Environmentally Friendly Alternative Clothes Softeners

The clothes softener products in stores contain some suspicious chemicals. Have you ever read the back of the box or bottle? Words like dimethyl sulphate, pentane, limonene and benzyl acetate are listed. These chemicals have been linked to cancer, kidney disease and liver damage. Both the liquid fabric softeners and the dryer sheets have these chemicals in them. Some fabric softeners are scented and these scents can trigger chemical allergies and asthma.

softener ball

So, what can you do to get rid of the static cling? You don't have to have static cling in your clothes and you don't have to use liquid fabric softeners or dryer sheets to accomplish that. Here are some substitutes for the regular fabric softeners.

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Many stores now carry green fabric softeners. What is a green fabric softener? These fabric conditioners are all natural and they are dye and fragrance free. They also do not contain the same toxic chemicals that regular fabric softeners do. When you go shopping, pick up the unscented, biodegradable dryer sheets or unscented liquid fabric softener that contains natural and biodegradable ingredients. In place of fabric conditioners, you can use tennis balls or purchase some dryer balls to put in the dryer with your clothes. I use these myself and they do work. You might have a little bit of static cling but not much. Using these dryer balls will soften your clothes. You can add ¼ to ½ cup of baking soda with your detergent to the wash cycle and that will soften your clothes and reduce static. Another great idea is to add white vinegar and baking soda in equal parts to the beginning of the rinse cycle. These two products, used together, combine to form an unscented liquid that will soften fabrics. When you combine the white vinegar and the baking soda, the mixture does not smell like vinegar. You can eliminate the fabric softeners all together and hang your clothes out on the clothes line to dry. The sun and the fresh air will naturally soften your clothes. To reduce static in your dryer, toss in a crumpled piece of aluminum foil. For whatever reason, maybe the conductivity of aluminum, this does help reduce static. Here is something a little out of the ordinary, but it does work. Use soap nuts. What are soap nuts? They are a natural substitute for liquid fabric softener. The soap nut is a fruit found on the Chinese Soapberry tree. You place the fruit in a drawstring pouch and put them into the wash cycle. They can be dried and used again. The soap nuts contain a natural soap-like substance called saponins and this substance comes out of the nuts during the wash cycle. The saponins in the soap nuts soften and clean your clothes totally naturally.

I hope you found these ideas worth trying. Just remember the next time you are in the grocery store, read the labels of the liquid fabric softeners and the dryer sheets. The chemicals contained in these products are dangerous. Be environmentally friendly caring for your laundry. You will not only save money but you will be a lot healthier too.

Environmentally Friendly Alternative Clothes Softeners

SOFTENER

Washing Machine Balls - Eco Friendly and Gentle on Clothes

Washing machine balls are products that have arrived on the market within the past couple years. They are meant to clean your laundry in the machine without the use of detergents or soaps. Most are promoted as environmentally friendly products as well. They are made of some type of plastic and contain ceramic pieces inside, which are supposed to de-ionize the water, helping it remove stains from clothing.

softener salt

There are many benefits in using such products. While they are environmentally friendly, they are also a great alternative for those with very sensitive skin. There are no more worries about whether irritating detergent will be completely rinsed from clothing. They also leave clothes soft, so there is no need to add fabric softener.

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This saves quite a bit of money over a period of time on laundry soap, softener and on rinse water. You can use a regular or shorter rinse, which saves money on electricity as well. Softer clothes take less time to dry, so you may save money on drying laundry as well. While washing machine balls are great for every day laundry, heavily soiled items may still need a bit of help.

Some of these devices come as kits, with extra ceramic crystals and a stain remover. If you really want an environmentally friendly option in stain fighting, you can soak or spot clean items with white vinegar and baking soda. This combination bubbles out tough stains and can work quite well, as long as you rinse the item well before putting it in the machine.

While washing machine balls can cost as much as , the materials used to make them and to activate them do not cost nearly this much. Most products are available online, which makes comparison of prices and other features much easier for the savvy consumer.

There are many skeptics of these items, but in many tests, they worked equally as well as loads of laundry washed in name brand detergents. In some tests, they worked slightly better. For those who are interested in saving money, look for products offered by companies such as RealGoods and TradeNet online. You can find many articles on the internet as well, regarding the effectiveness of these products. For easy comparison, you can check out stores like Amazon, which offer more than one brand of the product.

If you want a detergent alternative, a greener way to do laundry, a cost cutting product or are simply curious, you will definitely want to try one of these products to see if they do indeed get your laundry clean without detergent.

Washing Machine Balls - Eco Friendly and Gentle on Clothes

SOFTENER