3 natural remedies that can easily replace expensive fabric softener

DIY fabric softener: 5 natural recipes

Even an inexperienced housewife will be able to prepare fabric softener on her own. All components for him can be found at home or you can easily buy it at your nearest store. Homemade conditioner has a long shelf life. It can be made immediately before use or, conversely, in advance, and stored in an airtight container to save time in the future.

With vinegar and essential oil

Peculiarities. Food grade vinegar is known as an inexpensive and harmless conditioner.It retains the brightness of the colors of clothes, the softness of the fibers, and is suitable for woolen items. Effective softener has antibacterial properties, completely removes the remnants of the cleaning powder. In addition, towels washed with it begin to absorb moisture better.

What does it consist of:

• vinegar - 250 ml;
• fragrant essential oil - a couple of drops.

Procedure

1. Before rinsing clothes, pour a cup of vinegar into a special compartment of the washing machine. If the laundry is colored or the load is incomplete, then half a cup is enough for rinsing.
2. For an exciting aroma, add a couple of drops of ether, but you can do without it.
3. After washing, hang the laundry on the balcony so that the smell of acid disappears faster.

For the conditioner, you can choose any essential oils - be guided by your own tastes. Mint, lavender, orange, bergamot - now you are experimenting and creating a fragrance for linen! Do not mix vinegar with whiteness - poisonous fumes can harm the mucous membrane.

From rock salt

Peculiarities. An easy-to-make, non-toxic, vinegar-free fabric softener. Salt conditioner not only preserves the brightness of colors on clothes, but also fixes them.

What does it consist of:

• salt - four glasses;
• essential oil - 20 drops.

Procedure

1. Pour four cups of salt into a separate container.
2. Add your favorite ether, stir the mixture with a wooden spoon, break up any lumps.
3. Pour three tablespoons of salt softener into the compartment of the machine.
4. Store in a cool place in an airtight, opaque container.

From soda and water

Peculiarities. So natural DIY fabric softener softens and refreshes linen. Baking soda is known for its cleansing properties and is considered a good help for washing powder.Vinegar eliminates static on woolen items. The product will look like after processing with expensive luxury chemicals.

What does it consist of:

• water - two glasses;
• table vinegar 9% - one glass;
• soda - one glass;
• essential oil - eight drops.

Procedure

1. Dissolve 150 g of vinegar in warm water.
2. Pour a little bit of sodium bicarbonate into the mixture, it will react with the vinegar, the rinse aid will sizzle. Wait until the hissing stops, mix well.
3. Pour the product into an airtight container. For a smell, add mint essential oil to the mixture, it will give things a fresh scent. Shake it.
4. For a one-time rinse, 200-250 ml of a homemade product is enough.

As an emollient, sodium bicarbonate can be used in its natural form, slightly diluted with water to dissolve the granules. Pour half a glass of soda into the compartment of the washing machine before rinsing.

With hair balm

Peculiarities. An affordable and most popular recipe among housewives, reviews about it are only positive. But keep in mind that the conditioner with the addition of a smoothing hair product still cannot be called natural. Therefore, it is better not to use it for washing baby clothes.

What does it consist of:

• cold water - six glasses;
• vinegar 9% - three glasses;
• hair balm - two glasses;
• essential oil - two or three drops.

Procedure

1. Mix the ingredients, add the essential oil. For example, roses or peach, they will give clothes a fruity-floral scent.
2. Add half a glass of product with each wash to the special compartment of the automatic machine.

Hair balm can be added to any of the recipes if the home conditioner has lost its original consistency and needs to be restored to its density.

Based on borax

Peculiarities. Conditioner rinse aid for laundry at home with borax restores the quality of products, they will be soft, silky. Rinsing with borax is suitable for country and old things, as it destroys dust mites, mold and fungus bacteria, and has deodorizing properties.

What does it consist of:

• borax - 150 g;
• water - one glass.

Procedure

1. Stir 150 g of borax in cold water until completely dissolved.
2. Scroll things with the addition of the solution on the rinse mode.

