Over many years and for changing reasons, my laundry routine has varied significantly. When I was only in charge of my stuff, I was strictly a detergent and dryer sheet kind of girl. Now, I’m firmly a fan of detergent pods and dryer balls.
16.12.2023 - 14:21 / thespruce.com / Ashley Chalmers
As an American expat living in the U.K., laundry is the household chore that causes the most culture shock. Unlike in the U.S., tumble dryers aren’t common. A lot of homes have a combination washer and dryer machine—and weirdest of all, it’s often in the kitchen.
While this can vary widely, we’re currently in a house with exactly that. Although the dryer works fine, it’s not great. I hang-dry most of our clothes, but when I use the machine dryer, it takes about ninety minutes to dry anything except towels, which takes two full hours.
Plus, the loads usually come out wrinkled and full of static, especially in winter.
All this to say, I’m always looking for great laundry hacks that mean I can more effectively use the dryer function. Recently, I decided to find out if either dryer balls or laundry sheets would improve my life.
As it turns out, yes—one of these items has officially changed my laundry game.
The Spruce / Jorge Gamboa
I stopped using fabric softener a long time ago after reading about the downsides of using it with baby and children’s clothes, towels, and athletic wear, which are all items that make up the vast majority of our laundry.
We also have sensitive skin in our family, so when I set out to find a way to reduce wrinkles, static, and softness, I knew I needed something that wasn’t a liquid softener.
If you’re not familiar, dryer balls are exactly that: round balls you toss in on a dry cycle. While there are a few different kinds, the options mostly come down to either wool or plastic.
After reading the pros and cons of dryer balls, I opted to go for a wool version. Mine came as a set of four, and while there were no instructions included, a quick Google search told me I could use three to four
Over many years and for changing reasons, my laundry routine has varied significantly. When I was only in charge of my stuff, I was strictly a detergent and dryer sheet kind of girl. Now, I’m firmly a fan of detergent pods and dryer balls.
Nicholas Sampogna
We’ve rounded up some amazing DIY Laundry Room Sign Ideas to make your laundry space go from meh to wow! These signs are easy to make and will add a pop of fun to your chores!
CARSON DOWNING
Dryers are a convenient staple in most modern homes for a good reason. They make drying our clothes and household linens easy. However, not all items can withstand the heat and tumbling of a dryer. Delicate fabrics can be damaged, rubber can melt, and structured items like bras and swimwear can warp or shrink. Instead, air-dry these types of items on an indoor drying rack or an old-fashioned outdoor clothesline. Here are eight things you should never put in the dryer.
Winter in North America is typically an uneventful time of year for plants, when growing slows or stops and when most plants go dormant. Because of that, average winter weather has very little negative impact on a landscape’s health. Extreme winter weather anomalies, however, can do some serious damage. Heavier than average precipitation, significant and sudden drops in temperature, longer than normal durations of freezing temperatures and winds—these occurrences can injure, if not gravely harm, our valued plants.
“Swedish death cleaning” may sound morbid, but the concept is less doom and gloom and more existential and sweet. Think of the decluttering style this way: if the KonMari Method and hygge had a baby, it’d be Swedish death cleaning. The idea is simple, yet astounding. Swedish death cleaning is a Scandinavian method of organizing that focuses on decluttering your home before you pass on in an effort to lessen the burden on your grieving loved ones. Author Margareta Magnusson coined the phrase in her 2017 book The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, and the concept has been gaining traction ever since.
This post was transcribed by a member of the Hometalk editorial team from the original HometalkTV episode.
Looking for a new recipe to help use up your leftover Easter ham? Move over egg salad sandwiches and ham casseroles, and let me introduce you to ham balls! If you have never heard of ham balls you are in for a treat! Ham balls are a Pennsylvania Dutch delicacy. As a native Pennsylvanian, I grew up eating these ham/pork based “meatballs” and remember requesting them (along with scalloped potatoes and baked pineapple) for many birthday dinners. They are easy to make, a great way to use leftover ham, and they freeze well (before or after baking) for a quick-to-serve meal.
You can create fresh or preserved moss balls to add interest to your floral arrangements. If using fresh moss or reindeer lichen, please don’t collect entire populations of them from a single area. Only gather small amounts from different places to allow the moss or lichen to regenerate. Commercial dried moss and Spanish moss that has been sustainably sourced can be purchased from your favorite craft store. The dried materials will last much longer than the freshly gathered ones.
Timing: Sometime in the second half of October, ideally about five weeks before frost is in the ground, I plant the biggest cloves from the biggest heads of my July-harvested crop. (I eat the rest, whether while cooking up easy soups and tomato sauce to freeze in the late summer and fall, or through the winter from heads hung in net bags in my 45ish-degree barn loft, with some of the harvest peeled and frozen right now like this to use next spring and summer, when even the best-stored heads would have sprouted otherwise.)An expert 101 on how to plant garlic, and which type is best for your area. How deep? I poke the cloves, pointy side up, so that the tip is about 2 inches below the surface of the soil in my raised beds. Mulching at planting time in areas with cold winters is recommended, so I simply layer on some leaf mold or composted stable bedding, which also helps come spring in weed control (it’s essential to keep garlic beds weed-free!).How far apart? Spacing is