Do you have trouble with dryer sheet stains on your clothes? How do you know if those grease stains are actually from dryer sheets? Or is the culprit something else?
In my experience if the grease stains cover a majority of the load, you can chalk it up to dryer sheets being the cause. You’ll see multiple little dime to quarter-size stains on several garments in the load if it is caused by dryer sheets.
Treatment:
Treating dryer sheet stains is oh so easy: just use the Blue Dawn Method for removing grease. It might be labor intensive only in that you’ll have multiple little stains to treat with the Dawn. But it is as simple as rubbing it in with your finger and throwing in the washer.
But use caution if you are treating a lot (say more than 3-4 items) of clothes using the Blue Dawn Method. Too much soap can definitely cause your machine to go in the SUD cycle. It’s certainly not the end of the world if that happens, but it can double or even triple the wash time. Just be sure to evenly space out among several washer loads the clothes to be treated. If you have a top-loader, you should be able to wash them all in one load. However, I would still do an extra rinse in a top-loader just to make sure you get all of the soap out.
Prevention:
I have found that the ‘cheaper’ dryer sheets are the most offensive in terms of leaving those grease stains. And by ‘cheap’ I mean in quality, not in price. And I’ve even occasionally had the name-brand dryer sheets leave grease stains on our clothes. I solved this problem by using only half or even a quarter of a dryer sheet. I have not found any decrease in effectiveness by only using half of a sheet. The load might not have as intense of a ‘fresh mountain spring scent’, but it is just as effective in reducing static cling.
So first try using only half or a quarter of a dryer sheet. If you don’t find that to fix the problem, try switching brands of dryer sheets.
Do you have trouble with grease stains from dryer sheets? Do you even use dryer sheets?
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I don’t use dryer sheets, primarily because of my allergies. It seems like, as I get “older,” almost any scent can set my nose to itching and my head to aching. I also don’t use any fabric softener.
I don’t notice our clothes being horribly static-ey, or terribly un-soft. Maybe I’m just not picky enough.
I stopped using dryer sheets after having problems with grease spots. I haven’t missed them.
It took me several years to pinpoint the reason why I kept getting these noticeable greasy looking spots on my shirts. When I ran out of dryer sheets, the problem went away. Now I put fabric softener in my wash and forgo the sheets. I used to use 2 of them. Don’t let this horrific thing happen to you!
Thanks, Will for commenting on your experience! 😉
-Lauren
Ew! Another reason not to use dryer sheets! I never have because my mom never did, due to my dad’s fragrance sensitivity, and I never saw any reason to start spending the money. I line-dry everything now, but I’ve heard that putting a ball of aluminum foil in the dryer prevents static cling.
I’ve been having problems with grease stains on newly laundered clothes and didn’t realize before this could be caused by the dryer sheets. Now I have a couple of solutions to try. Thanks!
Huh. I didn’t know that softener sheets could do this! But I do know that my shirts have been coming out of the dryer with grease spots a lot lately, so I’m getting rid of the sheets!!
I have so many ruined shirts (always in the breast area) that have GREASE spots – I like using the dryer sheets for static cling – but my cutting all of mine into fourths. No more store brand – I think that is my offender.
Jan – yes. Every time I’ve ever had it happen, I was using generic/store brand sheets.
In this case, you definitely get what you pay for!
I have had these blotches on only some items out of the dryer and I’ve been trying to figure it all out.
My investigation is still going but it seems likely that it’s a combination of dryer temperature and silicone oil build up from these softener sheets, which may be worsened by selecting a low or medium temperature setting ON THE DRYER. I think quality is also a culprit, which in a coin laundry you have no control over because this residue build up can be from the customers before you. FYI I took the rewashed the clothes that had blotches however simply air dried them and ALL blotches were gone!!!