Homemade Fabric Softener

Well, I ran out of fabric softener, so decided to try to make it on my own like so many others do.

I took two recipes and combined them to come up with my own.  I've done a few loads of laundry and so far, so good! My clothes feel really soft, I haven't noticed any static and the scent was minimal, but pleasant.

Here's what I did:

I used the 64 ounce fabric softener bottle I just used up.

I poured in 4 cups water, 1 cup white vinegar, and 1 tablespoon (roughly) baking soda (** Word of caution .. vinegar and baking soda combined causes extreme fizzing! Let it fizz up, then put the lid on and swish around easily. The bottle will swell.  Just crack the lid a tiny bit and let the air come out, like you would do a bottle of soda that has been shaken.  I did this process a couple of times to get it mixed.)

Then I added 1 1/3 cups White Rain hair conditioner.  It was a cheap bottle I just had in our linen closet.  Again put the lid on and swish around to mix.  Continue to beware of fizzing.

Then I just added a tad bit more water to fill it up.

The conditioner cost about $1.00, I would guess, and I used minimal vinegar (that was 77 cents for the whole bottle) and only a tablespoon of baking soda (which is about 33 cents a box). So, I maybe spent $1.00 - $1.25 on the whole thing. Obviously this is a frugal alternative to brand-named fabric softener.

** Update ~ I even washed Brynne's fleece blanket, which would normally be a static-magnet.  After drying, there was no static at all and it was so soft.  So were the towels.