A Good Natural Static Reducer!

I use tin foil. I know, sounds strange, but it works to get rid of static cling.

Just take some tin foil, waud it up into a ball and toss it in the dryer. You can reuse it for quite a while.

Or, Bed Bath & Beyond has those blue rubber balls. You can probably find them online.

I've been using the blue dryer balls for a few years and I love them. Helps the clothes dry faster as well. Both my kids have sensitive skin and fine hair, so we were having the same issues you are having. It isn't 100% static free, for instance, if you have certain sweaters in the dryer that create a lot of static, or certain fleece items. But, those have been the only exceptions. One thing I do when I know I'm going to be drying the fleeces or sweaters is to dry them most of the way, but not completely. Then, when I take them out, I just hang them up to dry the rest of the way. Way less static. Good luck!

Hi Brandi,

I don't know of anything that isn't "chemically" perse, but 7th Generation's products are earth friendly.

On her hair, you might could try using a scent-free dryer sheet.

I used them on my oldest daughter's hair sometimes when her hair was particularly wild, and it worked. Just rub lightly. She loved it. Would make funny noises when we did that.

Also, if you haven't tried it, a spray on conditioner might help.

Good luck!

K. W

I have the same problem with sensitivity to commercial anti-static products. If you Google "fabric softener, toxic, dangerous," you'll come up with information that will scare you out of your cling-free socks!

I've found a couple of solutions that work. One is a fabric "sheet" that contains no added chemicals but somehow reduces/absorbs static in the dryer. It does work, possibly not quite as well as anti-cling sheets, but leaves no gaggy perfumes or toxic chemicals, either:
http://www.gaiam.com/product/eco-home-outdoor/household/l...

Another solution I've found helpful is to use a scent-free hair conditioner both on my hair AND in the laundry rinse cycle. Shake or stir maybe 2 tablespoons in a cup of clean water before you add it so it won't leave surprise marks on your clothes. This, in addition to the sheets I mentioned above, works at least as well as commercial softeners.

Look for the shortest list of ingredients possible in the hair conditioner. The brand I have used that has worked best for me is Wild Essentials, but I couldn't find this the last time I went shopping, so I just bought another brand with which to experiment.

Good luck. It's hard for sensitive people to live safely and comfortably in a society saturated with chemicals and obsessed with scents.

conditioner on a dry rag.

Put a tennis ball in the dryer. Consider getting a humidifyer if your home air is especially dry.

Put a 1/4 of white vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser in your washer. I use vinegar exclusively in place of chemical fabric softeners.

put vinegar in your wash rinse water...it softens the clothes. and the smell does not last.

I do what Heather does, tin foil ball.
It works.

This may be obvious, but if you line dry your clothes there's no problem with static, shrinking, wearing out the clothes, or chemical residues... and you save money and energy. Yeah, it does take a little longer of course, and isn't possible in rain/snow/sold but little kids love "helping" to hang up clothes.

Those blue dryer balls (they come in packs of two and you use them both at the same time), they seem to help with that. So far I like them. Also, they last for a long time. I think you can purchase them at Walmart and I've also seen them at RiteAid and Bartell.

Don't use dryer sheets. You could trying going to Costco, where they sell Eco - a natural and environmentally friendly detergent that has fabric softener included.

I know how you feel on this. My son and I both have eczema which makes it really hard to use a lot of those products. We did find something that worked out great and POOF no static. :D We recently went to Wal-Mart and to my wandering eyes? I see biodegradable, no perfume, no dye, dryer sheets!! Made my day. We tried these and they are absolutely amazing. Worth trying out. You save the earth and save yourselves in process. :D

I don't know about natural, but......When I worked retail, we had spray bottles of water with a small amount of liquid fabric softener in it. We had to spray the carpets with it, so we wouldn't "shock" ourselves on the computer/registers-and short out the computer/registers. There was alot of static on the carpets and from the clothes.

Downy makes a liquid fabric softener that is fragrance free. I would put a small amount of that with water in a spray bottle. Small amount meaning a tablespoon or less to 1 spray bottle. I would mist her clothes a little. That way you are putting a very small amount of fabric softener on her clothes, instead of alot when it's in the wash cycle.

I am not sure what it's called, but there is "dryer ball". I believe it is made of a recycled rubber/plastic and you could probably find it either online or in a natural food store (like Whole Foods, New Seasons, Wild Oats, etc)

Strange.. I don't ever use dryer sheets at all and we don't have an issue with static.

