This tip comes from my reader Dawn:
I save money on fabric softener by buying a bottle of liquid then putting it in a spray bottle. When I put clothes in the dryer I spray 5 squirts of fabric softener in and it does a great job. No more dryer sheets or pouring it into the wash. I also just buy the generic softener for $1 per bottle and they last 4 – 5 months. So for less than $3 per year my fabric softener is covered. And we do have a family of 5 doing about 8 loads of laundry per week.
Wanna learn how to save even more money? Be sure to read through all the Let’s Save Some Money posts.
I am curious about the spraying or the sponges…..Does it not leave blue speckles or stains on your clothes??? I’m all about saving money and having great soft clothes! Thank you
I found this off of the Duggar’s family website….they have many children so OF COURSE they try to save money! With the fabric softener being watered down, and actually squeezed out of the sponge, you shouldn’t have to worry about anything being transferred to your clothes.
I have also made the Homemade laundry detergent…the recipe makes 10 gallons.
1 Cup of Arm and Hammer “super washing soda” (not baking soda!)
1/2 cup borax
1 Fels Naptha laundry bar.
I used a hand held cheese grater to grate up the fels naptha bar into 4 cups of water over medium heat to get it nice and dissolved. Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of warm water, then add the soap mixture along with the super washing soda and borax. Fill the 5 gallon bucket to the top with water and stir to make sure its all dissolved. Once the mixture cools it will gel, so you have to make sure you can get it all stirred up good.
This 5 gallons doubles to 10. Just add one part Detergent and one part water together into a container such as a used laundry dispenser.
Shake it really good and you can add a few drops of essential oils to make it smell really good :) Or you can just use it plain. (the fels naptha bar is really fresh smelling, but being distributed in 10 gallons, it isn’t very strong)
You can also mix 2 parts water and one part fabric softener in a container. Cut some sponges in 1/4 pieces and wring them out and throw em in the dryer with your clothes.
Here is another vote for vinegar! For less than $3 for a huge bottle from Costco our clothes are static free and it helps preserve their color. When you have a bunch of new clothes (Christmas, birthdays, whatever) wash them all in a heavy dose of vinegar (I have a front loader and fill the soap and softener dispenser with only vinegar). This will help set the colors and keep them looking new for longer! After washing with the heavy dose of vinegar, wash again as normal to get rid of the smell. No need to put anything with your clothes in the dryer.
Vinegar is also great because it can be used with all sorts of different fabrics, including Underarmor shirts with the breathable mesh fabric. Fabric softeners often clog up the “breathable” parts of those shirts rendering them useless after awhile, no worries about that with vinegar. No need to do a special load with just workout clothes! It can also be used with polar fleece and other fluffy fabrics that fabric softener is not recommended for. Can you tell I love the stuff?! :o)
I guess it depends on what color the fabric softener is. Blue fabic softener can stain clothes. I would not consider spraying this directly onto my clothes, especially whites.
I stopped using fabric softener sometime last year because I buy those sheets now that are for the washer and dryer…has the detergent for the wash and then you put it in the dryer and it’s a fabric sheet. We love them for how simple they are…makes my husband do the laundry more :). Though I do really love this idea, may need to try it! We use vinegar too to get rid of the smell of our doggies off the sheets, etc.
Vinegar works great – and there’s a printable coupon for $.50/1 Heinz Vinegar that makes it free! :)
http://www.heinzvinegar.com/
In an empty Cool-Whip container, I dilute 1 part fabric softener with 5 parts water. When I throw a load in the dryer, I soak an old baby washcloth in the solution, wring it out and place the damp washcloth in with the load. A bottle of fabric softener lasts forever now! Clothes are just as soft and static-free as using as directed.
I dilute my Downy by 1/2 with water. Just save a bottle so you have two and pour 1/2 in the saved bottle. Add water and shake. I buy maybe 2 bottles a year. Anything other than Downy is irritating to our skin and I don’t always use that. Oh, and I never use fabric softener on jeans, towels or throw rugs.
I just pour about 1/4 to 1/3 cup white vinegar into my fabric softener dispenser in the wash. Clothes come out soft and fresh every time!!
That is an awesome tip!!! Although I haven’t found softener that cheap in my area, I think it sounds great!!! Oh and I know the duggar family has a method on their site about diluting it and using sponges as dryer sheets. I’d have to look at it. But I do follow the recipe on their site for powdered laundry detergent (don’t hve room to store the liquid) and it saves me so much money!!
I haven’t used fabric softener for 10 years. I use the dryer balls and clothes come out super soft and they are also good for the environment.