DIY Homemade Fabric Softener for Just Pennies! 

 

Well, I thought it was about time to do a follow-up post on the dryer sheet alternative post that I did a little while ago. A lot of you really loved that little tip for getting rid of static cling without using those store bought dryer sheets that can sometimes be really chemical-y and not so good for you.

A few of you said “Well, that’s all fine and good, but what about making my laundry soft too? Dryer sheets do more than just reduce static cling you know!” I got feedback on that issue for you. Apparently there’s a better way of taking care of the fabric softener too, and of course it’s way simpler than you ever would have thought and right under your nose!
Vinegar!
I decided to test this one out and see what went down. Of course it worked like a charm. Vinegar really is good for almost anything, isn’t it?

If you do a search and see what comes up, you’ll find instructions for adding a 1/2 cup of vinegar to your laundry’s rinse water. I did use the 1/2 cup amount (and it was a big load), but I really couldn’t be bothered to try and catch the rinse cycle. I’m just not that alert when it comes to laundry. What I did is add the vinegar into my machine’s liquid fabric softener dispenser so it would be added at the right time for me.

I did see somewhere that there was a suggestion to add the vinegar to the bleach dispenser, but I would stay away from that. When you mix vinegar and bleach, a toxic chlorine gas is released, so stick to using the fabric softener dispenser instead. I don’t even own a bottle of bleach to be honest because I’m kind of terrified of the stuff, but there may be some residue leftover from the previous owners and I’d be worried that I’m dying from fumes all day after that.
Whatever you do, DO NOT add the vinegar straight in with the clothes at the start of your wash cycle as you may bleach some items and cause damage.
When you add the 1/2 cup to the fabric softener dispenser though, you’ll be amazed at the results! This is definitely one of those “How did I not know about this?” kinda moments.

But what about the smell? Do those clothes smell all vinegary afterwards? You don’t want to be walking around smelling like a dill pickle all day!
It’s kind of amazing. There is no smell at all. No smell. Just purely clean and fresh. Your towels will even come out extra fresh and fluffy because the vinegar helps to clean away all of the build up from different detergents and softeners that can build up over time and cause them to lose absorbency. It’s an all around laundry miracle!
If you do like a little bit of a nice scent to your clothes, try adding a few drops of essential oil (whatever scent you like) to the bottle of vinegar that you’ll be using for your laundry. It’s as easy as that!

So that’s that! I may not be the most meticulous laundry folder, but at least now it’s super clean, soft, fresh-smelling and chemical free! Oh and it’s cheap too.