Here is an interesting web link about clothes dryer safety.
Clothes Dryer Safety
- Thread starter bobbins
- Start date
Help Support :
Dryer softener sheeets are a MAJOR fire hazard. You are adding wax to lint.The two together are ASKING for a problem.
Please be reminded that dryer manufacturers STRONGLY advised against dryer softenrs which would void the warranty /guaranty. They also kill painted-on finishes in the dryer drum and lead to premature rusting.
Dryer manufactureers succumbed to pressure from the additives industry and changed their tune later on. They now recommend metal vent hoses only. Nice, but now the fire will blow out of the house and ignite it from the outside in instead of the inside out, which happens when a dryer fire melts a vinyl hose.
In a word: DON'T....
use dryer sheets, IMHO
Softness can be accomplished by using LESS detergent. Today's modern synthetic soaps(detergents) are TOO effective and remove all of the natural oils in natural fabrics. Adding back grease and wax is what softeners do.
One can always add the wax and grease back to the final rinse in the washer cycle if it is found to be psychologically necessary.
Please be reminded that dryer manufacturers STRONGLY advised against dryer softenrs which would void the warranty /guaranty. They also kill painted-on finishes in the dryer drum and lead to premature rusting.
Dryer manufactureers succumbed to pressure from the additives industry and changed their tune later on. They now recommend metal vent hoses only. Nice, but now the fire will blow out of the house and ignite it from the outside in instead of the inside out, which happens when a dryer fire melts a vinyl hose.
In a word: DON'T....
use dryer sheets, IMHO
Softness can be accomplished by using LESS detergent. Today's modern synthetic soaps(detergents) are TOO effective and remove all of the natural oils in natural fabrics. Adding back grease and wax is what softeners do.
One can always add the wax and grease back to the final rinse in the washer cycle if it is found to be psychologically necessary.
Dryer fires.
I'll be attending a dryer-fire symposium next month. I'll report back any good info I get.
I know y'all know this but...
NEVER bypass any defective thermostats or high-limit thermo-cutouts. Fix it properly or don't use the dryer.
I'll be attending a dryer-fire symposium next month. I'll report back any good info I get.
I know y'all know this but...
NEVER bypass any defective thermostats or high-limit thermo-cutouts. Fix it properly or don't use the dryer.
Toggle,
I concur that dryer fabric softener sheets are a bad idea.
But for the life of me I can't figure out what natural oils might be present in cotton. Can you tell me?
I could see natural oils remaining on a fabric such as wool, which is naturally full of lanolin. But cotton fibers shouldn't have any natural oils - they are pure cellulose.
From what I've read, the harshness on washed fabrics is due to detergent residues. These can be from precipitates of the detergent's water softener (usually sodium carbonate) on the fabric fibers. A liquid detergent may result in less such deposits, which is one may find a liquid results in softer final results than a powder.
Natural soaps may leave somewhat softer results because the soap itself is a type of modified fat. If it does linger on the fibers, it's a softer type of deposit.
I concur that dryer fabric softener sheets are a bad idea.
But for the life of me I can't figure out what natural oils might be present in cotton. Can you tell me?
I could see natural oils remaining on a fabric such as wool, which is naturally full of lanolin. But cotton fibers shouldn't have any natural oils - they are pure cellulose.
From what I've read, the harshness on washed fabrics is due to detergent residues. These can be from precipitates of the detergent's water softener (usually sodium carbonate) on the fabric fibers. A liquid detergent may result in less such deposits, which is one may find a liquid results in softer final results than a powder.
Natural soaps may leave somewhat softer results because the soap itself is a type of modified fat. If it does linger on the fibers, it's a softer type of deposit.
High alkaline detergents cause natural fibers like cotton swell, and under certian water conditions hard water minerals become can become trapped in those fibers. This results in the harsh, rough feeling many complain about when using detergents high with sodium carbonate. Arm & Hammer comes to mind as well as some BOL detergents.
Laundry washed with soaps had a soft and fluffy feeling, due to the fats and oils from soap. As detergents began to displace soaps for laundry, many housewives missed that soft feeling, hence fabric softeners came along. This new invention was pretty much nothing more than fats/tallow/waxes suspended in water. Fats/tallow are also what is in soap... (see where I'm going with this?).. Today's newer TOL fabric softeners are based more on cationic surfactants, but there are plenty of fat/tallow based products out there. Sure test is to allow the product to sit in a cold area for a few days. If it separates into soilds and water, it is pretty much tallow based.
As for cotton having "oils" the only oil one is aware of from cotton is cottonseed oil, but that product is made from cotton plant seeds.
L.
Laundry washed with soaps had a soft and fluffy feeling, due to the fats and oils from soap. As detergents began to displace soaps for laundry, many housewives missed that soft feeling, hence fabric softeners came along. This new invention was pretty much nothing more than fats/tallow/waxes suspended in water. Fats/tallow are also what is in soap... (see where I'm going with this?).. Today's newer TOL fabric softeners are based more on cationic surfactants, but there are plenty of fat/tallow based products out there. Sure test is to allow the product to sit in a cold area for a few days. If it separates into soilds and water, it is pretty much tallow based.