An important feature of borax is its ability to soften hard water. Add half a glass of product to the tank of the machine before washing

Difficult-to-remove dirt is washed off much easier. Excess borax during washing can cause skin rashes, be careful.

Tennis ball conditioning

Tennis balls are associated with a significant part of the population with a sports game. Few people know that tennis balls can be used instead of air conditioner to refresh clothes.

Their surface structure allows them to be used as an alternative to other rinses. The uniqueness of the method lies in the fact that electrification is removed from the surface of linen and clothing, the hardness of the fabric fibers decreases and the fabric becomes much softer. This affects its subsequent drying and ironing. The material for the manufacture of the surface of the balls is rubber rubber. It is an environmentally friendly product and does not harm clothing and underwear.

To avoid color loss, it is recommended to add 100 grams of white vinegar to the washing machine drum during the last rinse.

The principle of conditioning is quite simple.3-5 tennis balls should be placed in the drum with washed linen or clothes. The number of balls depends on the volume of the drum of the washing machine and the number of things inside it. After the balls are loaded, you must turn on the washing machine. Constantly rolling, the balls hit the fabric fibers of things, making clothes soft. The gentle surface of balls keeps clothes from damages. Sometimes rubber balls with bulges are used for conditioning. The result of such an application may be partial damage to clothing or tearing of fabrics.

Tennis balls can be used to condition delicate clothes without damaging them.

Given the above, it can be understood that tennis balls are an effective tool that will make linen soft and tender. Their low cost is an important argument for replacing industrial conditioners with them.

Knowing how to make homemade rinse aid, you can start making it. Own production will give the desired effect, and experience and time will tell you which of the air conditioners is more suitable for the family.

Recipes for homemade fabric softeners

To in air conditioner at home for linen, it will take a little time and ingredients that are easy to find in any household.

With acetic acid

This option is suitable for things made of natural wool. Vinegar will give the air conditioner antibacterial properties and will well wash the remaining laundry detergent from the fabric. Towels after using vinegar absorb water better

Attention: it is forbidden to combine vinegar and whiteness, so that poisonous fumes do not burn the mucous membrane when washing with hands

Terms of use:

1. Wash clothes in a convenient way.
2. Before rinsing, add 220–250 ml of vinegar (9%) to the special compartment of the washing machine or to a basin of water. If there is not enough laundry or it is multi-colored, then half the dose is enough.
3. Hang the rinsed things in the fresh air so that the smell of vinegar disappears faster.

It is not worth pouring a lot of vinegar so that the acid does not spoil things. Enough of the specified amount.

If desired, apple cider vinegar can be used instead of regular grape vinegar, which will give things a fruity aroma.

With hair conditioner

Hair softener is not a safe ingredient because it contains chemicals that can cause allergies. To rinse baby clothes, you need to select another version of the home air conditioner.

The recipe using hair balm is popular with housewives:

1. Mix Ingredients:
   • water at room temperature - 1.5 l;
   • hair conditioner - 0.5 l (1 bottle);
   • vinegar (9%) - 0.75 l.
2. Add half a cup of homemade fabric softener with each wash.

Hair conditioner will add fragrance to washed clothes

With baking soda

The cleansing properties of sodium bicarbonate (soda) interact well with laundry detergent - the laundry becomes soft. To do this, add half a glass of soda to the conditioner compartment and turn on the rinse mode. You can additionally add essential oil.

Soda, like all alkalis, softens water, so things are washed better.

Video: vinegar and soda conditioner for rinsing clothes

With borax

White, water-soluble borax crystals are also known as borax. The substance softens hard water, so stains are removed more easily. Clothes for summer cottages and other old things will become softer after rinsing with brown, and they will also get rid of dust mites, fungus and mold.Borax also eliminates unpleasant odors.

How to use:

1. Pour 150 g of borax into a glass of water and stir. It is impossible to exceed the recommended amount - the excess can be poorly rinsed out and cause skin rashes when wearing things.
2. Rinse the laundry with borax solution. The entire amount must be used at one time.

