Waste-Not Wednesday: Fabric Softener

/ Tracy Abell

I had the idea of designating one day per week for sharing ways my family tries to reduce our impact on the environment.  I’m going to call it WASTE-NOT WEDNESDAY and I’d be thrilled if anyone else would like to join in and share ideas from their households, too.  I’m at about the halfway point of my life expectancy but Wildebeest and Zebu and all your children have a lot of years ahead of them on this planet, and whatever we can do to protect the resources for them and their children (and their children’s children and so on), is well worth the effort.

So I hope you join me now and again in sharing some tips for helping out Mother Earth.

As you can see, my washing machine has a big jug of white vinegar sitting on top.  That’s because each time I wash a load of laundry, I pour white vinegar into the fabric softener dispenser at the top of the agitator-thingy.  We live in Colorado where it’s extremely dry which results in lots of static cling.  I mean LOTS.  However, the vinegar prevents that icky, clingy feeling plus keeps the laundry soft.  Believe me, if it works here vinegar will work in your climate, too.

Why not just use that fancy-smelling blue stuff?  Well, I don’t like liquid fabric softener or dryer sheets because I’m hypersensitive to strong odors.  When I’m taking a walk in my neighborhood, I can smell when someone’s running a dryer with one of those sheets inside and the smell hurts my lungs. 

While writing this post I just did a little googling and found out there’s a good reason why my lungs hurt when I smell that stuff:  nasty chemicals!

Do your wallet and the planet a favor by giving up the fabric softener.  Reach for the white vinegar instead.

                             

23 thoughts on “Waste-Not Wednesday: Fabric Softener”

  1. coffee and chemicals
    Hi Tracy
    Well we know why you are so sensitive to those chemicals. Ain’t nothing do with the chemicals on the outside of your clothes , it’s to do with the chemicals inside of your body. Your body is likely to be in rebellion. Simple. Have a read of the post made to Kim. Can help if you want to help. Heh can swear all your want. no problem , but lets learn about our bodies and then all these 18 yr olds dying of lukemia may not be needed as our kids
    are born strong and healthy. but you are a writer so prob little interest. But Kim has it and why let HER get all the good news?
    Thanks
    john.
    http://kidlit-kim.livejournal.com/114334.html?view=628638#t628638

    Like

    • Re: coffee and chemicals
      Um, not exactly sure what you’re referring to but I am very sure my lungs are affected by dryer sheets and fabric softener. You know, all those heavy perfumes they add to mask the odors of the benzyl alcohol and chloroform, etc.

      Like

  2. coffee and chemicals

    Hi Tracy
    Well we know why you are so sensitive to those chemicals. Ain’t nothing do with the chemicals on the outside of your clothes , it’s to do with the chemicals inside of your body. Your body is likely to be in rebellion. Simple. Have a read of the post made to Kim. Can help if you want to help. Heh can swear all your want. no problem , but lets learn about our bodies and then all these 18 yr olds dying of lukemia may not be needed as our kids
    are born strong and healthy. but you are a writer so prob little interest. But Kim has it and why let HER get all the good news?

    Thanks
    john.

    http://kidlit-kim.livejournal.com/114334.html?view=628638#t628638

    Like

    • I thought you’d want to participate. Your post got me thinking about the many things I do, and I decided I’d like to highlight them one at a time.
      Looking forward to your posts!

      Like

      • I will post some things I do. I really like the idea. I did read an article recently that said dryer sheets are really outdated and no longer needed if you use detergent. They went into a long explanation that I skimmed over but it was all the proof I needed not to waste money on them. (and help the environment, too!)

        Like

        • Glad you’re going to post some of your practices, Lisa!
          Re: dryer sheets – I wonder if it’s because they’re already putting something in detergents that does the job? If so, I probably wouldn’t want those detergents, either, because they’d be full of perfumes and other additives. Hmm.

          Like

  6. I keep big jugs of vinegar and ammonia for cleaning purposes(but not in the same load! Shudder). Ammonia gets out some things(esp. odors), vinegar gets out others(Even yellow mustard, which I thought nothing would get out). I mix my own windex with a few drops dish soap and ammonia and water if I feel compelled to use that, or just use vinegar and newspapers on the glass(works really well). Also Clorox Clean up is a citric acid based bathroom cleaner that is really awesome– spray it on, go do something else, come back in an hour and wipe the nasty off with a wet sponge. Great stuff!

    Like

    • Excellent cleaning suggestions! I can’t handle ammonia fumes, though. I use vinegar and water to wash windows and then dry with newspaper, too. The only thing I don’t really like is all that newsprint on my hands.

      Like

    • Yep. Try it and I bet you’ll like it just fine. Then all those baskets filled with laundry will be filled with chemical-free, static-free, soft laundry! (I seem to remember a photo of your many baskets and that’s when I knew we had a connection because I’ve got lots of those, too!)

      Like

  9. I thought you’d want to participate. Your post got me thinking about the many things I do, and I decided I’d like to highlight them one at a time.

    Looking forward to your posts!

    Like

  10. Re: coffee and chemicals

    Um, not exactly sure what you’re referring to but I am very sure my lungs are affected by dryer sheets and fabric softener. You know, all those heavy perfumes they add to mask the odors of the benzyl alcohol and chloroform, etc.

    Like

  11. I’ve never used any of that softener stuff–I’m also highly allergic to strong perfumes. It always amazes me when the smell of laundry stuff fills the neighborhood. Makes me wonder how they can survive the fumes inside.
    And I never knew about this use for vinegar, though I use it for all sorts of other things–window cleaner, drainer opener, stain remover… Thanks for the tip. I’m always on the lookout for natural cleaners. 🙂

    Like

    • Oh good, that makes me happy I’ve given you yet another use for the versatile, wonderful vinegar!
      And ditto on the inside fumes. I think what happens is that their olfactory system is totally deadened by those perfumes and they can’t smell anything. I think that’s the whole point of air fresheners, for instance.

      Like

  12. I’ve never used any of that softener stuff–I’m also highly allergic to strong perfumes. It always amazes me when the smell of laundry stuff fills the neighborhood. Makes me wonder how they can survive the fumes inside.

    And I never knew about this use for vinegar, though I use it for all sorts of other things–window cleaner, drainer opener, stain remover… Thanks for the tip. I’m always on the lookout for natural cleaners. 🙂

    Like

  13. Oh good, that makes me happy I’ve given you yet another use for the versatile, wonderful vinegar!

    And ditto on the inside fumes. I think what happens is that their olfactory system is totally deadened by those perfumes and they can’t smell anything. I think that’s the whole point of air fresheners, for instance.

    Like

  14. Glad you’re going to post some of your practices, Lisa!

    Re: dryer sheets – I wonder if it’s because they’re already putting something in detergents that does the job? If so, I probably wouldn’t want those detergents, either, because they’d be full of perfumes and other additives. Hmm.

    Like

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