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foo-jitsoo t1_iu80jht wrote

Reply to comment by incasesheisonheretoo in What bed sheets are comfortable and last? by GardeningCrashCourse

People say this, yet I continue to hate the stench of fabric softener and consider it bad for my laundry, bad for my skin/health, and pure environmental pollution.

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lickmyfupa t1_iu99ae9 wrote

Im glad im not the only one who detests fabric softner. Everytime i get a whiff of it i feel like im being poisoned.

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nepnepnepneppitynep t1_iu9dyr7 wrote

I don't use fabric softner but I am from the east coast so to me put your laundry out to dry is like asking for it to rain.

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unicroop t1_iu9mzqv wrote

Agreed. Fabric softener is completely unnecessary

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Alec_Strebec t1_iu9t725 wrote

Wool dryer balls do the trick for me.

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OutlanderMom t1_iua6yo3 wrote

When I was drying blankets, I put a few drops of lavender essential oil on the dryer balls. They tumble and spread the scent.

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Alec_Strebec t1_iue2zoh wrote

Ah nice, I understand you can "recharge them" by putting a bit of lanolin on them, though that sounds messy and I've never tried.

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akita_4u t1_iua45z9 wrote

Try vinegar in your washer. Also, try a vinegar based fabric softener. It's all I use now.

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Sipikay t1_iucsrv2 wrote

I never understood what the point of them was. My clothing is already soft. It's clothing. It's made to feel good on your body. Else I wouldn't buy it. Fabric softener seemed like just adding stinky perfume chemicals for no reason at all.

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alv51 t1_iuajk7f wrote

Totally agree. Those synthetic, toxic scents are awful, an assault on the nostrils, and utterly unnecessary pollution.

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Muncie4 t1_iubk162 wrote

Can we stop using toxic when we don't understand toxicology please? I've yet to pick up a paper and read, "Man dies from Bounce use". Don't like fabric softeners due to *.reason? Great! Don't use them. But don't sound the Horn of Helm's Deep like the stuff is toxic when it ain't.

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alv51 t1_iucjfy5 wrote

I agree actually, it’s definitely overused - however there are studies linking synthetic detergents and softeners (maybe not specifically the scents in them but nevertheless) to carcinogenic ingredients. I’ll try and link one here later if I can find it.

But even more than that it is well known that they are extremely damaging to the environment for several reasons, when compared to plain soap or milder, biodegradable cleaners, (killing microorganisms and destroying biodiversity; surfactants causing foaming in rivers and leading to long term damage; changing the ph in soil and water; inorganic phosphates causing eutrophication which depletes oxygen in water; they don’t properly biodegrade, causing maximum long term pollution of soil, rivers and water sources;), so in that case they are far worse than what we might commonly use the word toxic for.

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AmbientGravitas t1_iuaz5ql wrote

There are unscented fabric softeners, including sheets, which I really only use to get rid of static.

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