101 Handmade Days: DIY Homemade Dryer Sheets

For this month’s easy DIY project, I decided to make homemade dryer sheets.

And when I say easy, I really mean easy. It took less than 10 minutes, and that time included finding and gathering the supplies.

We use a natural, unscented laundry detergent (because of cloth diapers), which doesn’t have much of a smell. My husband says that without a scent, the clothes never smell clean. I really dislike disposable dryer sheets, so the easy alternative was to make my own at home using a scent I actually like to smell.

Making the dryer sheets was so easy. There is no sewing involved, and they just takes a few minutes to whip up.

How to Make DIY Homemade Dryer Sheets

Supplies

• White vinegar
• Essential oils (I used a “relaxing” blend)
• Cotton cloths (I used some scrap fabric I had lying around)
• Sealable container (I used a mason jar)
• Decorations (I used a chalkboard sticker, a fabric topper, and string)

1. Cut your fabric into squares about 6×6 inches. I folded a larger piece of fabric into the general shape I wanted then cut the pieces apart at once. This made the pieces different sizes, but it is dryer sheets, so it doesn’t really matter.
2. Pour ½ a cup or so of vinegar into the mason jar (I filled mine up to the 100 ml line, but that actually was a bit too much).
3. Drop about 10 drops of your chosen oil into the mixture (5 of each if you choose to do two scents). Close the jar and shake it up.
4. Add the cloth to the jar. I added about half the fabric, closed the jar and shook it, then added the second half and shook the jar again.
5. Shake the jar up once more for good measure.
6. Decorate as desired. I added a chalkboard label and a fabric topper tied with string. The fabric topper actually took me longer to make than the recipe itself.

The nicest thing about these homemade dryer sheets is that once the scent is gone, you can add more vinegar and smell to the mixture and re-use them. No fuss, no expense, no chemicals!

This would make a great inexpensive housewarming gift for a friend who has just moved to a new house.