How To Series: Make Fabric Softener

Jul 2

Scary facts about traditional fabric softeners:

❌ They are made with hormone disrupting fragrance and chemicals that bind to clothing and then touch our skin all day. This can disrupt hormones over time.

❌ They actually aren’t needed to get fabric softer. They coat fabric and make it appear softer by coating it with chemicals.

❌ They are a huge trigger for allergies, headaches, and asthma.

❌ They are known to wear down the effectiveness of water wicking materials. So they can actually make your workout gear loose it’s ability to wick away sweat. If you find your clothes are holding the odors, fabric softeners could be to blame.

So what can you do?

We make our own in our house out if a few common household items. These actually lightly scent the fabric with essential oils and the vinegar can draw out old fabric softener and detergent. The rubbing alcohol helps with odors too and they combo is great for keeping pet hair off clothing!

Supplies:

White Vinegar

Rubbing Alcohol
Essential oils of your choice (lavender, lemongrass, or lemon are my favs)
16 oz glass bottle or jar

Directions:

1) In a 16 oz bottle, fill 13 oz with white distilled vinegar. This is roughly where the bottle starts to curve. You just need room to shake it up!

2. Add 2 oz of rubbing alcohol.

3. Add 20 drops of essential oil. My go to is lemongrass, but use whatever clear oil you like!

3. Put on the lid and shake it up to combine.

4. Add 1/4 cup to each load of laundry wherever you normally add a fabric softener.

Links:

Essential oils for laundry || 16 oz Bottles