As for cotton having "oils" the only oil one is aware of from cotton is cottonseed oil, but that product is made from cotton plant seeds.
L.
dryer sheets
thank you for the information!!! i have been using dryer sheets for about 10 years now. I've never encountered a problem with them but it all makes sense. The reason I started using them was because the liquid softner that I used in the washer RUINED 2 loads of clothes. The washer didn't "spit" the softner out properly and it went directly on ALL of my clothes and I couldn't get it out to save my life!! I had blue dots everywhere!!!!! Do they happen to make a CLEAR softner?? I am very paranoid about the liquid now because of that. THANKS!!!!!
michael
thank you for the information!!! i have been using dryer sheets for about 10 years now. I've never encountered a problem with them but it all makes sense. The reason I started using them was because the liquid softner that I used in the washer RUINED 2 loads of clothes. The washer didn't "spit" the softner out properly and it went directly on ALL of my clothes and I couldn't get it out to save my life!! I had blue dots everywhere!!!!! Do they happen to make a CLEAR softner?? I am very paranoid about the liquid now because of that. THANKS!!!!!
michael
Clear Fabric Softener
No, but Downy has "Downy Free" which has no dyes, and there are more out there.
Oh yes, you can usually remove fabric softener stains by rubbing them with a good bar soap like Fels.
No, but Downy has "Downy Free" which has no dyes, and there are more out there.
Oh yes, you can usually remove fabric softener stains by rubbing them with a good bar soap like Fels.
Tallow based fabric softeners are generally cationic surfactants... All cationic means is that the compound is positively charged.
There are different types, of course. Perhaps some of the most common are the "quats", which also have germicidal activity. "Quats" stands for quaternary ammonium compounds. In real disinfectants, these are probably short carbon chain compounds. In the case of fabric softeners, they are likely to be long chain carbon compounds. Fats and oils are long chain carbon compounds. The long chain is what gives them their slick characteristic.
I have noticed that tumble drying washed items often makes them feel softer. Perhaps this is due to the tumbling freeing some of the trapped hard water mineral precipitate from within (and without) the fabric fibers. Even 15 minutes of air fluff tumbling helps.
en.wikipedia.org
There are different types, of course. Perhaps some of the most common are the "quats", which also have germicidal activity. "Quats" stands for quaternary ammonium compounds. In real disinfectants, these are probably short carbon chain compounds. In the case of fabric softeners, they are likely to be long chain carbon compounds. Fats and oils are long chain carbon compounds. The long chain is what gives them their slick characteristic.
I have noticed that tumble drying washed items often makes them feel softer. Perhaps this is due to the tumbling freeing some of the trapped hard water mineral precipitate from within (and without) the fabric fibers. Even 15 minutes of air fluff tumbling helps.
Fabric softener - Wikipedia
My partner bought some fabric softening/fluffing balls that you throw in the dryer. They come two to a package, are re-usable and are covered with little spikes. They are some kind of synthetic rubber-like material. Supposedly these things fluff up the clothes. The packaging showed two stacks of the same number of folded towels, one dried with the balls, one without, and the stack that was dried using the balls was much higher. Apparently you can use as many as four or six of these balls depending on the size of the load to be dried. I find they make a racket tumbling around and also am concerned that they could damage the temperature sensors inside the drum. Any thoughts on these items and their effectiveness? My partner is a sucker for any kind of product hype. I opted against using these things for a batch of laundry I did yesterday, my main concern being that continued use could damage the sensors.
hoover1060
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2005
- Messages
- 3,309
dryer balls
I recieved s set of them last year as a gift, I tossed them in the dryer where they have lived ever since.
I quit using dryer sheets too, they clog up the lint trap too!
I've had no problems with these little gizmos, yes they are noisy when the dryer first starts but after they warm up the noise diminishes.
I notmally use a liquid softner, usually the cheap pink stuff from Jewel.
I also have a bottle of Peach flavor Vernel, and a stash of final touch thanks to Shane. They get used on special occasions.
I recieved s set of them last year as a gift, I tossed them in the dryer where they have lived ever since.
I quit using dryer sheets too, they clog up the lint trap too!
I've had no problems with these little gizmos, yes they are noisy when the dryer first starts but after they warm up the noise diminishes.
I notmally use a liquid softner, usually the cheap pink stuff from Jewel.
I also have a bottle of Peach flavor Vernel, and a stash of final touch thanks to Shane. They get used on special occasions.
Yes Folks
They live in my dryer too
They live in my dryer too
OK, thanks guys, I guess I'll throw my pair of balls back into the dryer ;-)
Ralph
Ralph
neptunebob
Well-known member
Since the yellowed knobs are showing.....
Gary, did you get a florescent fixture that is enclosed in a plastic case or convert to incandescent lights? I believe the ultraviolet rays from the flourescent tubes may have cause the yellowing. I would hate to see this happen to the new (and last!)dependable care you have. If there is a plastic case, it takes the "shelling" from the rays and turns yellow instead of the knobs.
As for the knobs on the neptune, the only hope may be to spray paint them white. I have done than on other things with success.
