I posted Homemade Laundry soap last week and already you lovely readers have shown it a lot of love. I write because ya’ll read. Writing wouldn’t be as much fun if no one read it, so thank you so much!
Now lets continue on saving money shall we?
There are several make your own homemade fabric softener recipes that I have come across on the big ol’internet but nothing has made my little laundry girl heart quite as happy as using this. As I talked about before I’m all about simple and easy, and it doesn’t get any easier than this.
Are ya ready?
……
I use vinegar!
Ta da!
You don’t look as excited as I had hoped.
But you should be excited. I can pick up a 4L bottle of white vinegar from my grocery store for about $2. And it does a lot of loads!
But April, I don’t want my clothes to smell like a pickle!
Have no fear dear reader, they won’t.
Vinegar removes excess soap scum, leaves a clean scent, and makes your clothes soft all without added chemicals, fragrances, or who knows what else they put in there. Also remember that whatever residue might be left on your clothes your skin will absorb throughout the day.
So here’s the nitty gritty:
Put 1/3 cup plain white vinegar in the rinse cycle.
Done.
If your clothes are coming out with a vinegar scent reduce the amount to a 1/4 cup.
Vinegar is safe for H.E. machines, and has a lower ph level than bleach so no worries about it wrecking havoc on your machine. It will actually help clean your machine. If you have a fabric softener dispenser on your machine it is safe to put it right in there.
I’ve never had a problem with the vinegar taking over the fresh scent of my laundry soap, so my clothes always smell fresh.
And that’s all there is to it!
The Cost Breakdown:
4 litres = 135.256 fluid oz.
Use 1/3 cup per load or 2.6 oz
So 135.256 divided by 2.6 = 52 loads
Therefore for $1.97 (at No Frills) I can do 52 loads of laundry!
So go ahead and try it! Your laundry budget will thank you.
(P.S. you can check out my laundry soap recipe here)
If you put it in a Downy fabric softener ball you do not have to run to the washer for the rinse cycle. I fill mine to the line on the ball, but measure the amount you like into the ball the first time to make sure. The ball lasts a long time, though eventually it will break. I have used my current one for 2 years so far. I got it free from Craigslist, but they are less than $3 new at WalMart and other stores. My machine is a top loader. I don’t know if the ball works in front loaders.
Great tip Susan! Thanks so much for stopping by!
Great tip! I haven’t tried vinegar as a fabric softner yet, but I’d definitely like to. It’s funny, I get the same pickle question when people find out I wash my hair with apple cider vinegar…but the same properties that get soap scum out of dirty clothes get product scum out of your hair with not a pickle to be smelt!
Yes I hear ya on the hair rinse thing too! People always ask about the pickle smell. Thanks for dropping by! 🙂