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Fabric Softeners
posted by Annie B. Bond Aug 10, 2007 12:00 am
Pat B., VT asks:
Annie: Fabric softeners make me feel so sick! Help! What is with them? What do I use instead?
Join the crowd! I receive so many similar emails about this! Maybe one reason is that the smell so many hate covers up some quite toxic materials, as well as being a synthetic blend of chemicals itself. I have never used fabric softeners. I think this is because I wear mostly natural fibers, which don’t get static cling, the main fabric softener fix. Synthetic fabrics, such as polyester and lycra, are prone to get full of static.
Also, the actual scouring of the fabric in the washing machine will soften the fabric, and the dryer fluffs the fabric even more. Fabric softeners add a chemical to the fabric to “soften” them even more, even when there is no need.
Most fabric softeners add a film to the fabric, which can actually accumulate and dull the colors. Many complain that clothes are left greasy because of this. Fabric softeners also add a huge toxic load to the environment of your home and clothing, from powerful fragrances to suspected cancer-causing neurotoxic chemicals such as toluene and styrene.
The three main ingredients found in fabric softeners are surfactants (used in detergents), fragrance, and undenatured ethyl alcohol. The later is suspected of causing many health problems, from being a liver toxicant to an endocrine disrupter.
The chemicals in fabric softener chemically manipulate the fabric to be softer, and many of you like that. What to Do?
Choose Green Products
Happily there are some green fabric softeners on the market from companies full of integrity. Products include those from Seventh Generation and Ecover, and are found in health food stores and some supermarkets. Do-It-Yourself
Fabric softeners are acidic, so adding ½ cup of vinegar to the rinse water is one way to experiment with replacing commercial fabric softeners. Another idea floating around the internet is to saturate 1 teaspoon of a natural hair conditioner on a small rag, and put that into the dryer as a homemade dryer sheet. We would love your feedback about whether these work, and what other ideas you have. Please add to the comments on this article!
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17 comments
add your comment »I don't even use it. Why? With towels and sheets I will use a little vinegar in the rinse- which disinfects also.
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Scratchy line-dried clothes: you might be using too much laundry soap and/or not getting a good rinse. Could you be over-loading the laundry? Clean little kid sneakers bounce in the dryer to help soften clothes. You can line dry a load and then put the things you really want soft in the dryer for a few minutes. If you green up your energy bill you will help draw from clean sources. Happy washing All!
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I use vinegar as a fabric softner because I read it works really good to remove hair which I have a lot of on my laundry due to 3 kitties and towels which never are absorbent after using fabric softner come out so fluffy and absorbent it's great and it smells great and much less static cling. I use it all the time and the liquid fabric softners are said to be bad for the machine. My sister had to spend a lot of $$ to fix hers due to mold that accumulated from the fabric softners. So I am happy with my vinegar and a huge bottle is about $2. Very cheap also. I hate the smell of vinegar also and would never have believed it but the hair which would get into little balls on my towels were driving me crazy and now they do not appear.
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I've been using Epsom Salts (magnesium sulphate) as a fabric softener, with good results. We never tumble-dry but always line-dry. I realize, however, that not everyone is in a position to do that.
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WE LINE DRY AS WELL. MY HUSBAND SAID HIS GRANDMOTHER ALWAYS HUN THE SHEETS DRAPED OVER THE LILAC BUSHES TO DRY THERE..HOW HEAVENLY THEY MUST HAVE SMELLED. I WILL TRY IT NEXT SUMMER WHEN MINE ARE A LITTLE BIGGER..
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I think maybe we should rethink how important soft laundry really is. Our grandparents didn't think it was, just as it was clean.. I personally hate the smell of dryer sheets plus the smell of perfumed detergents.
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My mother never used artificial fabric softeners, she hung out the clothes to dry outside in the sea winds, and that was enough to leave them silky and soft... including towels. So where do we go from that?
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i have a well, the water is hard (and undrinkable) and since I've gone back to using cheap white vinegar in the rinse water my clothes are soft, my washing machine is cleaned each time it's used (by the vinegar rinse) of hard water gunk............ I just fill up the Downey ball w/ vinegar....... cheap white stuff!! Works good in dishwater too, and the rinse cycle of dishwasher!!
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The blue balls in the dryer DO WORK very well!
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What are in those laundry sheets? The one I have is a cloth fabric and is supposed to be all natural? Picked it up at home hardware and it apparently lasts for 150 loads or something like that. It works great! But my question is - what's in it? is it all natural?
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