Sunday, May 20, 2012

non foodie post

So this post is about the laundry. I have always been leery of the cleaners I use or the soaps I buy and so on but the price tag of a green home is hefty. Recently i read somewhere as a comment on a blog about homemade laundry soap (which maybe a little ambitious for me) that you could use vinegar as a fabric softener.

Now I researched this idea and what I have learned is traditional fabric softener contains a chemical known as a surfactant that coats your clothes in order to "lubricate" the fibers. Sounds awesome because my nice clothes are covered in chemical goo. Now how was vinegar gonna work I wonder well turns out very well.

Vinegar removes all traces of detergent left in the final rinse as well as being acidic enough to produce a positive charge and reduce static. but the one thing most people worry about when they hear this idea is smell. Vinegar smelling clothes would be a deal breaker right. Well i made this change and informed no one in my house (i used unscented organic fabric softeners) and nobody noticed. My husband is quick to notice change and his only comment was looks like the new softener you bought works better than the last one. I finally broke down and told him it was vinegar and he smelled his work t shirt 5 times to see if he would smell like salad.

That being said i recently ran in to an idea for the dryer sheet addicts of the world and yes I use them on occasion  but not a huge fan in general(currently Mrs Meyers lavender). This idea involves tin foil so I am curious as it is much cheaper than dyer sheets. Basically you crumble up a piece to make a medium size ball not to tight though just a loose crumple and through it in the dryer with your clothes. You can also reuse this crumble many times so I will be giving it a try today.

my question now is what are your favorite money saving green cleaning tips???????

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