Sodium tetraborate - borax - has antiseptic properties

With essential oils

Aromatic pomace from plants gives the smell of washed things. Essential oils can be added to any of the above recipes, or you can try the following.

Recipe #1:

1. Take a container with a screw cap for convenience.
2. Pour 1 liter of table vinegar into it.
3. Add 4-5 drops of your favorite essential oil and stir.
4. Seal the container well.

If the washing machine drum fully loaded, add 250 ml (1 cup) of conditioner when rinsing. Reduce dosage by half if underloaded. You can store a homemade remedy for no longer than a week and hermetically sealed.

When choosing an essential oil, consult with your household about the smell that will suit everyone.

Recipe #2:

1. Prepare a container and pour 4 full glasses of table salt into it.
2. Knead the lumps, you can use your hands, and if hard, then with a spoon.
3. Thoroughly mix salt with essential oil (20 drops).
4. Keep the air conditioner sealed. Definitely in a cool dry place.
5. For rinsing, pour 3-4 tablespoons of flavored salt into the washing machine drawer.

Quantity drops of essential oil individual preferences can be changed by 3-5 up or down.

Salt works better on fresh stains than on old stains.

Video: fabric softener with essential oil and salt

Since we had to move to another country, we live in the same apartment with my sister's family, and Anya is allergic. The question arose of how to wash things for six people without the risk of negative reactions. The choice fell on baby powder, tested many times by Anka. Purchased air conditioners were immediately abandoned, and vinegar did not fit due to the lack of a balcony for ventilation. We soften the water with baking soda, and for additional whiteness, add half a bag of citric acid when rinsing.

Kinds

Next, we will try to understand the types of air conditioners and the purposes of each of them.

Concentrate. Concentrated rinse is very convenient to use. Despite the high cost compared to conventional conditioners, the concentrate helps to save money. This rinse contains a large amount of active substances, so one wash requires no more than half of the usual dose of conditioner.
Children's

The choice of air conditioner for cleaning baby clothes should be done with great care. clothing after rinsing should be only soft, but also hypoallergenic, does not irritate the skin

It is recommended to wash children's clothes up to three years old only with rinse aid.
Balm. Baby rinse. This remedy is suitable for sensitive skin of babies, prevents allergies. It is recommended to add when washing towels, terry dressing gowns, bed linen, children's clothes, woolen and synthetic products.
With the prefix "Eco". People who are concerned about the health of loved ones and the state of the environment can choose an eco-conditioner for washing children's and adult clothes - a natural odorless product or with a light aroma of natural essential oils.The conditioner is suitable for washing clothes made of different fabrics.
Aromatic. Special granules in vials. A granular product is difficult to attribute to traditional rinses, not only because of the shape. The product does not soften the fabric, does not protect against dirt, but gives things freshness and a pleasant delicate aroma that lasts on clothes for a long time. Not sold in all cities, and is not popular means for washing things.

1 What is good home air conditioning

Who would have thought, but no less high-quality tool can be prepared independently with minimal time and money. This idea inspires many current housewives who love the cleanliness and aroma of linen, but cannot afford to buy such a product due to certain circumstances.

From existing components, you can prepare a high-quality and fragrant solution

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There is another plus to making air conditioner at home. Not always the purchase is liked by all family members. Quite often, conflicts arise on this basis, and relatives simply refused to machine wash. In this case, everything is much simpler, since before cooking you can consult with everyone and make the right one choice. From the currently existing components, it is possible to prepare an equally high-quality and fragrant solution.

In most cases, homemade conditioner contains vinegar, which gives the product a slightly sour flavor. If this is not to your liking, you can make an equally effective remedy without using it.Modern technologies have reached the point that at home we can cook no less high-quality product that even professionals cannot distinguish from a store counterpart. With all this, studies have shown that the aroma of a home remedy lasts at least 2 times longer on linen, which cannot but please the household.

Still, some people do not like cloying smells and prefer that things do not smell at all, but at the same time they will not refuse another effect of the conditioner - softness. In this case, only a mechanical method can help. In this case, several (2-4) tennis balls should be placed in the drum of the washing machine along with the laundry. They soften clothes and underwear.

