The Quick Facts: The clothes dryer is the second biggest household user of electricity, after the refrigerator. Besides the impact on your utility bill, people spend money on fabric softeners and dryer sheets to “fluff,” reduce static, and make their clothes smell better after drying. Studies have found that these products can make us sick and harm the environment. To save energy, lower utility bills, and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy and fuel use, opt for air drying — outside or inside — and skip the fabric softener and dryer sheets for a more healthy living.

You can smell it when you walk out the door of your home. You can smell it when you take your child for a walk in the neighborhood, house after house. What you smell is not the scent of fresh air, but “clean scent” or “fresh scent” dryer sheets. We all appreciate clean clothes, but studies have found that fabric softeners and dryer sheets can make us sick and harm the environment.
(more…)