I’m always looking for ways to reduce household expenses and eliminate unnecessary chemicals from my life. For the past several months, I’ve been making my own dryer sheets. Goodbye Bounce fabric sheets! These homemade sheets are so easy to make and totally sustainable—use them over and over again.

1. Locate a tight-sealing plastic container about 6 in. x 9 in. (but size really doesn’t matter). I use a RubberMaid one. A baby-wipes container works, too.
2. Cut up an old-t-shirt or other scrap fabric into rectangles that, when  folded in half or in thirds, will stack neatly in the plastic container. I cut mine 9 in. x 9 in. with pinking shears to reduce edge fraying.
3. In a measuring cup, mix 1/2 cup of white vinegar and 15-20 drops of your favorite essential oil. I tried orange oil first but it didn’t smell very strong. I next tried lavender essential oil and I like it a lot. You can try grapefruit seed or tea tree oil as well.
4. Stack 1/3 of the pieces of cloth in the container. Pour 1/3 of the vinegar mixture over the stacked fabric pieces. Repeat these layers twice with the remaining fabric and vinegar mix. This will evenly saturate the cloth with the vinegar.
5. Put container lid on securely.

The vinegar will freshen the laundry, combat static cling (but not entirely win), and soften the cloth. The essential oils will make everything smell good and some oils will kill any bacteria and germs found in the laundry. The clothes stay surprisingly moist in the sealed container. I stack the used clothes on a shelf above the washing machine and repeat the process when the ones in the container are all used.