How to make natural homemade Fabric Softener

The thing I love most about fresh laundry is the smell. It just smells so fresh and clean. This is about the only reason I have been using fabric softener. But as you might know already, I’m all about fragrance! So why do I make my own natural fabric softener?

I have been using fabric softener since I moved out of my parents’ house. My mom never used it and I always thought that her laundry was really dry and stiff. So I spent quite some time in supermarkets going from bottle to bottle to find the one with the right smell for me. Once I found it I hardly ever changed.

Why change, then?

But then I became a mom. And my approach to household products changed. I don’t want to use anything that could hurt my baby’s soft skin. So I stopped using fabric softener. At least for the machine loads with baby clothes in. But I kind of miss the soft touch and especially the nice fresh smell. My washing machine seems to rinse my clothes so well that the smell of my laundry detergent doesn’t really stick to them.

You might have read my post on How to make natural homemade laundry detergent. This is something I started a couple of months ago and I have to say, I’m satisfied with the result. Some stains need to be removed first with a curd soap or a bit of sodium percarbonate but apart from that, it’s working well.

To go further with this approach, I have started to make my own fabric conditioner. First, I tried the easy variant. I just put some vinegar into the fabric softener compartment of my washing machine. Did I just say “some”?. Well, it was rather a lot. Haha. It was bad. All machine loads still smelled of vinegar after having dried. Since then, I have learned about the quantity you should use.

Why you should make your own natural fabric softener at home

First of all, it is much better for nature. All ingredients are environmentally friendly. Secondly, you control the number of allergens you add to your recipe. No bad surprises here. If you want it to be completely free of allergens, you could just infuse your mixture with some herbs. And last but not least, it costs only a couple of cents. So you can spend your money on a new lipstick instead of a new bottle of softener. Isn’t that great?

How to make your own natural fabric softener?

Softener for coloured washing

60 ml of vinegar

5 drops of fragrance or essential oil

Preparation:

Mix the vinegar with a couple of drops of essential oil. Then, add the mixture to the fabric softener compartment of your washing machine. You can also add it directly to your load of laundry. I don’t recommend this if you are using a homemade laundry detergent that contains baking soda. Both ingredients together create a chemical reaction and their unique effects will be much weaker.

Some recipes use 30 ml of vegetable glycerin for 200ml of vinegar because it is soft to your skin. I am not sure about its usefulness and haven’t tried it.

Fragrance :

I just love a good smell, and if you do so, too, I’d recommend you test some fragrance oils that you like. Nothing speaks against synthetic fragrance. It is even safer for your skin than some essential oils. If you want to use essential oils but don’t know which one or you don’t specifically care about the smell, you can use tea tree oil, it has disinfectant and healing properties. In case you don’t want to use essential oils, you could take a bottle of white vinegar and add a twig or two of thyme, lavender, or rosemary to it. Remove the herbs after a couple of days.

Vinegar:

I’d recommend you use white vinegar to be sure that your laundry keeps its initial colour. Apple vinegar or other fruit vinegar could alter the colour of your laundry over time.

Also, don’t use it together with bleach. Because of the chemical reaction they will have together.

Softener for white laundry

6 ts of citric acid powder

1 l of water

15 drops of fragrance

Preparation:

Take an empty bottle and fill it with 1 liter of water. Then, add 6 tablespoons of citric acid. Shake well. The citric acid needs to be completely dissolved. Finally, you can add your fragrance or essential oil. For each load, use 50-100ml of this mixture.

You can also add 20 drops of tea tree oil for its antibacterial property.

Citric Acid:

Citric acid is a natural food additive that can be found in soft drinks or baking powder and is usually extracted from lemons or currants. It is often used in cleaning products because it removes hard water deposits and rust.

It is entirely biodegradable, non-toxic, and can act as a fungicide and bactericide.

However, citric acid needs to be used carefully, respecting the given quantities. Otherwise, it can become irritating for your skin.

So the great thing about an acid fabric softener like vinegar or citric acid is that it is completely biodegradable, takes out the chalk of the hard water, and removes limescale to improve the lifespan of your washing machine.

Have you tried my recipe to make your own natural fabric softener? Let me know what you think!