Green/Frugal Laundry

I love the way fabric softener leaves your clothes smelling so good and soft. I hang a lot of my clothes up to dry and I hate when they end up all hard and stiff. But I also hate the fact that fabric softener is all chemicals and when you put your clothes on, those chemicals are leeching through your skin. That especially scares me to think of my daughter's clothes secreting chemicals into her skin.

I started using Arm and Hammer laundry detergent a couple of months ago. It is only like $4 for a big box (I use the powder kind because it goes further but a friend of mind uses the liquid and she loves the way it works too). It leaves your clothes smelling fresh instead of a perfumy. But once I stopped using fabric softener, I didn't like the way my clothes felt coming out of the dryer. So, I started using vinegar in the rinse cycle. I'm really bad at catching the rinse cycle so I started using one of those Downy balls. I put 10-15 drops of essential oil in first (love lavender for sheets and geranium rose for my clothes) and then fill up the the Downy ball a little above the fill line. My clothes came out of the dryer or off the drying rack feeling wicked soft and smelling great, (but just subtly great). I also started using those dryer balls. It cut down on drying time and made my clothes even fluffier.

So, 50 cents for a gallon of white vinegar, a couple bucks for a bottle of essential oil (depending on what scent you want) and $4 for the box of Arm and Hammer laundry detergent. And it all lasts for several months!