Natural fabric softener or recipe for one?

[timneh_mom]

I am posting this for a friend who is looking for a recipe for homemade fabric softener or some other ideas about what to help soften her clothes. She has VERY hard water (sometimes it's orange from the iron!) and she likes to line dry her clothes but they come out stiff as a board. She is single, so no cloth diapers or anything else like that to worry about. She'd just like to make as many of her cleaning products as possible.

I suggested borax. I wonder if washing soda would help? Any ideas or suggestions are welcome! She is already using tennis balls in the dryer when she uses it.

[MamaPam]

If she wanted to buy a product I know 7th Generation has a fabric softener. We have started using a homemade laundry soap with vinegar and essential oil in the fabric softener spot. I've been using our dryer lately though so not sure how the clothes would turn out if air dried.

[racheloperasinger]

The only one I know is vinegar in the rinse cycle (or the second-to-last rinse cycle).

[Ironica]

I use nothing but white vinegar in the fabric softener slot. I air-dry all synthetics, things with lots of elastic/rubber, and items with stains that didn't come out. The only things that are a bit stiff when they dry are the rubber-backed bathmats. Also doesn't seem to negatively impact the absorption factor on our towels, as conventional fabric softener does. Plus, it doubles as a disinfectant!