Fabric softeners are designed to reduce the amount of static in synthetic fibers and make laundry come out feeling soft and smelling great. These products contain lubricating ingredients that help coat and “soften” fibers in fabrics when added to your laundry load in the form of liquid, powder, or dryer sheets.
So why would anyone opt to go to the time and trouble of making homemade fabric softener when the commercial stuff is thought to work well?
Commercial fabric softeners can present a potentially serious health problem for many people. What’s more, commercial fabric softeners aren’t cheap. Depending on the brand and your measuring methods, both liquid fabric softeners and dryer sheets can cost north of 30 cents per dryer load. If you do as much laundry as I do, that adds up quickly.
