When I was growing up, we didn’t get an electric dryer until I was 7 years old. Dryer sheets and fabric softeners were unknown to us. But in time, the marketing companies of the day introduced us, and most people to these great ‘anti-static’ products that promised to make our clothes ‘baby soft’ and smell like a ‘spring shower’.
It seemed like a great idea, however, within a few years I developed chronic hives all over my body. They were so itchy that I would scratch myself until I bled. A specialist concluded that I was allergic to the laundry soap and dryer sheets. My mom started using a different brand of laundry soap and just half of a dryer sheet. My clothes also got an extra rinse in the wash cycle.
This did help clear up the hives, but I continued to various ailments such as eczema, sinus allergies, migraines and odd pains in my body. Back in the 1970s, there wasn’t much awareness about how synthetic chemicals could negatively affect people’s health.
“Better Things for Better Living…Through Chemistry” was a slogan created by DuPont in 1935. And while that phrase was a trademark for DuPont, other chemical companies used the phrase, “Better Living Through Chemistry”.
Humans have been living on this earth, in a natural environment for two million years, yet in the last 100 years, our planet has become inundated with synthetic chemicals, artificial light, and electromagnetic fields. Our body’s protective mechanism, the stress response, has never had to deal with so many foreign substances. Combine that with the stress of modern living, and our stress response is in constant battle.
The result is a myriad of autoimmune and stress-related illnesses, that unfortunately are treated with yet, more chemicals in the form of pharmaceuticals! This is utter madness.
As consumers, we have the choice of what products we buy and use. It is essential that we become more conscious consumers and consider just how many synthetic chemicals we are voluntarily bringing into our homes. If you are curious about some of the ingredients used in laundry products, you can check out this article.
I chose to talk about laundry products in particular because I think these are the products that expose our bodies to the most chemicals. We wear clothes and sleep wrapped in bedding that is saturated in chemicals 24 hours a day! The only time we are free of direct contact with these chemicals on the skin is when we are in the bath or shower. Then we use commercial body care products and slather ourselves with more chemicals!
Also, dryer sheets and fabric softeners off-gas synthetic fragrance into the environment. I often have a reaction to the smell of dryer sheets in the air while out for a walk. While I am highly sensitive, I know many others who have the same reaction.
So, even if you don’t appear to have any negative reactions to commercial laundry products, subjecting you and your family to a chemical bath 24 hours a day seems rather unnecessary. Making change is really quite simple and there are so many natural laundry products available today, you simply have to choose to buy those products!
Furthermore, it has never been easier to make your own natural home and body care products yourself! I have a simple recipe for natural dryer sheets here. Check it out!