Inexpensive Homemade Dryer Sheets

Dryer sheets can be expensive. Many people use store bought dryer sheets multiple times in order to save money. Eventually they end up in the trash and you have to purchase more. Homemade dryer sheets are reusable and cheaper than name brands. They are green because you make them from old towels. I discovered this tip years ago and have not used store bought dryer sheets in 25 years.



Materials

All you need for this project is a couple of old towels, a pair of scissors, water, a large tub or container and your favorite fabric softener. It does not matter if the towels are stained, worn thin or torn. Avoid towels that were stained with oil or ones that were soaked with flammable liquids.



Cut the towels

Cut towels into 4 inch by 4 inch squares. If you have a sewing machine you can stitch around the cut edges to prevent fraying. Stack the squares and set aside.



Mix the fabric softener

Mix one cup of fabric softener to 4 cups of water. If you need to make more be sure that you mix one part fabric softener to 4 parts water. Pour this mixture into a tub or container.



Make the dryer sheets

Add the towel squares to the diluted fabric softener. Use a wooden or plastic spoon to push the squares down to the bottom of the container. Completely soak each square. Once the towel squares are completely soaked through, remove them from the container and squeeze them out to remove excess softener. Hang on a line with plastic clothes pins to dry. If drying the sheets indoors, place a protective covering, like newspapers, under the dryer sheets.



Once the squares have dried completely, store them in a plastic container or a plastic bag. Each dryer sheet can be used 10 to 20 times. Each dryer sheet can be reloaded with fabric softener almost indefinitely. Replace the dryer sheets when they start to fall apart.



Savings

This project is a great way to reuse old towels and save money. I chose Target because most people have one close to where they live. Normally I would not purchase such a large bottle of fabric softener for this project but I wanted to show you how expensive the store bought dryer sheets are. Prices were checked at the Rogers, Arkansas, Target on June 13, 2011.



Here is the savings breakdown: Snuggle Blue Sparkle dryer sheets in a 267 count box are priced at $8.49, not including sales tax. Pricing for Downy Fabric Softener in a 103 ounce bottle is $8.99.



If you were to purchase the dryer sheets and use each sheet 3 times, you could do 801 loads of laundry. Final cost is a penny per load.



If you purchase the 103 ounce bottle of fabric softener, it could be a decade before you had to purchase it again. The bottle would dilute to 515 ounces, or a little over 4 gallons, of fabric softener mix. This is enough to soak every old towel you will ever own. If you figure that each towel square will hold one ounce of diluted fabric softener, you will have enough to make 515 dryer sheets. Each dryer sheet can be used between 10 to 20 times before you have to soak it in fabric softener again. This makes enough for 5,150 to 10,300 loads of laundry. If you use each sheet 10 times, the cost per load is $0.001 or 10 loads for a penny.



I hope that I was able to show you that making your own dryer sheets is significantly less expensive than purchasing dryer sheets. Why not give it a try.



Other Associated Content You May Enjoy:

How to Refresh Old Potting Soil



Extreme Couponing at Walmart



Top Ten Free Resources for Homeschoolers