A few years ago, I stopped using fabric softener all together. Not only was it an added expense, but I didn’t always like the way it made the clothing feel. I know, maybe I am out of the ordinary, but I like clothing as clean as possible, and the thought of adding another layer of stuff into the fabric of our laundry items just sort of turned me off.
I don’t mind dryer sheets, though. But, again, that is another expense, not to mention another allergen for my family of kiddos with sensitive skin. Most of the time we try to line dry our laundry, anyway, in which case a dryer sheet is useless.
But, I have to admit, it is nice to have soft clothes. And so, I make my own fabric softener to use in the laundry. It costs just pennies, uses stuff I already have around the house, and it leaves absolutely no residue or smell of any kind. It also has the added bonus of removing stubborn odors that my laundry detergent might miss. And, the homemade fabric softener is gentle enough to use even on the baby clothes.
The recipe of my homemade fabric softener is so easy and simple that you will wonder why you haven’t tried it before. Just take 1/4 cup of white vinegar and add it to the last rinse of your wash load in the washing machine. That is it! The laundry will come out nice and soft, and fresh. Don’t worry, it won’t smell like vinegar at all.
The white vinegar also seems to do a great job at brightening cloth diapers, too.
One tip: make sure that you use white vinegar. Cider vinegar, for example may stain your laundry or not work as well.
Did you know that you can also your make own laundry detergent? Check out this article to learn how.
Mary Ann Romans also writes for the Computing Blog here at Families.com where she shares everything from the latest news on technology to cool downloads and fun websites.
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