Fix your frizz – with a tumble dryer sheet
Make glasses sparkle or pick up pesky pet hair
Do You automatically throw in a tumble dryer sheet with your clothes each time you use the machine? even if you’re not planning to use them in your laundry, dig out that pack from your kitchen cupboard — because it turns out the cloths, designed to keep clothes fresh and static-free, have all sorts of nifty uses around the home. From taming frizzy hair to silencing squeaky shoes, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without them . . .
SMOOTH FLYAWAYS
HAIr and fabrics can pick up a static charge when they rub against another material (for example, rubbing a balloon on your jumper). So take a tip from professional hairdressers and banish static, frizzy hair by running a tumble dryer sheet over your locks.
The sheets are formulated to stop static building up on your clothes as they move around the machine and have what’s known as a cationic electrical charge — a positive charge that neutralises static.
Handily, this means if you rub a sheet lightly over your hair, it will make any fuzzy strands lie flat. Tumble dryer sheets are loaded with softener to make your clothes cosy. but this also means they’re great for loosening stubborn dirt.
Have a glass vase that’s gone cloudy? Fill it with lukewarm water, add a new tumble dryer sheet and soak overnight to make it sparkle.
baking trays, frying pans and oven racks will also come up clean with the same treatment. A quick wash with soapy water next day should be all that’s needed. love a trip to the beach, but hate the journey home, covered in sand you can’t brush off? Keep a used dryer sheet handy to wipe skin.
Its rough texture will help grab stubborn sand, while the fabric softener residue acts as a lubricant to remove all those pesky grains.
on holiday, keep a dryer sheet in a large plastic bag in your suitcase — store dirty laundry in this to keep it fresh until you get home. Are you forever getting pet hairs on your clothes? A brisk rub with a used tumble dryer sheet should dust them away in seconds, thanks to its rough texture and positive electrical charge.
The sheets have the same effect on tiny dust particles — so they’re perfect as dust cloths for fiddly spaces, such as crevices in blinds and electrical appliances. Keep trainers and boots smelling sweet by stuffing a balled-up used tumble dryer sheet in each shoe between uses. The super-absorbent sheets will soak up bad odour.
Why a used sheet, rather than a fresh one? The fabric conditioners in tumble dryer sheets contain fats, which, when fresh out of the box, could leave a residue on some fabrics and leather — to lessen that risk, a used sheet is best here.
This trick works with handbags and suitcases, too. GlITTer polish is notoriously difficult to remove, sticking stubbornly to nails.
Apply your nail varnish remover with a used tumble dryer sheet, however, and the combination of the remover, a little softener residue and the rough surface of the sheet will make the task far easier. TAKInG up a hem or sewing on a button? You can stop thread from knotting up while you stitch by pulling it through a folded tumble dryer sheet before you thread it on to the needle.
The waxy residue from the fabric softener should make the thread more slippery and stop it from catching on itself or your fabric.
MAKE VASES SPARKLE SHAKE OFF SAND PICK UP PET HAIR FRESHEN FOOTWEAR GOODBYE TO GLITTER GET THREAD STRAIGHT STOP CLOTHES CLINGING
THeY remove static in your machine, but tumble dryer sheets are just as good at neutralising it when you’re wearing the clothes.
Simply brush the underside of a static garment with a new tumble dryer sheet to stop it clinging.
SAVE SQUEAKY SOLES
Do THe rubber soles of your shoes or trainers squeak when you walk on polished floors? A quick pass over the soles with a new tumble dryer sheet will coat them in a thin layer of waxy fabric softener.
This should dampen down the friction as your foot hits the floor — and silence the squeak pronto.