Thus, there are several main advantages of using a home remedy:

• financial savings;
• complete safety for both adults and children;
• the possibility of inventing the flavor that you like;
• long-term action of the remedy;
• does not cause allergic reactions.

Softener composition

The main components of the conditioner are cationic surfactantscovering the thing with a protective film and giving an antistatic effect.

Silicone in the composition of the product makes the texture of the fabric elastic and soft, increases the stability of the paint. Depending on the formula used and the combination of components in the product, silicone imparts various properties to the fibers of the material: the ability to repel moisture (hydrophobicity) or absorb it.

The conditioner contains thickeners and fragrances.

Among the potentially dangerous components that you should pay attention to when buying a product, you can name:

The best laundry detergents

Despite the abundance of modern detergents, powders are still very popular among practical housewives. On sale there are budget formulas based on surfactants, chlorides, enzymes and phosphates, as well as more expensive eco-products for children and allergy sufferers containing vegetable foaming agents, natural enzymes and zeolites. There are regular and highly concentrated formulas, for hand and machine washing, for dark, light, colored and delicate fabrics.

Kerasys Spurk Drum

5

★★★★★
editorial score

100%
buyers recommend this product

Powder from the Korean brand Kerasys is indispensable for a large home wash. Its highlight is foam control, so it is suitable for machine and hand washing. The tool effectively copes even with old stains of blood, grass, cosmetics and other stubborn dirt. All thanks to the presence in the formula of several types of enzymes, zeolites and oxygen bleach.

Antibacterial ingredients and pine needle extract keep fabric fresh even with long dry in an unventilated area. A safe product with a delicate natural aroma is sold in cardboard packages weighing 2.3 kg or in plastic bags with a volume of 2.5 kg.

Spurk Drum has minimal consumption. So, for machine washing 7 kg of laundry, only 50 grams of the product will be sufficient, so one package is enough for 40-45 applications.

Advantages:

• Safe composition;
• Antibacterial properties;
• Easily copes with stubborn stains;
• Economical;
• Suitable for machine and hand wash;
• Used for all types of fabrics.

Flaws:

The price is higher than analogues.

Kerasys Powder is an all-purpose laundry detergent that will remove stains, soften fabrics and leave a pleasant fresh scent.

Persil Premium "The Next Generation of Purity"

4.9

★★★★★
editorial score

95%
buyers recommend this product

Persil Premium is among the favorites of many practical housewives who choose effective and affordable laundry detergents. The uniform white product has a neutral fragrance, so the smell of clean clothes will not mix with the notes of your perfume.

The concentrate is suitable for machine and hand washing of white linen, while it does not harm even very delicate and thin fabrics. The composition of the product includes foaming agents, enzymes and oxygen-containing bleach. Such a mix effectively dissolves any stains, returning even washed-out light-colored fabrics to a boil-white tint.

For one wash with a machine load of 4-5 kg, only 135 g of powder will be enough. For soaking and subsequent hand washing, dilute the concentrate with water in proportions of 1:10. Persil Premium is sold in plastic bags with a volume of 3.6 and 4.8 kg - this is enough for at least 26 cycles.

Advantages:

• Safe composition;
• Neutral fragrance;
• Removes tough stains
• Whitening action;
• Economic consumption;
• Affordable price.

Flaws:

There are no small packages.

Persil Premium powder is an effective gentle washing agent for white fabrics with an affordable price tag.

Meine Liebe Kids Laundry detergent for baby clothes

4.8

★★★★★
editorial score

92%
buyers recommend this product

The powder is designed to care for baby clothes from the first days of life. The product without flavor has a finely dispersed homogeneous structure and a moderate level of foaming.Detergent for machine and hand washing contains soap, zeolites, anionic foaming agents, enzymes and bleach. The formula of the powder excludes phosphates, chlorine, fragrances and other aggressive chemicals, so its use will definitely not cause negative reactions in children.

Due to its high concentration, only 15 g of this powder will be enough to wash a kilogram of laundry. Also among its advantages are an eco-formula, trouble-free washing of stubborn stains and the presence of a measuring spoon in the kit. Alas, the powder does not have a softening effect due to the zeolites in the composition.