Dryer balls! they are these blue funny looking balls that you can get from walmart I think. They look like dog toys and do make the dryer a lot noisier but they work great for static on your clothes and they make your towels really fluffy :)

Try to add vinegar with the rinsing cycle in your wash.

I've been using vinegar lately and it does seem to be working. Use half a cup of white, distilled vinegar in your rinse water. I know it sounds weird, but it hasn't been leaving any unpleasant odors on our clothes. I began using it on my son's diapers because he was getting such bad rashes. I thought maybe they were from the fabric softener. His rashes have improved significantly and his diapers are still soft, too.

Hello Brandi,

First of all I don't know if you heard or read anything about dryer sheets but I heard/read somewhere that dryer sheets has some kind of coating on them that blocks the screen in the dryer that can lead to a fire. I use liquid downy on my clothes in the rinse cycle...I think there might be a sensitive form of downy available if you're worried about the ingredients used. As for a natural way to get rid of static I haven't heard of any but I spray the carpets with static guard every now and then.
God Bless and good luck,

A.

Hi Brandi,

I've found great success using dryer balls (blue rubber balls) that are sold at Linen n Things, Bed Bath & Beyond, and many other places under the name of Dryer Max Dryer Balls and Nellie's Dryer Balls. They usually sell for just under $10.00 for two balls. Depending on the size of your dryer, you can use two, up to four. Works great, and they last forever so you save money too!

HI, My fiance is allergic to everything under the sun just about anyhow.. and we have to use the tide free laundry soap because of his allergey's. We also use Bounce Free. It is the dryer sheet that has no perfumes in it at all. You might try that? It doesn't have a smell to it, but it keeps the static off of the clothes nicely. Good luck.

The dryer balls work, but I just thought I'd warn you that they tore the gasket out of the door of our last dryer. Hopefully that is unusual.

hi brandi!

i personally stopped using fabric softeners, liquid and sheets, a few years ago. it's much better for the clothing fibers and the dryer too. to reduce the amount of static it's best to use as many natural fiber clothing and household pieces as possible. the more polyester and such you use and launder the more static you will have. cotton does not create the same static. hope this helps you.

D. :o)

When I wear a skirt I put a safety pin in the bottom hem and have little to no static problems. I know that doesn't help with all pieces of clothing, but take it for what it's worth!

What about a vaporizor? Is the air in your house too dry? Just a thought....

I try using the dryer as little as possible, but when I do I really like the dryer balls. It's plastic balls with spikes all over it. Basically, it just beats the clothes when tumbled together. They sell them at Bed Bath and Beyond.
Good luck.

i can't use dryer sheets either but i found the dreft dryer balls and they work good. i got them at babiesrus.

I use the dryer balls, "as seen on TV" but I got mine at Fred Meyers or target. Also, it's the artificial fabrics that cause the static, cotton or mostly cotton, woven doesn't produce as much static. My son was allergic to acrylic clothes so we intentionally stuck with cotton, but less static was a side benefit.

A.

Hi Brandi,

This is very tough. I tried to find an organic static reducer specifically for doing laundry online and only found one, and the site is no longer up, so...this is a very hard problem to solve. I am highly allergic to just about everything, and I am able to use very small amounts of liquid downy in the laundry cycle. This seems to elminate static through the dryer without that itchy residue left behind. Wish I had better news, but I've looked for years. If you find anything out, please please let me know!

D.
Mother of four.

I found some suggestions on the internet that mentioned adding vinegar to the rinse water. Not sure about that one. But also take the clothing in question, throw it in the dryer with a wet-wrung washcloth, dry for about 5 - 15 minutes and it supposedly removes wrinkles, pet hair and reduces static cling. Good luck -- I hate static myself so I'm trying these next laundry day!

I am allergic to softeners, as are half of my kids. My hubby HATES static... okay he used to haul gasoline and couldn't have any! I use 1/2 cup white vinegar in the rinse cycle and use the dryer on the medium heat setting and take the clothes out as they dry... don't "overdry."

I don't know about the clothes part, but this may help with it also. For my hair it gets staticy REAL bad and easily, I learned to carry lotion with me. put lotion on your hands and dont rub it in completely and just barely touch the hair with it, cause you don't want your hair looking greasy. So maybe if rubbed it in and just kinda touched your clothes with it?