The Famous Dryer Sheet

1. TheFamousDryerSheet Darius Hale July 14, 2009 Chemistry

2. What is a Dryer Sheet • Dryer sheets are gauze-like tissues about the size of a Kleenex, put into clothes dryers to eliminate static cling, soften clothes and add artificial fragrance. • Dryer sheets are coated with positively charged substances that rub off on the clothes in the dryer in the presence of heat.

3. History of Dryer Sheets • The first fabric softeners were developed by the textile industry during the early twentieth century. At that time the process that was used to dye cotton fibers left them feeling harsh. In the early 1900s, preparations known as cotton softeners were developed to improve the feel of these fibers after dyeing. A typical cotton softener consisted of seven parts water, three parts soap, and one part olive, corn, or tallow oil. With advances in organic chemistry, new compounds were created that could soften fabric more effectively. These improved formulations soon found their way into the commercial market. • The advances that were made is that this dryer sheet was first a liquid use in the washer machine and now it is a sheet that goes into the dryer.

4. How chemicals react • The coating containing the softener melts and the compounds get transferred onto the fabrics being dried. The newly attached fatty chains give the fabric's surface a slippery feel, which people interpret as softness. The compounds also help dissipate static charge by lubricating and increasing the surface conductivity of the fabric fibers. • If you want dryer sheets with no chemicals in them at all then you can use all natural dryer sheets. The Static Eliminator is not on chemical free but reusable.

5. Chemical Makeup • When clothes tumble inside a dryer, friction causes an exchange of electrons on the surface of the materials. Items acquiring excess electrons become negatively charged while those losing electrons become positively charged. The items attract and cling together. The electric charge, which by some estimates can be as much as 12,000 volts, is commonly referred to as static cling. Dryer sheets are coated with positively charged substances that rub off on the clothes in the dryer in the presence of heat. With the clothes positively charged, there is no static cling. • Other chemicals in dryer sheets help to soften clothes and make them wrinkle resistant.

6. Impact on everyday life • Dryer sheets changed the world in a sort of small way. People use to love to have there fabrics soft but it wasn’t as convient. Back when first invented you had to put liquids in the washer machine, now little sheets can be tossed into the dryer. In conclusion it has impacted us because it lets people get fresh soft clothes in a convient cheap way. • People of all ages use this product. Basically anyone who washes uses this product. • They use this substance to make clothes nice and soft.

7. References • http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-dryer-sheets.htm • http://www.care2.com/greenliving/dinged-by-dryer-sheets.html • http://pubs.acs.org/cen/whatstuff/86/8615sci2.html