Advantages:

• Safe composition without phosphates and chlorine;
• Minimum consumption;
• Effective in the fight against stubborn stains;
• The presence of a measuring spoon in the kit;
• Whitening effect;
• Has no fragrance.

Flaws:

• There is no softening effect;
• Not suitable for delicate fabrics.

Meine Liebe powder is suitable for washing children's clothes, as well as for the care of linen for adults who are allergic to phosphates, chlorine and artificial fragrances.

DIY fabric softener

Do-it-yourself detergents and cleaning products

As you know, the detergent used for washing clothes is alkaline. That is, it has a high level of pH (about 9-10 values).

Alas, this causes alkalinity to build up on our clothes.

In other words, after every wash, our clothes and underwear contain alkali.

At the same time, the residual alkalinity of the powder detergent is higher than that of the liquid detergent.

So if you use the second, then the use of a neutralizing agent is recommended. And if you wash with powder, then a neutralizer is absolutely necessary. Our skin, which comes into contact with tissues throughout the day, has an acidic pH.That is why it is so necessary to neutralize the "alkaline charge" on linen and clothes.

Fabric softener, being acidic, neutralizes the pH. It brings it closer to the values ​​that correspond to our skin.

In addition, if the water used for washing is hard, then a layer of limestone will also remain on the laundry. It will strengthen the fibers. It will make the fabric stiff and less “pleasant” to the skin.

Therefore, it is advisable to use a product that eliminates limestone and makes clothes softer.

Conventional emollients on the market consist mainly of emollient molecules. They can be of plant or animal origin.

In addition, they contain a number of ingredients of petrochemical origin, which are little or no biodegradable.

Therefore, they form a "film" that is fixed on the tissues. It is she who often causes dermatitis and allergies.

It is worth buying an ecological softener, consisting only of softening molecules (esterquat), perfume and citric acid. Or make it yourself.

It will do its job without harming the environment and without risk to health.

Recipe for eco-friendly fabric softener

ECO products: Fabric softener recipe

We all know that citric acid, as an acidity corrector, is used for various purposes. For example, as a food additive (E330), it is found in many foods. These are: wine, sweets, jams, tomato puree, etc. Also one of the possible uses of citric acid is to use it as a fabric softener.

Here is a proven recipe for making a good DIY eco-friendly softener yourself:

Option
1.

• 200
  grams of citric acid
• 800
  grams of distilled water

How to use it? Simply fill the conditioner tray with the resulting liquid.

ALWAYS shake fluid before use.

The solution is stored for a very long time, since the low pH of the resulting mixture prevents the growth of bacteria.

Option
2.

You can simply put a tablespoon of citric acid powder directly into the softener compartment and then add some water in the same place.

Water is needed so that the acid does not harden before the washing machine takes it.

However, I prefer to use a liquid solution. Because it can be used for other purposes as well. How, I will tell in the next article.

Perfume for linen and clothes

Perfume for linen and clothes

Citric acid is an odorless powder, so our DIY conditioner is odorless. It is clear that "pure smell" does not exist simply because the clean does not smell!!!

Industrial air conditioners add substances that often pollute the environment and are not very healthy. Of course, you can add a few drops of lavender essential oil or your favorite fragrance to the DIY mixture.

However, using essential oil in this way is wasteful and ineffective. This liquid does not contain the fixatives used in artificial perfumes.

Therefore, during washing, the precious oil will almost completely fall into the drain. But natural essential oils are so expensive!

Personally, for flavoring things I prefer:

• put handkerchiefs soaked in a few drops of essential oil in washed and ironed linen;
• or I put bags of aromatic herbs in the closet.

Importantly, citric acid is a product that can be used in many ways. And not just for laundry.

It is effective as a substitute for many other traditional products containing unhealthy substances.

But Irina will talk about this next week. Although she is a chemist by training, she makes the most of her home-made detergents and cleaning products.

An article on the same topic: “Why make detergents and cleaning products with your own hands?”

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