Life in the slow lane
Whether your goal is to make less trash, save money or use less chemicals, I have a product for you! It actually does all of those things and I can’t believe it took me so long to find out about it!
I started out using regular dryer sheets and didn’t think much about them. But as I was becoming a more conscious consumer I made the switch to fragrance free ones since the one confirmed toxic ingredient is fragrance. Dryer sheets don’t come with an ingredient list and to me that’s a red flag, but I thought it was the best I could do. Fast forward to YEARS later when I found out about wool dryer balls!!!
These balls are made out of wool so you can dab on some of your favorite essential oils and get that fresh out of the dryer smell sans toxic chemicals. You can use them over and over again (1,000+ times) so you are saving money and making ZERO trash! They fluff, reduce wrinkles, combat static and shorten dryer time which saves energy. I mean, these things are truly eco-friendly. They are a no-brainer!
Your skin in your largest organ. Whatever you’re putting on your clothes is most definitely absorbed into your skin which, in turn, seeps into your blood stream. Stop wrapping yourself in toxins, throwing away dryer sheets and your money. Instead, toss these balls in and be truly “clean”!
I ordered a retractable clothesline for Mander and will try to hand wash and hang dry my clothes whenever possible while I’m traveling. But when I decide to treat myself to a laundromat, you better believe I’ll be bringing my balls!
Pro tip: Here in MN, the winter can be VERY dry and we walk around shocking everyone we meet. If you need extra anti-static benefits to get through the winter here’s what you do. Acquire a little cotton bag, like these, fill it with 3-6 tablespoons of Himalayan salt and tie it off. Toss it in the dryer with the balls and let it do it’s magic. You can also use this salt bag over and over again!
There is not such a dryer culture in Germany like it seems to exist in the US. We have a dryer but we rarely use it. We have a room in the basement where we have our washer and dryer and where heating tubes run through and there I hang my laundry for drying, takes no more than a day and there is plenty of space and the stuff is out of sight and out of my way. I wonder when I look at US houses the average home is much bigger than German homes. Why do they need dryers so much and do not dedicate a room for washing and hanging? We call it “Waschküche” in Germany. Which means “washing kitchen” 😀
But then again, we wash with hot water not cold! At least 30°Celsius for delicate stuff and 60° or hotter for towels and bed linen and such…
I love that! American culture is very HURRY HURRY WORK WORK OVERBOOK FAST INSTANT GRATIFICATION and I’m guessing that’s why nobody wants to hang dry their laundry. Lol.
P.S.:
A propos the skin being the largest organ. I would appreciate an article about what you would use as a body lotion alternative. I have been going through bottles over bottles for lotion recently as I am in the lucky position to have a boyfriend that loves giving my aching bones a massage but hence my use of industrial body lotion is skyrocketing I figured it might not be the smartest thing that these industrial ingredients are being absorbed by my skin… :/
I was JUST thinking I wanted to ask readers what products they wanted help with! Stay tuned for a post on lotion as per your request. 🙂
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I’ve been using dryer balls for several years now (I’m in Central Kentucky) but I didn’t know the salt tip! Thanks. Currently I have a giant clothes pin in a couple of the balls and that works well too.