vinegar instead of fabric conditioner

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vinegar instead of fabric conditioner
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Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Wed May 02, 18 2:19 pm Post subject:

Mistress Rose wrote:

Fabric conditioner does react with the remaining detergent in the clothes I think. After using the washing machine rinse there is quite a lot of stuff left in the wash. If you rinse anything out in clean water you will see it.

The last thing your washing machine ought to do before spinning is rinse with fresh water. If you’re getting detergent left over start wondering if your machine is working, or clean, or if you’re over adding detergent.

jamanda
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 35057
Location: Devon

Posted: Wed May 02, 18 7:44 pm Post subject:
I use a fraction of what the detergent bottle says. We are in a very soft water area so I expect others might need a bit more, but I can't adide conditioner - it makes the towels non-absorbant, and everything smell of artificial perfumes. I Love the smell of washing that's dried on the line.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Wed May 02, 18 11:52 pm Post subject:
even in a hardish water area i use a lot less than the recommended amount apart from 90 degree kitchen towel washes which get plenty as a slight distraction from the directions this theme has taken i wonder what is known effects vinegar has on a variety of textile fibres? second distraction, if vinegar does have effects is it the ethanoic bit, the acidity or the trace stuff? or a combo

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15966

Posted: Thu May 03, 18 7:11 am Post subject:

Our washing machine is pretty old and the amount of muck it gets in it I wouldn't expect it to be very clean. I use no more than the recommended amount on very dirty washing and less on ordinary.

We live in a hard water area, so not sure what effect the vinegar has, whether it is on the water or the soap/detergent, but it used to make my hair rather better than not using it. And for those not following closely, I did have another rinse afterwards.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9878
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Fri May 04, 18 2:14 pm Post subject:

Jamanda wrote:

I use a fraction of what the detergent bottle says. We are in a very soft water area so I expect others might need a bit more, but I can't adide conditioner - it makes the towels non-absorbant, and everything smell of artificial perfumes.

I Love the smell of washing that's dried on the line.

I started to buy washing powder that comes in wrapped tablets of powder - it comes in a cardboard box, but there is wrapping on each dose. But it works well for my son who could be a bit heavy handed with the pouring in of powder, even with a marked measure, and at least it isn't in a plastic bottle.

I also can't stand the pongy fabric conditioners - and buy the 'pure' ones, which seem no more scented than the washing powder.

experiments with no fabric conditioner and with vinegar followed by line drying towels have resulted in some very absorbent and very scratchy crispy towels

Next experiments will be with my cycling gear which is largely man made materials - could be that they come up cleaner without FC as suggested.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Fri May 04, 18 6:12 pm Post subject:

another small aside, i have had quite a few down stuffed garments and sleeping bags over the decades, the only good way to wash them is with the specialist "for down" stuff from climbing shops .
at a guess it has a buffer, a detergent or soap and an oily component.

perfect for down , fluffy but waterproof towels might be not so good

it seems quite likely that the muck that sticks to linen is different to that that sticks to lycra which implies they need different formulations for best results.
that the fibres are different is also a good reason, perhaps the best one, to tailor the washsplosh to the cloth

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Fri May 04, 18 7:26 pm Post subject:
There must be some other tricks for line-dried towels. It seems a little percussive maintenance before first use post-drying might do the trick. What would a few turns through a dry mangle do? I imagine just running the towel back and forth with some tension over a bar would loosen things up a bit.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46207
Location: yes

Posted: Fri May 04, 18 9:08 pm Post subject:
the mechanical factor is probably important. i will enquire

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15966

Posted: Sat May 05, 18 6:39 am Post subject:

I gave up with washing liquids because they just weren't getting the clothes clean and have gone back to powder. I use Co-op own brand and that seems to have the desired effect without too much smell and at a reasonable price.

That is one advantage of the balls in the tumble drier. They soften the fabric without the conditioner, but of course line drying doesn't have that. I suppose 5 mins in the tumble drier without heat might work.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9878
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Sat May 05, 18 10:36 am Post subject:

Mistress Rose wrote:

yep i use co-op - the tablets that are compressed powder. if it was just me I would use powder. I kind of feel that buying the liquid is sort of buying water.... but the main reason to avoid is the plastic bottles. Seems to me folk are fretting about straws and cotton buds, when there are much bigger uses of throw away plastic being over looked.

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Sat May 05, 18 11:20 am Post subject:

Maybe you UK downsizers could use a meetup weekend where you pool funds for bulk quantities of borax, sodium bicarb, a detergent of choice, and large reusable storage containers and make as much laundry powder/liquid as you'll need for the next six months?

Could be a fun excuse to sip something together.

Edit: there's a bazillion recipes out there, and I'm sure you can all argue about the specifics. Grated soap, or a form of detergent?

Here's someone's recipe for 5 gallons: https://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/diy-how-to-make-your-own-laundry-detergent/

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6612
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Sat May 05, 18 11:31 am Post subject:
In some further reading, I'm seeing plenty of reasons not to use soap, and very few recipes that actually use a detergent, so perhaps the above idea is not a good one! I don't think I'd use a recipe like I posted above if I already had soft water and was concerned about buildup in my washer. Commercially available detergent is probably cheaper than replacing a washer earlier than necessary!

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15966

Posted: Sun May 06, 18 8:36 am Post subject:
As you say, probably not the best recipe in hard water areas, and also it contains borax, which I don't think we can get in the UK now as it is a problem. We have to use borax substitute instead, but can't remember exactly what it is without looking it up.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Sun May 06, 18 9:57 am Post subject:
You can buy it through your business, no problem. https://mistralni.co.uk/products/borax-sodium-tetraborate-decahydrate

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15966

Posted: Mon May 07, 18 6:23 am Post subject:
Probably, but if it is not used because of pollution problems I wouldn't anyway. Thanks for the link though.

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