White Vinegar...Amazing Fabric Softener?!

Back in Antonio's and my early years of marriage money was tight.

Like tight-tight.

And I had to "resort" to using white vinegar as a fabric softener.

I have no clue where I first heard of using white vinegar as a fabric softener, but I used it.

Because I had to. It was cheap.

I never cared if it worked or not.

I just had a job to do and put absolutely as little thought into it as I could.

Now fast forward a bunch of years...a bunch, dude.

It's like we hit black gold, man, and I been buying heavily fragranced fabric softeners like nobody's business ever since.

For years.

Until I started looking for ways to make my home safer for my growing family.

And I've been reading articles about hidden ways we are poisoning our families.

And one of the ways listed was...you guessed it....fabric softener.

I don't know about you guys, but I LOVE sniffing the rainbow-colored bottles of "Fresh Breeze", "Sunflower Farts",  "Bahama Mama Laund-er-ama"...I mean, it was an experience in itself, just choosing a new bottle.

So I did hesitate a bit before commiting to making the change, even a possibly temporary change, to white vinegar. I knew that the vinegar odor wouldn't last (you can't even smell it on dry clothes), but what about the "Angel's Flowery ButtCrack" fragrance that I was digging last month?

But I also am making the CONSCIOUS effort to try and eliminate cancer-causing chemicals when I can. Especially when you realize that these particular carcinogens are wrapped around your entire family 24/7, in the form of your clothes!

So I took a deep breath and bought the giant bottle of white vinegar from Walmart.

I just bought the generic brand...I'm not sure if the brand really makes a difference.

And then I washed. Washed. Washed. Washed.

A family of 6 goes through a LOT of laundry.

And do you know what I found?

Not only were my clothes completely static free...they weren't feeling all...filmy...the way I noticed that some of my clothes would feel when I took them out of the dryer.

White vinegar WORKS, man!!

Do you know what I found in my research?? Vegans, did you know that fabric softener sheets oftentimes contain tallow (animal fat)?? Ew.

Dangerous Chemicals in Fabric Softener:

Benzyl Acetate....linked to pancreatic cancer

Benzyl Alcohol....an upper respiratory irritant

Ethanol....linked to central nervous system disorders

Chloroform....a neurotoxin and carcinogen

Yeah....none of that sounds appetizing to me.

Does it sound alluring to you?

And you want me to rub that all over every inch of my precious kiddos every single day?

Ummm.... NO.

You probably don't either, am I right?

So, just add 3/4 cup of white vinegar to your final rinse (I just put it in the little rinse compartment for fabric softener in my front loader washing machine) and voila!! 

Clean and fresh clothes!