Alternatives to Fabric Softeners and Dryer Sheets?

[danmantn]

I've read many posts on here from folks saying they never use one or the other, or both.  So...I was wondering what alternatives people would suggest?  I came across something about using vinegar in the wash?  Sounds a bit odd...nothing like going around smelling like a pickle.  

 

What would you recommend?

 

[strongenough78]

Hmmmm. I'm not sure what else there would be. I've heard of the vinegar thing too, but as acidic as vinegar is, I don't think I'd want to use it as a softening agent. Especially if it's added in the last rinse. Doesn't using Borax in the wash help with softness? I need to back track on some posts about that. Now I'm all curious lol.

 

[danmantn]

I love the Imperial in your profile...never seen that one before!

 

[strongenough78]

Thanks I've been switching back and forth between this one and a brown 4 door. They're the 72 model year, the most beautiful if you ask me. Although the 75 was nice too. But I love the grill on the 72 and the fuselage body.

 

[thomasortega]

Sometimes I use white vinegar on the last rinse. It works ok, ..
One just have to add A FEW DROPS, not the whole bottle in the washer. That will be no problem with the smell.

 

[AZREOspecialist]

Adding "a few drops" of vinegar to your wash will do absolutely nothing to soften or acidify the water. The purpose of adding vinegar is to help bind up hardness in the final rinse water and also to acidify the pH and "sour" the laundry from the highly caustic conditions during the wash cycle.

A better alternative, I've found, is to substitute citric acid crystals for vinegar in the final rinse. This not only acidifies the pH, but citric acid also has a beneficial "smoothing" effect on fabric fibers. This should lend some natural softness to your clothes. You can find citric acid at The Chemistry Store online, or under the name LemiShine in the dishwasher section of your local grocery store. You can also purchase it at any middle eastern grocery store as "lemon salt". If using a front loader, start with 1 TBS and adjust up or down as needed.

 

[mrb627]

Vinegar

I will sometimes use an ounce of vinegar in the bleach dispenser in my machine. That way it acts as a sour rinse and the additional rinsing behind will remove its odor. Sometimes, I will add a touch a FS in the FS dispenser to help mask any leftover vinegar scent.

Malcolm

 

[volvoguy87]

Proper drying.

I've found that since switching from a DE306 (timer only) dryer to a DE806 (moisture sensor) dryer that my need for fabric softener has virtually disappeared. The clothes are perfectly dry, but not over-dry. They are slightly less dry than I would ahve initially thought but it works. The clothes stay fresh, fluffy, and wrinkle-free all without fabric softener.

This method saves energy too,
Dave

 

[jerrod6]

 1 TBS sounds like a lot. Will long term use cause harm to anything?  Can it be placed in the next to last rinse instead of the last rinse?

 

[AZREOspecialist]

Sure if your machine can dispense that way.

 

[launderess]

Vinegar & Other Laundry "Sours"

From what I have read white vinegar does not have any water softening affects in terms of binding hard water minearls. What it does do is neutralise any remaining alkali in textiles (mainly the by products of washing soda - sodium bicarbonate), and residue from pure soaps.

All laundry sours will leave laundry feeling "soft" by virtue of removing the aformentioned remaining alkali, as well as helping to "smooth" cotton/linen fibers. While the action is good enough for some, it does not compare to surfactant and or fats/oils used in traditional fabric softeners.

Commercial laundries have a wide variety of laundry sours to choose from, with acetic acid (white vinegar) rather low on the totem pole. Formic acid for instance gives greater neutralising per ounce than vinegar, thus smaller amounts are required. Versions of Downy fabric softener already contain formic acid which in it self is something like the "fabric softener/sour" combinations sold to commercial laundries.

The whole purpose of using a sour final rinse was to prevent textiles from turning brown under the heat of an iron and later tumble dryer. Again this is the result of sodium bicarbonate or soap residue coming into contact with heat.

Vinegar had long been used around the house to counter affects of using soap for cleaning. Everything from skin care to after washing one's hair had recipes for using either white or apple cider vinegar.

 

[jerrod6]

When using vinegar I return to the machine for the next to the last rinse and pour the vinegar into it, while also letting a bit of Fs be dispensed into the final rinse, so there is no problem returning and putting the Citric Acid into it.

 

[3beltwesty]

Is your water HARD if you use Fabric softener?

