After telling my sister-in-law about how you could lower your electric bill by cleaning your dryer vent screen, she told me that she uses her own, homemade fabric softener. I thought I’d pass this recipe along:
* 1/4 Cup baking soda
* 1/2 Cup white vinegar
First, you fill your washing machine with water and add your baking soda, laundry detergent and then your clothes. During the final rinse cycle, add the vinegar (pour it into the softener dispenser of your washing machine has one). It’s a lot gentler on your clothes than the commercial brands and you will surely save money by using the homemade version. It will also eliminate the build-up on your lint screen that was mentioned in this post.
Do you have any other “recipes” for homemade fabric softener?
My friend Stacy posted recipes for homemade laundrey soap on her blog, both a powder and liquid version.
http://www.stacymakescents.com/?p=2903
http://www.stacymakescents.com/?p=2870
You don’t need the baking soda. Plain old vinegar works fine
Good to know! Do you add it during the rinse cycle? I’m thinking I might miss it every time. Do you think I could add it at the beginning to get the same results?
I twould be nice if I can just add the vinegar + detergent to the beginning of the wash and forget about it! And how much vinegar do I need to put in the wash?
oopssy, got the amount of vinegar after i re-read the post! thx
OK, I’ve seen this recipe before, but do your clothes honestly not smell like vinegar afterward? In instances (rare as they have been *wink, wink*) where damp towels have set too long in the washer, I have added vinegar to the water on a new wash cycle and I am convinced they came out smelling like vinegar despite the fact that I used a scented detergent. Anyway, I am all for doing things frugally, but I want my clothes to smell nice.
I don’t use Fabric softener because my husband has allergies, we found a simple solution to having soft clothes still. Try dryer balls. They work great if you don’t want scented laundry. Bed bath and beyond sells them. They last a long time, Ive had ours for at least 4 years now.
http://www.dryerballs.eu/