Money-saving laundry tip

Recently, our dryer died and I ended up hauling some loads of wet clothes to a friend's house to dry them while our kids played. While I was there, she shared a little tip with me that I thought was a really great idea, so I am going to share it with you.

It's good for the wallet AND for the planet, especially if you can find some eco-friendly liquid fabric softener.

First, you need to get some plain old sponges. I found a four-pack of yellow ones at the dollar store, and bought two packs.

Next, you need to find a lidded container that will stand up to holding liquid. I had an old baby wipe box sitting around waiting for a new job, so I hired it. (Reuse, baby!)



Now, you dilute some liquid fabric softener with plain old (free) tap water. The ratio of dilution probably depends on your personal preferences and the kind of softener you use. I used some wonderful ecoSTORE USA fabric softener, which I understand is no longer made for some awful reason, so I'm happy to stretch this precious bottle as far as I can.



Their stuff is highly concentrated, so I added four cups of water to one cup of softener.

After you make your mixture, you put your sponges in there to soak.



You no longer add liquid fabric softener to your wash loads and you no longer use dryer sheets. Instead, you squeeze liquid out of one sponge (doesn't have to be DRY but not super dripping either) and throw the sponge into your dryer with your wet clothes.



After the clothes come out all fluffy and softened and dry, just toss the sponge back into the liquid. (Reuse!)

Just keep your container on top of your dryer so it's always handy.



It's a great way to create less trash and stretch a dollar!

Thanks to my wonderful friend Crystal for this fabulous idea!

Oh, and one more little plug for ecoSTORE. I just plain love everything I've tried from this company and it has NO NASTY CHEMICALS.

See, here's me, showing my ecoSTORE love while hiking on North Manitou Island.



Oh, and they don't know I'm writing this. They didn't give me free fabric softener, either. I bought it. I buy lots of their stuff. It's good!

Check it out for yourself!