Adrienne's Corner

Saving Money Saturday

*****When I was a little girl my Mom still washed clothes with a wringer washing machine. Often she would pre-soak clothes in the laundry tub and then transfer to the washer. Dryers were not used and all the clothes were hung out on a line during the summer, and in the winter they were hung on lines in the basement.

*****About every 6 weeks or so, Mom would add white vinegar to the rinse water to help get rid of any soap buildup that may have occurred. At that time clothes were all made from natural fibers such as cotton. The towels and sheets could come off the line feeling pretty stiff, mainly because of the way the cotton was milled. Newer milling methods have pretty much erradicated that problem.

*****A few days ago I noticed my fabric softener jug getting low and added it to my shopping list. I really don't like buying fabric softener because it is so darn expensive, and so I popped on- line to look for some homemade alternatives. What an eye opener that was!

*****After discovering the amount of toxic chemicals in fabric softener and that the most widely recommended substitute was white vinegar (hmmmmmm, where have I heard that before), I decided to do the laundry this week with nothing but white vinegar in the final rinse.

*****My towels and my 100% cotton sheets came out of the dryer softer and fluffier than when I used a fabric softener and they smelled clean. In a regular sized load I used 1/4 cup and in the large load I used 1/3 cup. I ran across other more complicated recipes using essential oils and hair conditioner (ugh - I'll talk about hair conditioner another time), but since I have home-made lavender sachets in my linen chest, I think I'll just keep it simple and use vinegar.

*****What about static cling? Glad you asked. Most people over-dry their clothes, sheets, and towels, which is the main reason for static cling. You can add years to the life of your clothes by just drying them for about 10 minutes to heat them up, and hanging them on hangars to dry. I worked with a women years ago who had beautiful and expensive clothes. She never dry cleaned anything (except for the obvious, like winter coats or suits), and hung all her clothes to dry. One day she said, "What the heck do you think that is in your lint filter? It's your clothes!" I never forgot that and hung our clothes from that day on.

*****If your hubby is handy he can put up a drying bar in the laundry room or you can use the shower bar. My laundry room is teeny tiny and my hubby put up a bar that goes across the top of the back door.

More hints:

• Don't dry synthetics with cotton. And hang most of your synthetics for the final drying time.
• I have read that putting a tennis ball size of aluminum foil in the dryer helps cut down on static cling.
• For extra freshness (particularily if you have little boys) add 1/2 cup of baking soda to the wash
• A little squirt of cheap shampoo on a soft toothbrush will get rid of "ring around the collar". I also use inexpensive shampoo for cleaning my tub and toilet bowl. One time they had some green tea shampoo at the dollar store and I loved the smell. I bought 5 or 6 bottles and have been using that for at least a couple of years. My bathrooms smell wonderful - not like some chemical.

Chemicals found in fabric softeners by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

History of Fabric Softener and How it is Made

painting by: Pavani Vijay Kaushik