Uses for Dryer Sheets

[jessicas0778]

Five Uses for Dryer Sheets, plus one

http://frugal.families.com/blog/five-us ... yer-sheets

   Caked On Food

   If you are having trouble getting baked on food out of a casserole dish, fill it with hot water. Add a fabric softener sheet. Let it soak for a couple of hours and then rinse. Most of the caked on food will slide right out, and the rest will come out with a swipe of the sponge. I've also heard that you can use one that you've already sent through the dryer.

   Pots

   Food that is burned onto a pot or skillet works the same way. Just fill with warm water and throw in a few dryer sheets. Let it soak for at least a half hour, but a couple of hours works best. The stuff should just wash right out.

   Hairbrushes

   If you keep your brushes clean, your hair will stay cleaner longer too. Fill a container with warm water. Add two dryer sheets and stir. Then, add your hairbrushes and combs. Let them soak for a couple of hours. Build up from hairspray and other hair products will come right off. Rinse and allow to dry.

   Sticking Clothes

   In winter months, the air is especially dry. Keep a dryer sheet folded in your purse (it smells great!) and run the sheet over your hair, skirt or pants - anything that is clinging to your body. If you are wearing stockings or pantyhose, run it along your legs where your clothing is sticking.

   Smelly Shoes

   Use them in smell shoes. Just place a dryer sheet inside the foul-odored shoes and within a couple of hours, your shoes will smell great. It's also a good idea when you first take off the shoes to place the sheet in there. The warmth from your feet being in them, helps to activate the dryer sheet.

   Make Them Last Longer

   You can make dryer sheets last longer by cutting them lengthwise into four pieces and use one strip in each load. You can also reuse a dryer sheet that has already been through a dryer cycle. They will work the same.

[Molly]

Jess-
Sophie says she uses them to rub over her dogs when there's a thunderstorm.  Something about the atmosphere and electric charge makes some dog's skin actually hurt and that's why they start howling, bouncing off the walls, etc.

My sister has a lab that goes nuts, running around like a chicken with it's head cut off whenever it starts thundering and I told her about Sophie's suggestion but it didn't work with her dog.

Sophie says it DOES work for hers though.

As for my experience, I let a friend stay at my house once and when I came home from work the house smelled GREAT in every single room.

She had place a few Bounce sheets underneath my tablecloth, cushions of my furniture, under throw rugs, etc.

The smell lasted at LEAST a week and was well worth it.  I believe she used 2 per room.

[Jennifleur]

Awesome tips!  I'll have to try some of these.  

[ShareJesus]

I line my heat vents with them...makes the house smell sooo good and helps keeps the dust from forming so fast.

[willow]

I line my heat vents with them...makes the house smell sooo good and helps keeps the dust from forming so fast.

I saw on another thread (from the old homeplace) that you recommended this. I have lined all my vents with such.

[crazy-cajun]

Having to had gone Postal on more than one occasion with bees and hornets, the old postal trick is to stick one in a pocket or a couple in a couple of pockets when out on the street. It keeps the bugs at bay. It will also work with squeeters(mosquitos). Great for people who like to work in their yards as well.

Also from my website:

Use Dryer Sheets to:

1. Freshen smelly shoes. Insert a dryer sheet into the offending pair and let sit overnight.
2. Remove static from clothing, hair, TV screens, and computer monitors. Wipe the surface with a sheet.
3. Clean pet hair from the floor or furniture. Rub a dryer sheet over the spot where Fluffy left her fur.
4. Replace a sachet. Keep a dresser drawer smelling fresh and clean by placing a dryer sheet on the bottom of it.
5. Loosen caked-on food from a pan. Place a fresh sheet in the bottom of a dirty pan, fill with lukewarm tap water, and let sit in the sink overnight. The pan will be easier to clean in the morning.
6. Tackle suitcase and gym-bag odors. Place a dryer sheet in your suitcase or gym bag so your clean clothes won't take on the odors of the dirty ones.
7. Prevent old books from smelling musty when in storage. Stick a dryer sheet between the pages of your beloved copy of Pride and Prejudice.
8. Wipe up sawdust after working in the garage. Rub a dryer sheet over the fine wood particles.
9. Prevent thread from tangling when sewing. Run a threaded needle through a dryer sheet right before you begin your handiwork.
10. Dust venetian blinds. Close the blinds, then wipe up and down with a dryer sheet.

[Jennifleur]

CC, thanks for mentioning that about the mosquitoes!  I will have to try that!  They like to think of me as a buffet.  I could wear any kind of mosquito repellant, use the candles, the coils, whatever, and they STILL eat me alive.  They spray the school at which my mother works with mosquito spray, but that doesn't seem to do much good (at least where I'm concerned) - they still follow me around and bite me.  

I'm going to try that dryer sheet trick next time I'm out at night.  They're still buzzing around down here, as it is still very hot.

[crazy-cajun]

Well Jenn, that is because they like the taste of sweet things.    

[lil ol me]

Wonderful advice everyone! I also save my used fabric softener sheets. They are great for cleaning off the top of the dryer after I scrape the lint trap and for dusting in a hurry. I don't let too much (of anything) not get a second purpose.