the dryer, I just take out the flannel strip and put it in another little container in the laundry room to keep until I need to make a new batch.

If you have some thick flannel you are using, you may have to cut down on the number of strips you use for each batch, since they are thicker and will absorb more liquid.

You can also double this recipe to make a bigger batch.

One other tip I wanted to share that could help reduce static in your clothes!  I read somewhere that when you dry your clothes to use the timed dry setting only, setting it to 40-45 minutes for a large load, and less time for a smaller load.  I have always used the other setting and the dryer always ran for over an hour per load.  I was amazed that I could dry loads of clothes so much faster!  I read that many times static in clothes is caused (or made worse) by over-drying clothes.  This has really made a difference for me.  Using these homemade dryer sheets and the shorter drying time has really cut down on cost and static!  Yeah!

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