How To Prepare A Natural Fabric Softener At Home?

Softener is a very special product for clothes, it is used to preserve the softness of the fabric and provide a pleasant smell to the garments every time we wash them.

But, did you know that many of the fragrances added to fabric softeners are harmful to health?  Although we are very fond of its aroma, many of the fragrances and chemicals used in fabric softeners can be dangerous, especially for children.

Why is it harmful to use chemical fabric softener?

According to experts, commercial fabric softeners have chemical compounds that can cause skin reactions or respiratory allergies such as rhinitis. In addition, taking into account that many of these chemicals would be harmful to the body if they were ingested, experts say that they can also cause damage through contact with the skin.

As with other household cleaning chemicals, fabric softeners can cause health effects, although they may not be noticed immediately. Its negative impact could appear days or even weeks after use.

According to experts, these types of products contain phthalates, which are chemical compounds that are added to give it that pleasant aroma, but which in research were the cause of hormonal disorders in animals. Therefore, by using commercial fabric softeners you are not only harming your body, but also nature.

How does chemical fabric softener harm the environment?

Fabric softeners are among the worst offenders in terms of toxicity and it really makes one wonder how these chemical contaminants were approved by the US Environmental Agency.

According to the Environmental Working Group, fabric softeners contain chemicals and fragrances that can cause skin irritation and respiratory irritation. The fragrance element alone can come from hundreds of different chemical compounds, and many of them are toxic.

According to Anne Steinmann, Ph. D., a professor at the University of Melbourne in Australia and a global expert on environmental pollutants and their health effects, said in an interview with New Scientist: “Most exposure to hazardous pollutants occurs in indoors, and a primary source for these pollutants is our everyday consumer products. “

For this reason, the use of ecological and healthy alternatives is promoted, which do not cost much, are very effective, do not have negative effects on health and are friendly to the environment.

How to prepare a natural and inexpensive fabric softener?

Now that you know that commercial fabric softeners can harm your health and the environment, maybe you can consider making your own natural homemade fabric softener that, for a low price, will take care of your clothes and leave them as soft as it would. any other product.

This natural fabric softener uses very basic ingredients that you probably have at home. Its properties help to soften fabrics and deodorize to eliminate possible bad odors impregnated in clothes.

Ingredients

• 10 g of baking soda.
• 150-200 ml of hot water.
• 800 ml of apple cider vinegar.
• 20 drops of essential oil.
• Plastic container with a capacity for 3.5 liters.

What should you do?

• It is important to get a large plastic container, as the mixture grows.
• Once you have it in a container, pour the hot water and add the baking soda and apple cider vinegar. When you do, you will see a chemical reaction of the ingredients that will release a lot of bubbles in the container.
• Once the liquid settles, it is stored in the softener bottle, the essential oil of the aroma you prefer is added, shaken and stored in a cool place.
• When using it, add it to soaked clothes or to the washing machine, just as you do with a commercial fabric softener.

• Finally, before using the softener again in the next wash, the ideal is to shake it to integrate all the ingredients again. For each batch of laundry, 4 tablespoons of homemade fabric softener will suffice.