Gary, did you get a florescent fixture that is enclosed in a plastic case or convert to incandescent lights? I believe the ultraviolet rays from the flourescent tubes may have cause the yellowing. I would hate to see this happen to the new (and last!)dependable care you have. If there is a plastic case, it takes the "shelling" from the rays and turns yellow instead of the knobs.
As for the knobs on the neptune, the only hope may be to spray paint them white. I have done than on other things with success.
wannapinkset
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2007
- Messages
- 104
All fabric softener is filthy stuff no mater the kind or type. We had to use gallon after gallon and sheet after sheet at a factory I worked at to keep down the static on foam when cutting it in big presses, saws of all kinds and boimers. All kinds, whatever was on sale in huge quantities winter and summer alike. Its flat out nasty stuff and I use as little as possible now. Pure poison.
Neptune Bob
There used to be a fluorescent fixture in a plastic case directly over the Neptune. The plastic case yellowed as well as the buttons on my Neptune. The flourescent fixture is no longer there.
A stranger thing is that my Electrolux was close by the washer. The same thing happended.
Thanks for your information.
GadgetSwitch
There used to be a fluorescent fixture in a plastic case directly over the Neptune. The plastic case yellowed as well as the buttons on my Neptune. The flourescent fixture is no longer there.
A stranger thing is that my Electrolux was close by the washer. The same thing happended.
Thanks for your information.
GadgetSwitch
Yellowed Buttons and Knobs
Bob and Gary, I had the yellowing issue on my '98 Amana pair. I've seen these machines in thrift stores with the same affliction. My machines were in the garage, which does have some flourescent fixtures but the main one is a small wattage CFL type and is never on for very long and the others are used even less. As I cleaned these machines up for sale (and successfully unloaded them for the tidy sum of $200 on my 3rd weekend try by posting on Craig's List--to a fine looking big boy hunk of eye candy who had just moved here) I noticed that certain knobs that were rarely or never used had one discolored side and one normal side. The discolored sides all faced the windows on the back side of the garage, which has a northern exposure. So it was years of indirect natual light that caused the discoloration. I did my best to interchange all the knobs to downplay the discoloration through positioning. As it was, my beefy no-nonsense buyer had every intention of taking these machines home just based on the posted pic on CL and couldn't have cared less about the discolored knobs. Hopefully his spouse or partner appreciated all the work I did to make the pair look like new inside & out! I'm just glad they're history. But even indirect natural light can cause yellowing. Maybe covering the panels when not in use is the best preventative measure for machines that are exposed to either that type of light or flourescent on a regular basis.
Ralph
Bob and Gary, I had the yellowing issue on my '98 Amana pair. I've seen these machines in thrift stores with the same affliction. My machines were in the garage, which does have some flourescent fixtures but the main one is a small wattage CFL type and is never on for very long and the others are used even less. As I cleaned these machines up for sale (and successfully unloaded them for the tidy sum of $200 on my 3rd weekend try by posting on Craig's List--to a fine looking big boy hunk of eye candy who had just moved here) I noticed that certain knobs that were rarely or never used had one discolored side and one normal side. The discolored sides all faced the windows on the back side of the garage, which has a northern exposure. So it was years of indirect natual light that caused the discoloration. I did my best to interchange all the knobs to downplay the discoloration through positioning. As it was, my beefy no-nonsense buyer had every intention of taking these machines home just based on the posted pic on CL and couldn't have cared less about the discolored knobs. Hopefully his spouse or partner appreciated all the work I did to make the pair look like new inside & out! I'm just glad they're history. But even indirect natural light can cause yellowing. Maybe covering the panels when not in use is the best preventative measure for machines that are exposed to either that type of light or flourescent on a regular basis.
Ralph
rocketeer500
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2006
- Messages
- 115
Yellowing knobs
I've used only flourecent lighting in my laundry room for the last 7 years and the knobs on my kenmore washer and dryer have not changed color; they are still very white.
It must be a combination of situations that make the knobs yellow ( or other plastic items as well). While I'm not saying that flourescent lighting isn't a major contributor, I also think it has something to do with the type of materials used in the plastic (itself) that allows the plastic to fade. It may also be the intensity of the bulbs (or close proximity of the bulbs) used in relation to the plastic which causes them to fade at a lesser or greater rate.
But I have to admit, I do cover my machines when they're not in use. So, by regularly covering the machines, I suppose I'm just delaying any fading that would normally occur.
Just my 2 cents.
I've used only flourecent lighting in my laundry room for the last 7 years and the knobs on my kenmore washer and dryer have not changed color; they are still very white.
It must be a combination of situations that make the knobs yellow ( or other plastic items as well). While I'm not saying that flourescent lighting isn't a major contributor, I also think it has something to do with the type of materials used in the plastic (itself) that allows the plastic to fade. It may also be the intensity of the bulbs (or close proximity of the bulbs) used in relation to the plastic which causes them to fade at a lesser or greater rate.
But I have to admit, I do cover my machines when they're not in use. So, by regularly covering the machines, I suppose I'm just delaying any fading that would normally occur.
Just my 2 cents.
