1. Using 1/4 cup vinegar in your laundry’s rinse cycle keeps clothes soft. You can set aside a vinegar jug just for laundry and add about 2 dozen drops of your favorite essential oil to the vinegar if you’d like (or as much EO as you feel necessary). I use one of those Downy Balls.
Fabric Softener Recipe
Makes about a gallon of fabric softener
- 1 cup baking soda
- 6 cups distilled white vinegar
- 8 cups water
- 10-12 drops essential oil of your choice (optional)
(Click on Mountain Rose Herbs ad at the bottom of this page to order essential oil)
- a plastic gallon jug with a lid (an empty vinegar jug works well)
- Mix the baking soda and water in a large, deep mixing bowl or pot
- Stir it until the baking soda is dissolved
- Slowly add the vinegar, one cup at a time. The mixture will fizz up, so stir it carefully until all the bubbles are gone before adding the next cup of vinegar.
- Add the essential oil and stir.
- Wait a few minutes for it to go "flat" before pouring the mixture into the empty jug. If you put it into the jug and cover it while it is still fizzy, the mixture will expand and may blow the lid off!
- To use, shake the bottle and add 1 cup softener to the final rinse water