From the prospective here I always wonder why folks use fabric softener at all.

, ie do you do because you always have done it?

is it done to add a scent?

It is done as a cultural thing?

Is is just done as an old habit?

Here the bottles of fabric softener are from before my mom passed away 20 years ago. I might use a dash maybe once a year, on some new sheets A small ht get used up in a decade.

i *DO* buy a box of sheets for the dryer maybe once a year or two.

The water here is *extremely soft*, thus my take is I just use a sheet to prevent shirts from sticking together in the dryer. ie reduce static with some fabrics.

From other threads; it seems others use liquid fabric softener as much as coffee!

Thus real interesting how others use 1/3 cup per wash load!

 

[toggleswitch]

Using less detergent results in the ability to drop softeners all-together.

Modern detergent are TOO EFFECTIVE and remove all the natural oils from natural fabrics/fibers including cotton.

I'm not sure why softeners are considered necessary. Adding wax and grease and STINK to clothes does nothing positive. As a matter of fact the oils in softeners go rancid after a period of time and the long-term results is your clothing will STINK, even washed.

If you think machine-dried clothes are stiff, try line drying! The dryer itself IS your softener...............

Exactly the same as shampoo and conditioner. Why use too much shampoo to get rid of natural oils only to replace them with conditioner that is full of artifical lubricants, grease, oil. Does this make any sense?

Actually using both products, one negates the other and one's total chemical usage goes up with no real benefit.

I do laundry for a fried who has the yellowest whites, dingiest colors and grossest clothes. He is a softenr abuser. The scum I saw in my sink from the softener oils was absolutely disgusting. Nothing ammonia (a great degreaser) a double wash with powdered detergent and STPP and mutiple rinses cant fix!

If one cant live without their softener try using if for a week and NOT using it for three; the best of both worlds!

 

[toggleswitch]

Dryer sheets are a huge fire hazard and literally coat clothes with hot wax.
They are bad for the machine, causing major rust and make lint stick like glue. Bad for the environemt and bad for your clothes.

So again I ask why?

An as men I am perplexed as to why men need to believe "soft" (read: greasy /slippery) nesting materials are deemed better than those that are tuly clean without a wax coating.

 

[hoover1100]

Maybe it's just me

But there is no method I have found of leaving clothes softer than using a good quality liquid fabric softener (Lenor).

I use the recommended dose in every load, no more, and I have never had the problems of mould or waxy build-ups that people discuss on here.

Our water is as soft as you can get, never seen any limescale deposits or mineral build ups anywhere here, and clothes are still softer when fabric softener is used.

It is especially beneficial when line drying (which I do as much as possible). I want my clothes to feel as soft and fluffy as possible.

My whites are as white as can be, so unless you don't wash them properly it doesn't make them dull or yellow.

As for using less detergent meaning you won't require softner, I have never found this to make any difference (unless using more detergent means rinse performance has been reduced).

If I use less shampoo in the shower and don't use conditioner, my hair feels greasy and is less manageable, washing it more thoroughly and using conditioner leaves it smooth and not greasy at all.

So no, using fabric softener will not harm your machine or make it dirty, and it will not dull your clothes or damage them, as long as you don't use more than is necessary and keep your machine clean.

It does help that last time I checked Lenor (Downy) sold here is entirely synthetic, and not plant based, perhaps this isn't the case in the U.S.? That might explain the difference.

Matt

 

[mtn1584]

Sorry Danny but.............................................

I LOVE THE SMELL OF WET LAUNDRY HANGING UP IN THE HOUSE,,,,,,, I LOVE EVEN MORE THE SMELL OF FABRIC SOFTENER, AS A MATTER OF FACT, I ALWAYS USE EXTRA. I ALSO USE DRYER SHEETS. WHAT BRAND YOU ASK????

SUAVITEL FIELD FLOWERS ULTRA LIQUID FABRIC SOFTENER AND SUAVITEL FIELD FLOWERS DRYER SHEETS. HAHA!
I JUST DON'T THINK LAUNDRY SMELLS CLEAN UNLESS YOU USE FABRIC SOFTENER, OR IF CLOTHES ARE HUNG OUTSIDE ON A LINE, I AM FROM THE BRONX AFTER ALL LOL
MIKE

ps the use of all caps is to emphasize my emphatic love of fabric softener lol