Vinegar Fabric Softener - I need specifics here!

[BabyMommee]

Ok, so I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna start making my own laundry detergent and doing a vinegar rinse. Here are the questions I haven't been able to find answers to:

#1 HOW MUCH vinegar do I use?

#2 So this sounds lame, but I hate the smell of vinegar. I know my clothes won't come out smelling like vinegar, but I've heard you can add EO's to scent the vinegar. (Just so it won't smell so bad when I pour it in! And maybe I'll get a little aromatherapy when I fold the laundry!) How much should I add? If I could scent it enough to mask the vinegar smell I'd even switch to that for cleaning!

#3 This is more of a detergent question, but all the recipes I've found call for either Fels Naptha, Ivory, or Zote. None of these are all that natural from what I can tell. Is there any other soaps I can use??? Anybody have a favorite?

#4 Ok, there's no #4, but if anybody has any other advice I would appreciate it! Thanks!

[sunnysandiegan]

#1 - Do you have a fabric softener dispenser built-in to your washer? I fill that and don't measure.

#2 - Vinegar only smells when it is liquid/wet. When it is dry, it has no odor. In the laundry, it is too diluted to smell. EOs are also very diluted in laundry and do not smell much unless you use a lot. EOs in laundry are not cost-effective for me. The smell doesn't linger in the clean clothes at all if you use it the way you are talking about. The only way I've gotten it to linger is to place a few drops on a dry cloth and toss it into the dryer with the clean, wet clothes. Be careful which EOs you use because they can stain your clothes. FWIW, I wasn't fond of the vinegar smell way back when I started using it, either. It stunk to me! Over time, though, it has grown on me and I like it now. Same with DH. DD has grown up with it and thinks other cleaners stink.

#3 - I haven't made my own laundry detergent, so I cannot answer your question on this.

#4 - I included my advice in #2.

[Ola_]

My machine doesn't have a fabric softener dispenser so I just pour some vinegar into one of those Downy ball things (up to the little line or a little over it depending on the size of the load). Nothing smells like vinegar when it's done.

Can't help with the other stuff, sorry!

[MamaJamie]

I put vinegar in the fabric softener compartment on my front loader--I just fill to the line.

I put up to 10 drops of EO (lately either TTO or lime) in a gallon of vinegar and call it scented fabric softener

I use an unscented baby soap bar that I got from Whole Foods in my detergent (with equal parts Calgon water softener, Borax, and Washing Soda) and while I can't tout the "naturalness" of it, I can say my clothes get super clean for super cheap! I put a few drops of EO in this too just to make myself happier while doing laundry. My clothes don't smell like anything but clothes when they come out of the dryer

[Tangled Hill]

Originally Posted by Ola_

My machine doesn't have a fabric softener dispenser so I just pour some vinegar into one of those Downy ball things (up to the little line or a little over it depending on the size of the load). Nothing smells like vinegar when it's done.

Can't help with the other stuff, sorry!

Everything Ola just said.

[zech13_9_goforgold]

so that really works? will it help with crunchy line dried clothes?

[Tangled Hill]

It really does. I was surprised how soft my line-dried clothes were the first time I tried it.

[Mama Lo]

#1- I also use the downy ball and fill it about half full with vinegar.

#3- I use a castile bar soap that I find in our grocery store(hyvee) in the body wash section.

Good Luck I've been using these methods for about 16 mo now and I love them. It's ridiculously thrifty, green & crunchy

[ssantos]

#1 I fill up the softener dispenser in my washing machine with vinegar.

#2 Sometimes when I open the washer after it has finished, I can smell the vinegar, but the smell goes away quickly, and my clothes never smell like vinegar.

#3 I tried homemade detergent, but I did not like how the soap did not seem to want to dissolve and it left soap scum on the inside of my washer.

#4 For drying clothes, I put them in the dryer for 10 minutes on low and then put everything on hangers and let them dry in the house. None of the clothes come out wrinkled (I refuse to iron). I tried not drying them at all, but they come out much stiffer and wrinkly. I really can't tell if the vinegar makes a difference or not, but 10 minutes of drying really seems to make a difference.

[manchestermafia]

1/2 cup vinegar to the rinse cycle.