Many people like the scent and softness of laundry treated with dryer wipes and fabric softener, but many others are sensitive to these fragrances or allergic to the chemicals found within them. Fortunately, there are other ways to soften laundry without using industrial products. For example, you can make a softener at home. You can also combine various techniques during the wash and dry cycle to make your laundry as soft as possible and free from static electricity.
Ingrediants
Homemade fabric softener
- 500 g of Epsom salts or 600 g of coarse sea salt
- 20-30 drops of essential oils
- 110 g of baking soda
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Soften Clothes While Washing
Step 1. Soak the laundry in salt water
This method is particularly suitable for natural fibers such as cotton, but consider that the clothes should be left to soak for several days. Here's how to soften your laundry by soaking it in salt water:
- Fill a large bucket or sink with warm water. Pour in 150 g of salt and 1 liter of water. Mix the ingredients.
- Place the clothes, sheets or towels you want to soften into the bowl and press them into the salt water to soak them well.
- Set the bowl aside and let the laundry soak for 2 to 3 days.
- You can skip this step if you don't have time for pre-soaking. If so, skip ahead to washing and drying the laundry using the other natural methods outlined in this article.
Step 2. Pour the detergent into the detergent compartment of the washing machine and sprinkle some baking soda in the drum
When it comes time to do the laundry, pour the detergent you normally use into the washing machine compartment following the instructions on the package. Sprinkle 55 to 220 g of baking soda into the basket.
- Use 55g of baking soda for small loads, 110g for medium loads, and 220g for large ones.
- The baking soda corrects the hardness of the water, so it also helps to make the laundry softer. Moreover, having deodorizing properties, it eliminates bad smells from clothes.
Step 3. Put the clothes in the washing machine
Remove the items from the salted water and squeeze them gently to remove excess liquid. Now load the washing machine.
- If you skipped the pre-soak step, put the dry clothes directly in the washing machine.
- Read the labels on the garments to make sure they can be washed in the washing machine and consider if any of them need special treatment.
Step 4. Use an alternative product to fabric softener during the rinse cycle
Normal fabric softeners are added to the wash during the rinse cycle. A natural alternative can be used to achieve the same results as an industrial product. Pour the alternative product into the same softener compartment or fill a softener ball and place it in the drum (if your washing machine allows you to open it during the wash). Here are some good alternatives:
- 60-120 ml of white vinegar (which also helps to reduce the stiffness of the garments if you have to hang them on a clothesline);
- 100-200 g of borax.
Step 5. Wash your clothes
Program the washing machine following the instructions in the manual and considering the labels with the washing instructions. Set the temperature, the washing program, the degree of soiling and the size of the load based on the quantity of items you need to wash and their characteristics.
- For example, if you have to load delicates, select the "Delicates" or "Hand wash" program.
- Make sure you press the softener button if your washing machine has this function. Otherwise, the alternative product you will use will not be incorporated during the wash.
Part 2 of 3: Eliminate Static Electricity in the Tumble Dryer
Step 1. Move the clean clothes to the dryer
Once the washing machine has completed the entire washing, rinsing and spinning process, remove the items from the drum as soon as the door is unlocked and move them to the dryer.
Before transferring the clothes you can do a second spin to reduce drying times
Step 2. Place antistatic balls in the dryer
Although their function is not to soften clothes, they will help prevent them from sticking to the body and shocking them, making them more comfortable to wear. You can add 2 or 3 antistatic wool balls to the load. Alternatively, ball up some sheets of aluminum foil to make balls.
- To make an aluminum ball for the dryer, cut a sheet of aluminum foil about 3 feet (90 cm) from a roll.
- Crumple the foil to form a small sphere with a diameter of between 5 and 8 cm.
- Compress it as much as possible to make it smooth and compact.
- Place 2 or 3 foil balls in the dryer drum along with a load of clothes.
- Foil balls can still have jagged edges, so it's best to avoid using them with delicate fabrics.
Step 3. Turn on the dryer
Select the drying settings according to the load and the instructions in the manual. Beware of temperatures: some fabrics (such as cotton) can shrink in the dryer if the temperature is too high.
- If you intend to use the timer function of the dryer and spin the laundry twice, it will shorten the duration of the drying cycle accordingly.
- You can also activate the laundry moisture sensor, which will automatically stop the process once the clothes have dried.
Part 3 of 3: Making a softener at home
Step 1. Make scented vinegar
Instead of adding simple vinegar to the rinse cycle to soften your clothes, you can make scented vinegar, which will make your laundry even fresher.
- To make this all-natural fabric softener, add about 40 drops of essential oils to 4L of white vinegar.
- Store the mixture in a container and mark it with a marker to avoid accidentally using it in the kitchen.
- Some of the most commonly used essential oils for laundry are lemon, orange, lavender and mint.
- You can also mix various essential oils to personalize the scent of the laundry. For example, you can mix mint essential oil with citrus or lavender oil with another floral oil.
Step 2. Make a DIY fabric softener
Instead of using baking soda and a softening substance separately, you can also make a homemade preparation to use in place of these ingredients.
- To make your own softener at home, mix Epsom salts or sea salt and essential oils until you get a smooth blend. Then, mix in the baking soda.
- Store the mixture in an airtight jar.
- When using, allow for 2 or 3 tablespoons of homemade fabric softener for each load. Pour it into the softener compartment or into a ball to put in the drum.
Step 3. Prepare some scented dryer wipes
To make your laundry even fresher, you can also prepare scented wipes to put in the dryer. While they won't soften laundry as effectively as industrial ones, they will make it fresh and fragrant. Here's how to make them:
- Cut out 4 or 5 10 cm squares from an old cotton or flannel shirt, towel or blanket;
- Put the wipes in a bowl or in a jar;
- Add 20-30 drops of your favorite essential oils;
- Let the wipes rest for about 2 days, until the fabric has absorbed the oil and dried;
- Add a washcloth to each drying cycle;
- Wash the wipes and repeat the process when the fragrance begins to fade.
Advice
- Products like salt, vinegar and borax do not cause the color of fabrics to fade, so you can use them for washing whites, darks and colors.
- To make clothes hanging on the clothesline soften and less stiff, tumble dry for 10 minutes before drying and afterwards. Shake them both before putting them on and before taking them off the clothesline.
