Alternative fabric softener and laundry de-static stuff
Hey! Here’s a little discovery: hair conditioner works in the laundry just like fabric softener!
I’ve always disliked fabric softener, because it gums up the washer (or dryer, if it comes in the form of dryer sheets) and because IMHO it smells ungodly awful. I really, really, really dislike industrial-strength perfumes. Weirdly, I want my wash to smell clean, not like some chemist’s idea of what some vague consumer imagines stinks pretty. So, as you might surmise, I don’t keep any of the gunk on hand.
Cassie the Corgi, a furry little character, sleeps on the bed on top of two throws, laid over the blankets to collect her hair. And collect hair they do!
Washing the doggy bedding often doesn’t get all the hair out. Then the throws get staticky in the washer, and the darned dog hair glues itself to the fabric. Sunday afternoon the throws were especially furry; two turns through the washer and dryer did nothing to remove the dog hair. Called La Maya to see if I could mooch a dryer sheet; no answer. The second-to-last thing I wanted to do was buy a package of fabric softener gunk that I’ll never use; last thing was to sleep with bedding that stinks of industrial chemicals. {gag!}
After much cerebration, the light finally dawned:
Hair conditioner works very much like fabric softener. One of the things it’s supposed to do is defuse static in your long, flowing locks. And because I buy the mildest-smelling hair products I can find, the stuff in my shower doesn’t stink!
So I poured about an eighth of a cup of Kirkland’s best into the washer with the doggy throws. And darned if it didn’t work! Between the washer and the dryer, almost all the magnetic dog hair rinsed or shook out.
Turns out I’m not the first to think of this. E-how recommends diluting hair conditioner 1:10 and using it just like fabric softener. Experience shows this is a good plan: dumping it in undiluted left some blobs on the throws, so I had to run them through the rinse cycle a second time.
Another site, Creative Homemaking, suggests working a tablespoon of hair conditioner into a damp washrag and tossing it into the dryer, just like a fabric softener sheet.
A third idea, which is all over the Web, proposes that the happy homemaker toss a wadded-up ball of aluminum foil into the dryer with the clothing. I could find only one person reporting that this didn’t work. I haven’t tried it, but I may in the future. Doesn’t look like it would do any harm, anyway. One possible problem with hair conditioner is that if fabric softener gums up your washer or your dryer, hair conditioner may do the same. Tinfoil presumably wouldn’t do that.
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11 Responses to “Alternative fabric softener and laundry de-static stuff”
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Wow… really? Conditioner?
That’s cool. Found your site via Wisebread’s top 100 pf blogs.
Great stuff!
Good to know about the hair conditioner. I make my own laundry detergent and it smells clean, just clean! 2 bars Fels Naptha soap grated in the food processer. 2 cups Arm and Hammer washing soda and 2 cups 20 Mule Team Borax. Use only 2 tablespoons per load. I make this amount every 4 months and it lasts for my husband and I. I spend appx $10 a year on laundry detergent!
Wow! Great tip! I’ve been experimenting with home made laundry powder (like the commenter above) but the problem of electrified german shepard dog hair remains. Problem solved and many thanks to you.
I think I will dilute and place in a dedicated bottle that is a recycled fabric softener bottle so that other household members will use it – they are leery of my homebrew stuff but putting it in the regular bottle would work like a charm.
Try a Fur-Zoff to remove hair from fabric. It is a great eco-friendly product and won’t cost you much money, $10 and lasts forever! Works great – http://www.furzoff.net
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Some very interesting ideas as alternatives to store bought fabric softeners. I want to try the foil ball. I wonder if you can use it over and over again? I’m going to try this idea tonight.
They say you can use the foil ball time after time. It will be interesting to see if it works!
[...] that you can make from scratch though. Other cool posts in this carnival were about kitty litter, fabric softener, paper flowers, cork mud mats, recycledEaster basketsand even how to make a chicken waterer. [...]
I use vinegar in my ‘Downy ball’ automatic dispenser. It works great–no static and NO SMELL at all. It rinses out and if there is a faint odor the dryer takes care of it!
I have heard that tennis balls work well in the dryer to keep static down and fluff up clothes. Haven’t tried it myself though…
@ Kate: Yes. So does a very clean white tennis shoe.