I’ve always been a regular washing powder/liquid and hang the clothes on the outdoor line sort of gal, but recently (after being persuaded by the telly advertisements) decided to try a fabric softener. I was extremely underwhelmed with the results with the regular clothing, and with regards to towels and fluffy stuff, quite repulsed!
Seems I like my towels ‘crunchy’ and absorbent when I dry myself after a shower, not soft and fluffy. Sure, they smelled GREAT, but it felt like I was just displacing the water on my body, and the towels not actually taking any of the moisture up at all.
Soooo, am I just misguided, is there any practical reason to use fabric conditioner that I am missing…because I surely don’t miss the supposed softness that’s for sure.
I don’t use fabric softener but I use dryer sheets for the anti-static factor. They can add a scent but it’s very short-lived. They also don’t contain anywhere as much softener as you’d use with liquid.
Never, ever use liquid fabric softener or a dryer sheet with towels. Fabric softeners mitigate a towel’s ability to absorb: The “greasy” quality inherent in a fabric softener acts like an oil slick to carry the scent. Oil and water don’t mix.
What I usually do is use a dryer sheet on every other wash, and I tear it in half. It gives just enough softener to combat the static but not enough to make everything “greasy”.
No fabric softener and only the multi use, non chemical dryer sheet.
(Colour me shocked they now hard sell a washing additive that adds such strong scent [possibly to address the odour the front load washers sometimes add?] to your clothes, they still smell of it weeks later. Yipes! That doesn’t sound like a good thing to me! But maybe it’s just me!)
I was told (can’t recall by whom) that fabric softeners remove soap residue from laundered items. I was also told not to use it on towels. I should probably find out if either of these are accurate.
Weather permitting, I hang my laundry out to dry on the line, but recently, I’ve been using the dryer since the weekends have been rainy or just icky. But I don’t think the softener makes lined-dried clothes any softer, and if I don’t use it, everything that comes out of the dryer seems soft enough. I have dryer sheets, but I can’t remember the last time I remembered to toss one in. Maybe I should just save my money and quit buying this stuff.
No fabric softener for me. They don’t even actually soften fabric – what they do is deposit a layer of a waxy substance on the fibers, making them slippery so they feel smoother. The waxy coating is why “softened” towels don’t absorb water very well.
Never use “fabric softener” on towels, washcloths, or anything else you wish to remain water absorbent.
Microfiber cleaning cloths have their cleaning properties ruined by fabric softener.
Where “fabric softeners” are useful are in reducing static cling, which is why I tend to use them on my clothes all winter. In summer I’ve been known to get very lax about it.
I use my own dryer sheets - pieces of an old tie-dye shirt that are easy to find when everything comes out. I put them in a jar of vinegar & water with a couple drops of essential/fragrance oil.
I don’t get having “fragrance” on your clothes. Literally gag me. Please, please, please don’t use anything with a fragrance on things such as guest bed linen.
As to the “softening” part I don’t know of any item we have that would benefit from this.
I don’t use fabric softener, and I only use dryer sheets (unscented) when I’m doing a load of nylon and/or polyester clothing. It keeps the garments from sticking horribly together from static. Whenever I forget to use the dryer sheet, I find underpants up the sleeve of a shirt or down a trouser leg.
not only is fabric softener absolutely unnecessary, but so are dryer sheets - unless you like highly perfumed clothes (as ftg says - gags me) and enjoy spending money on worthless toxic chemical laden corporate products that are looking for a reason to exist to raise their profits… what you’re really paying for are the utterly ludicrous advertisements on TV…
My husband and I each do our own laundry separately. He loves those things with scents. I hate having to share a washing machine with them, but they don’t seem to carry over too much, although they stink up the garage (where the washing machine is) for a while after he’s run a load. I have sensitive skin, and I use just no-additive detergent, not much of that, and an extra rinse to get out any soap residue. Nothing in the dryer, and I don’t have any problem with static cling, probably because our climate in SF is so mild.
I know this is a zombie, but I’ll answer anyway. I live in an area that has soft water and there’s no need for fabric softener. Clothes always come out of the dryer without wrinkles. If I hang them up to dry and they’re wrinkled, I can toss them in the dryer for a few minutes to remove the wrinkles. And fabric softener sheets are very bad for your dryer. They’re coated with a waxy substance that will clog your dryer filter and your dryer vent hoses. Back when I used to use them, before I realized I didn’t need them, I’d cut them in half or thirds and that was plenty.
And don’t get me started on the fragrance - too late. I can’t tolerate the smell of laundry products. I can tell where my co-worker is by following the scent left in the hallway. And I stayed at an AirBnB once that had so much product on the sheets and covers that we smelled like it just from sitting on it. We all slept on the couches.
I don’t use fabric softener/conditioner in the washer or dryer. In the washer, I fill the fabric softener dispenser with plain white vinegar. In the dryer, I use wool dryer balls that I dab with lavender essential oil. That’s it.
I am only allowed to use the clothes washing appliances for my car wash towels, but I know that my wife uses the vinegar/ wool balls in the dryer instead of fabric softener. No issues AFAIK
I don’t use any additives at all, but then, I’m a dog with low standards! Tide detergent in the washer, with the addition of bleach when necessary, nothing in the dryer, ever.
The walk-in closet in the bedroom always has a pleasant scent that must come from the residue of the Tide Ultra Oxi Max (man, can you pack any more superlatives into a product name?) despite the fact that I use a minimal amount of detergent in the wash and have the machine set to two rinse cycles.