Dryer fabric-softener sheets

[toggleswitch]

This question is aimed at the more serious colletors/restorers/repairers among us...

Does anybody like/use dryer sheets?

1) Gums-up the machine
2) Rusts the drum
3) Adds wax and stinks-up clothes
4) Creates a fire-hazard (lint sticks to gummy surfaces)
5) Not particularly good for the environment, either.

Now...to get the same results and reduce static cling can't someone use less detergent and/or less time on the dryer cycle. My understanding is that detergents are TOO effective and reduce the amount of natural oils in natural fabrics therby making them stiff.

And to end on a humorous note. An American comedienne said that these are basiically the same as a wedding band. They give off a signal to women that the guy is married/taken/unavaaiable. "No man doing his own laundry would ever use them." (her word not mine.. LOL)

I really have to say the whole genre really does smell bad to me. Is it possible that differenct scents appeal to women and men?

What is the concensus ?

 

[petek]

I don't use them regularly

I have a box of the Walmart ones but in general I use Downy because I can control how much is going in..not very much. When I do run out I'll use a sheet but rip in in half or smaller..I don't think you even need a full sheet to do a full load. I learned that from a penny pinching friend of mine who would cut the dry sheets up into 4 or five strips.

 

[Cybrvanr]

I agree with you completely Toggleswitch when it comes to the "too much detergent" issue! I am also one that does not like a lot of heavy artificial scents and smells. If something is smelling bad, there is a problem that needs to be corrected...don't just cover up a bad odor with another odor!!! Women however seem to enjoy scents more than men. My girlfriend loves the "bath & bodyworks" soaps and lotions because they are so scented. To me, they smell very artifical and nothing like what they are intended to smell like. I do however get instantly reminded of her when I smell "Peaches & Cream" lotion when she's not around!

I have not heard about any detrimetal effects of using dryer sheets on the appliance. I do not use them myself either, preferring to use a little bit of liquid fabric softener in the machine instead, and then line-drying my clothes. There is a nice laundry-list of other non-dryer uses of those things however:

# A sheet will repel mosquitoes on your patio. Hang a sheet when outdoors during the mosquito season.

# Eliminates static electricity from your television and computer screen. Fabric softener sheets are designed to help eliminate static cling, wipe your television and computer screen with a used sheet to keep dust from resettling.

# A sheet can be used to dissolve soap scum from shower doors, and the tile walls. Clean the surfaces with a sheet.

# Collecting pet hairs. Rubbing the area with a sheet will magnetically attract all the loose hairs.

# Eliminating static electricity from venetian blinds and window coverings. Wipe the blinds with a sheet is said to prevent dust from resettling.

# Wiping up sawdust, on the shop workbench, from drilling or sandpapering is easy. A used sheet will collect sawdust like a tack cloth.

...among the few that I have found!!!

 

[MrX]

Static

It's weird, I used Bounce all the time in my old Hoover tumble dryer in Ireland and it did genuinely reduce static build up. Clothes used to come out of that machine with enough static to see visible sparks if the laundry room was a bit dull.

However, the miele dryer we replaced it with oddly enough never builds up any static! I can only assume that the stainless steel drum must be properly grounded and the clothes can discharge static before it builds up too much.

The old dryer had an enameled drum.

Also, I tend to use hypoalergenic fabric softener (comfort pure) in the washing machine rather than bounce in the dryer. Seems to work far better and you don't end up smelling like a house hold cleaning product!

I noticed dosing fabric softener into a US toploader's a bit of a chore. I used a downey ball in an old whirlpool machine but, unfortunately at least once it left blue stains on my white clothes!!

adding it to the rinse water manually was a safer option...

I resorted to bounce as it was just easier!

 

[scott55405]

I prefer liquid washer softeners because they distribute evenly through the water and load, and it softens items not dryer dried. Too, the dryer sheet will invariably get stuck in a sleeve, pantleg, sheet pocket or whatever and much of the load does not get the benefit anyway.

 

[maytagbear]

I deeply dislike dryer sheets!!!

The build up seems worse in coin-op dryers. I would think that if they were a real hazard, they would have been pulled off the market ages ago.

I admit it, I am hooked on liquid softener, and put Downy in most of my loads, even in sheets. I never put softener in my kitchen towels, though.

I just use the agitator mounted dispenser in my Maytag.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[kenmore1978]

liquid vs dryer sheets

I use both, depending on circumstances. Sometimes I'll forget or be out of liquid fabric softener, so will use a dryer sheet. Or, sometimes I want overkill on certain items and will use liquid in the washer AND sheets in the dryer on the same load.

 

[toggleswitch]

Dryer fires

Funny but I don't recall dryer fires happening till the sheets came out.

At first they were NOT recommended by dryer manufacturers and many people had flimsy vinyl exhaust hoses. The manufacturers have since recommended the use of metal hoses/ductwork.