Make Your Own Fabric Softener
By lilybee
Some people firmly believe that fabric conditioner is very bad news. According to the these folks it's full of scary chemicals that don't biodegrade and it's bad for your health. Now, I have no real standpoint on this, I just don't like the way it makes things feel, I like my towels CRUNCHY.
Here's a recipe on how to make your own fabric softener from Wikihow:
You'll need:
- 1 cup vinegar (white)
- 1 cup washing soda
- 1 cup water
- Drops essential oil (good choices include lemon, lavender, mint, geranium)
- Bottle for storage (flip-cap if possible)
- Assemble the items from the Things You'll Need section.
- Mix together the washing soda, white vinegar and water.
- Add a few drops of essential oil. The scent is up to you. Or, you might wish to leave it scent-free.
- Stir together one more time.
- Bottle the fabric conditioner for storage. A bottle with a flip-top lid is good for ease of use but any bottle with a lid is suitable.
- Use the fabric conditioner in the same way that you would use a commercial fabric conditioner.
I'm not sure how well it works or how widely available washing soda is. Also, it I was making it I'd think about using distilled water.
What I do in the interests of softness, and well, cheapness, is cut the amount of detergent I'm using down by between a half and a third , less soap equals less crispy soap residue. As an interesting aside, North American bottle-top doses are set for top loader machines, front loaders use less detergent.
I also throw about a half a cup of vinegar in each wash. The vinegar makes things softer, and if you've got hard water, keeps your washing machine limescale free. It doesn't gum up the fabric softener drawer either, (that totally gives me the 'bleargh').
Also, Vinegar? WAY cheaper than fabric softener.
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Decorating on a teeny budget is my thing. Recycling and Reusing and Repurposing are my...
lilybee
Your way sounds really clever!
I'm not sure how well this stuff would work in the dryer, but I'm pretty ceratin it wouldn't gum up the drawer.
DesigningMom
I'm definitely going to to have to look into this. I have to drive into the city today to get kitty food and wood for a project, so I'll look for the washing soda. I already have a gallon container of vingar in the laundry room and can use our reverse osmosis (sp?) water. I noticed Monday when I cleaned the laundry room that I was pretty much out of softner. You couldn't have written this at a better time.
I do have one question though. I always put my softner into a purchased water mister and spray it onto an old wash clothe and toss it into my dryer as you would a dryer sheet. No gumming up the softner dispencer in the washer this way. I feel my clothes are softer too. Do you think this would work in the dryer?
~Becky <><
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