That’s my question, but after reviewing this site:
http://www.ourlittleplace.com/fabric.html
maybe I should reconsider. (It talks about the serious health effects of all fabric softeners.)
Anyway, I’ve heard about the dryer sheets harming fabrics, but not about the liquid softeners. Any ideas?
Um, that’s a website with a serious axe to grind–they’re anti-ALL chemicals, not just fabric softeners. They’re talking about “multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome”. And they’re just a teensy bit fanatical. They want people to e-mail the Consumer Product Safety Commission and demand a recall of all fabric softeners, which I seriously doubt will ever happen.
No, fabric softeners don’t damage fabrics. Why would you think that they would? I have never heard that dryer sheets harm fabrics, either. Got a cite for that?
Although liquid fabric softeners don’t actually eat a hole through clothes, they do erase the flame resistant properties of children’s clothing so you shouldn’t use it on them.
(Of course I found this out after I washed all my son’s clothing in it!)
Also I heard thet you should not treat towels with fabric softeners as the fibres of the towel are coated with the stuff and so cuts down on the absorption quality of the fabric.This ,of course,negates the whole purpose of having a towel.
Whether or not they do, ask yourself one simple question;
“Do I need or want to increase my degree of exposure to nonessential chemicals in my daily life.”
I view antiperspirants, scented deodorizer sprays, most pesticides and especially such frivolous crap as fabric softeners to be merely an additional potential poison that I do not need to consume or be exposed to. Is static cling such a catastrophe that the use of chemical combatants is needed or justified?
Go to the variety store and look at aisle after aisle of all of the chemical garbage that industry would have you coat your home, apparel, tonsils and genitals with if they had it their way. Then ask yourself, “Do they have my best interests at heart, or are they out to make a buck?”
I am still unable to comprehend how so many people are gulled into thinking that they cannot be successful and acceptable human beings without first having to cloak themselves in a miasma of superfluous chemical crap.
There is also the point that if you make you house too clean by using such things as anti-bacterial cleaning chemicals then , by not being exposed to an honest bit of dirt, you will have no natural immunity to bugs in the big-wide-world.This ,I think, happened in Vietnam when the troops where fed on pre-packaged,deep frozen food from home. As soon as then went out in the jungle they fell prey to all sorts of bugs. A good bit of dirt does not harm anyone.
i have noticed that FS seems to prevent water from being absorbed from towels. This causes them to act like big squeagies.
It may be unnecesary on the whole yes, but that doesn’t mean it is by definition dangerous.
When properly used, all over-the counter household products are perfectly safe for anyone to use. There are numerous government agencies to ensure that products meet a minimum safety standard.
While it’s true that on occasion something gets approved and is later found to be unsafe under certain conditions, the fact remains that the vast majority of chemicals are beneficial to us and perfectly safe to use. People like to be clean, & don’t want to smell bad. People want to have clean, shiny, manageable hair.
Fabric softener is no more dangerous to use under proper use than is Ivory soap. Just don’t drink, snort, or inject it and you’ll live a fine and dandy life.
Sure, asbestos, thalidomide, DDT and all sorts of other wonderful government approved substances have never caused a bit of harm.
Regardless of their seemingly benign characteristics, long term exposure data for probably what is over 90% of the chemicals we are exposed to, or expose ourselves to simply does not exist.
Controlled overdosing and other animal tests can be reassuring but only testing on the ultimate Guinea pigs, namely we humans, can be considered conclusive. In a profit driven industrial civilization, I’ll take the position of “wait and see” rather than find out the hard way that routine exposure to these so-called “legitimate” chemicals can supress your immune system or the like. The undesirable synergies of modern chemical compounds is a subject that I will leave for someone else’s oncologist.
A sterling example of this concept is the fact that many forms of common plasticizers used in food cling wrap and for the lining of metal food containers are now being proven to be substantial sources of psuedo-estrogens or estrogen mimics.
Current theories attempting to explain the dramatic worldwide drop in male fertility of many high order species increasingly point towards or find direct links to these polymer compounds that are now nearly ubiquitous in our food distribution chain.
Have all the chemicals you want. I prefer to expose my body to simple ones like common soap, instead of hexachloraphine for bathing (remember Phisohex and the links to infant brain damage?), or alcohol instead of Valium, for my relaxation.
Fabric softeners leave behind a residue, normally acceptable to most people, to soften the feel of fabric and reduce static. Also, they may change how the fiber behaves at a microscopic level. Because of this, some fabrics or articles of clothing are not supposed to be washed or dried with fabric softener.
Never, ever wash or dry a Gor-Tex or one of its generic equivalents with fabric softener. Gor-Tex is stretched Teflon sheet, a DuPont trademark for PTFE or polytetrafluoroethylene. Stretching very thin PTFE sheets creates microscopic holes or pores in the sheet through which water vapor will easily pass but not liquid or solid water. Very large numbers of clothing, including shoes, use Gor-Tex or a generic or licensed equivalent for breathable wind and water proofing. Since the patent expired or is licensed to other manufacturers, there are numerous waterproof but breathable fabrics and shoes that include stretched PTFE. One wash or dry with fabric softener will permanently ruin the breathability of the item. There is no way to fix the damage once it occurs.
A number of performance base or mid-layer items also specify no fabric softener. Fabric softener will either harm the fiber from which it is made or temporarily, partially or permanently destroy its wicking or breathability.
There are some stretch base clothing (i.e. underwear) that specify no fabric softener. I suspect this is for the same reasons some performance base layer items specify it too.
As for towels and washcloths, it can affect the wicking or absorbancy properties anywhere from little to a great degree depending on the fiber, fabric and towel construction. Personally, I don’t use it on towels although that seems to be the favorite item for the fabric softener commercials.
I own many items of clothing that specifically state not to ever use fabric softener with them and it is from experience with these that I write this reply.
Zombie! Zombie! Zombie! Zombie! Zombie! Zombie! Zombie!
Aghhhhhhhhhhh!
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Deep breath, NOLA Cajun. Deep breath!
We recently changed the rules on zombie threads (old threads “resurrected” by a new post). In the GQ forum, a response that provides some new information is no reason to panic (in other forums, resurrecting zombies is not so well tolerated). jalind is a new user who probably didn’t notice that the question is nine years old. Since we’re indexed by Google now, searches often take people right into the middle of the boards.
I’m going to leave the thread open for new commentary and replies.
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