Homemade Fabric Softener + Laundry Tips
On the previous post I outlined classic homemade recipes for washing and softening your laundry. I use those recipes for several reasons, the biggest one is saving money. Other important factors for me are the health issues and discomfort such as skin rashes, sneezing, and headaches arising from using chemicals, synthetic fragrances and (ew!) beef tallow. I’m not going to get into all of that but basically fat is needed to make soaps and detergents and beef tallow requires fragrances to mask that smell. Anyway…see the previous post for the recipes and then refer back to this post to adjust as you desire!
Most clothing fabrics are “color fast” which simply means manufacturers have made the colors permanent with a treatment. I have not had any problems, however there is a way to set your non-colorfast fabrics with water, salt and white vinegar. This is beyond the scope of this post but it is worth noting.
If you are making the liquid laundry soap from the previous post it can be thick. There are ways to solve this: use more water in your recipe, emulsify your warm mixture with a hand blender, or add 2 Tablespoons of dish detergent (the kind you hand wash dishes with not the dishwasher machine kind).
If you have “hard” water you may notice over time that colors and whites become gray or dingy. Adding 2T of dish detergent as mentioned should take care of this issue. If you are using the powder recipe some people say that adding 2T of Baby Oxyclean (powdered alcohol, powdered hydrogen peroxide and washing soda) to the recipe does the trick. The classic recipes are soap based and you may need a little detergent to rinse away the mineral deposits. Do not use too much detergent or you’ll have very sudsy clothes!
Synthetic fabrics such as microfibers, silk, wool, polyester, etc. require special care. Read the manufacturer label for instructions on specialty fabrics.
For most stains on shirt collars or underarms just a little bit of your favorite dish detergent will remove them. Stubborn stains such as lipstick or permanent marker may require rubbing alcohol and blotting.
For yellowing or graying sheets, towels or whites I use a bleach alternative recipe; 1 gallon of distilled water plus 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide and a few drops of Lemon essential oil. Then add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of that mixture to a load of whites. This is especially helpful for people like me who have adverse reactions to the mere smell of traditional bleach.
Use low to medium heat in your dryer to prevent clothes from shrinking and fading. The wool dryer balls are wonderful for saving money on your dryer bill and clothing budget. Don’t forget line drying is also an option.
I use essential oils instead of “fabric softeners” in the dispenser of my washing machine and then the wool dryer balls in the dryer. This is by far my favorite tip. The beauty of doing this (other than saving money) is you can change the essential oil scent by the seasons or personal preference! Most essential oils are antimicrobial, antibacterial and/or antifungal which keeps your washer and dryer from accumulating foul odors.
For example in the Spring you could try Tranquility, in the Summer you could even use Bug Away for a fresh scent and keep pests off of you, in the Fall warmer spice blends such as Warm and Cozy are great, and during the Winter holidays a pine based blend like Joyful Moments would be so festive! The Loads of Fun blend is a good place to start. Just have fun with it! As always feel free to ask me any questions.