The fabric softener debate from a hair care P.O.V.

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Fabric softener

As for favric softener, maybe my sense of touch is screwed up, but honestly, clothes don't seem to be any "softer" when I use FS.

Therefore, I tend to use it only when I want the smell and/or elimination of static cling, especially when drying synthethic favrics which can really build up a charge.
 
I have loved fabric softener since the days of Sta-Puf and NuSoft. Currently I use Mexican fabric softener "ensueno" which has a lavender scent, otherwise, I love April Fresh Downey as it leaves a nice scent on the clothes.
Fabric softener is also great if you get the heartbreak of suds lock.
 
If only I had hair

I dont have any hair to condition. I dont have low maintanace, I maintanace free hair. With taking 3 showers a day I have no time to fluff and puff. Now back in the 80's when I had some hair before my days of jerry curl juice, I tryed so many different shampoos and conditioners and the results was always the same, a rug! Now I just buy what ever sams has in the biggest cheapest jug.

The fabric sofener debate. Yeah I use it. Not nearly as much as I use to except towels and sheets. Nothing like the smell of april fresh downey after letting the eletric blanket pre-heat the bed before crawling in it.

Scott
 
don't use as the Final Touch

Fabric softeners are not a good idea to use on hair,(though it is said to be a model's secret) for two reasons.Number one,today's softeners are a cationic,i.e.,positive charged surfactant,and secondly,they are alkaline in nature,and hair should maintain a slightly-acidic condition.Perfectly normal,healthy hair does not NEED a conditioner,unless the shampoo is harsh and stripping.Although Paula Begoun has a wealth of good information,she has a very biased,medical-community mentality.Just reading ingredient lists do NOT always tell you everything.For example,you pick up a bottle of shampoo,and it says sodium lauryl sulfate,which is considered a harsh detergent.Thus,you may assume that the product is harsh,when in fact the shampoo may have a low percentage of it,or greatly buffer it with conditioning,or moisturizing agents.And although salon does not necessarily mean better,you may like the blend or balance of ingredients in a salon line better than mass-market lines or vice-versa.A personal example for me was Nexxus Headress leave-in conditioner,one of my all time favorites.It absolutely was superior on my hair.Yet if one read the ingredients,they may say brand B has similar ingredients.But the exact proportions of the ingredients is what did it for me as my hair looked VISIBLY better with it.Unfortunatly,the product was changed about 5 years ago,and I don't care for it now.I LOVED Protein 21 shampoo and Faberge Organics Wheat Germ Oil and Honey shampoo,both which used the supposedly harsh TEA-lauryl sulphate.They were very gentle actually,due to the buffering properties of the total formula.But Paula Begoun automatically downgrades any products with TEA lauryl sulphate,which isn't used much anymore in favor of the super-cheap ammonium laryl sulphate.She is wrong to do so.It's the blend that counts.BTW,most,but not all hair needs conditioning to look and act its best.
 
I remmeber back in the 70's or 80's Consumer Reports did an evaluation of popular shampoos.

Guess what? They found that a common bargain dishwashing liquid, like "Crystal Light" did just as well at cleaning hair as expensive shampoos. That's because they all have the same basic ingredient: SDS or sodium dodecyl laurate. It's a cheap and common high-sudsing surfactant. Of course, the DW liquid won't add any conditioners, so if you need it, you have to follow up with a conditioner. But even then, a conditioner may not be needed if you use a diluted vinegar rinse, to neutralize the alkalinity of the DW liquid.

I recall I tried that method for a while and it worked. But I got lazy and went back to shampoos - especially when I started shopping Costco and I could get a gallon of salon-quality shampoos and conditioner for a song.

As for laundry fabric softeners - they are primarily cationic soaps of long chain fatty acids, such as from beef fat. That's why you will see suds in the final rinse. These cationic surfactants bind to the fabric and impart a soft feel. If you use too much they'll feel greasy. Most washing detergents are anionic or non-ionic surfactants, which will readily displace the cationic fabric softeners when the time is right.

I have sort of longish hair. But the individual strands are very fine - I have measured them at .0015". Most human head hair is .003". In any case, while I still have a full head of hair, I can't grow it much longer than five inches - it tends to split after that. But I'm told it's wonderful to the touch :-).
 
Minor correction: the common surfactant in shampoos and dishwashing liquids is sodium dodecyl sulfate, or sodium laurate. I had some brain fade there.

"Dodecyl" and "Laural" mean the same thing... twelve... that in this case would mean a fatty acid with a chain of 12 carbon atoms... One is Greek ("dodecyl", I think) and the other Latin. I guess the organic chemists liked to cover all the bases.
 
In an emergency any bar soap will work as shampoo.

Ditto Conditioner as shaving cream.

Twelve = two + ten
Dodeca = duo + deca [duomatic=> double automatic => W&D]
(evolved into deci-) [decilitre, decimal, decibel, etc.]
 
The problem with bar soap (or any natural soap) is its tendency to form a scum with hard water minerals in the water. This will leave a dull appearance to hair. A vinegar rinse will help to remove it, but a synthetic detergent that is resistant to hard water will work much better.

When I used to crew on racing sailboats, a woman who was an experienced ocean racer said the shampoo of choice on board was Joy dishwashing detergent. She said it was the only one that would suds properly in salt water. For handwashing dishes, Joy is my favorite, although I've never tried it on my hair. For washing hands, I prefer to use a liquid coconut oil soap that I get in bulk at Smart & Final. It's less drying than Joy but cleans well enough. But it doesn't work all that well on hair... I've tried it. Few suds.
 
Ensueno and Suavitel fabric softeners are fab. They both leave clothes and towels fluffy soft and static free. And the scent lasts for weeks! Whenever I open my bathroom cabinet door or dresser drawer, I can still smell the aroma! Downey smells good, but these two softeners give Downey a run for its money, in my opinion!!
 
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