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Fmeh

Well, I now know that I can't take clothing to the laundromat unless I JUST wash clothing there and then dry them some other way.

Fabric softener is getting so strong and concentrated, OR people are using more than they're supposed to, that I can't use the same dryers or my clothes will not only stink up the house, but I'll get hives from them.

4 different dryers and they all made the clothes and bedding come out smelling like a dryer sheet was put into them, and they all have that NASTY oily feel to them that fabric softener has.

I may have to throw out two comforters, a set of sheets, and a thick jacket now because I don't know if I'll be able to get all this out of them. I just can't believe how strong they're making fabric softener now, and how wash resistant it has become.

I just can't believe how reliant people have become on things that smell.

It amazes me that people can't see fabric softener for what it is: scented oil, OIL that you're putting all over your clothes that eventually turn your white shirts yellowish because of all the things that stick to the oil that is on your clothing, in addition to subjecting your body to chemicals you have no idea what they are.

When your hair is so clean that it's staticky, is the first thing you do is to put grease or oil in your hair? It's staticky and irritating because it's clean, why not just gloop some oil in it so it's no longer staticky? Why not? Why do you do it to your clothing?

How many people have actually read the ingredient list of fabric softener? Why not? This is something you have next to your skin 23 1/2 hours a day unless you're a nudist.

They're making the products so strong that when people do laundry at their home and they use some of these new fabric softeners, it can be smelled from 4 blocks away. FOUR BLOCKS!

Needless to say, when my neighbors do laundry, I have to close all the windows and not do anything outside unless I want respiratory problems and hives. I'm starting to get really angry at the companies putting this garbage out. It's getting as intrusive as cigarette smoking--to where the smell is strong enough and has drenched people's clothing enough to where if people come over who have used it, it stinks up everything around in a similar way to the way that smoke attaches itself to things. It's almost like Glade plug-ins that are pretty much the worst product for making everything stink that has been around it for more than 30 seconds.

I don't know of any cologne or perfume that has that kind of effect--the closest thing is that fucked up body spray that drenches people's clothing so when they sit on your furniture, they've made that furniture smell like their body spray. I don't let those people in my house--I tell them that if they want to come over they'll have to refrain from using body spray. I'm not going to get sick just from being in my own house because someone who thinks everyone wants everything to smell like their cologne decided such.

Sorry, but I'm just upset right now over having to throw away bedding that was perfectly good before it was washed at the laundromat and it's making me think about how ridiculously reliant people have become on scented products--it's like we're a bunch of fragrance addicts or something. You just have to refrain from scented products for just a few days and then be around a raw sewage manhole cover to know that "our shit now smells like roses".

But seriously--how many of you who use fabric softener actually read the ingredient list? Do they even give you an ingredient list that gives you any real indication of what's in it? Or do you just blindly trust corporations enough to believe that it's going to be fine (and you've never read the ingredients)? I know I'm kind-of harsh here, talking badly about a type of product that SO many people use, but it's one of those products that really makes no sense at all--if you want your clothes to be clean, why put oil all over them? Something is staticky because it's clean. Is it so people can smell your "clean clothes" from 50 feet away? What's the purpose? What's your reasoning for using fabric softener? Have you never thought about it before?

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Siobhan OFlynn

I never use fabric softener anymore. I don't like using towels with fabric softener in them and once I stopped using it on my towels, I quit buying it altogether.

You could try buying a clothesline. If I didn't live in an apartment, I'd put one up outside. I love how fresh clothes that have been dried by the sun and a natural breeze smell and feel.

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Fmeh

I would, but I don't know when the neighbors are going to do theirs. Seriously--it's strong enough that it would stink up the clothes I'm hanging outside.

Surreal Farber

Actually fabric softener has a purpose. When fabric is loomed, they wash it with a power soap and then rinse it with a very concentrated fabric softener. That causes the stripped fibers to plump back up and smooth. Cloth fibers are supposed to have a certain percentage of oil deep in them.

My guess is you're right about the other customers using too much. I use an unscented softener, liquid - which is the only kind that penetrates the fibers properly and only use 1/3rd the recommended amount.

It sucks when you're allergic to scents.

Oh... and yes, hair has to have a certain amount of oil in it too, but most people either don't use a stripping shampoo (which is smart) or pick up enough off of grooming their scalp to not notice. Hair is just another permeable fiber.

Cocoanut Koala

I don't use fabric softener. I imagine my things might be thirsty for oil.

I like a shampoo that makes your hair clean, too. Neutrogena every so often is good for getting any shampoo residue out of your hair. I use mostly Suave shampoo. I like clean hair. Too much other stuff will make my hair too flat. An occasional hot oil treatment is good for if your hair gets too dry.

/end random hair thoughts

coco

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Surreal Farber

That's actually a perfect example. If you pack your hair in oil, then wrap it in saran or a plastic cover, then use a hair dryer to heat it up, or hair dryer, the oil deeply penetrates the shaft. After you wash your hair, it feels clean, but it also feels smooth and plumps out.

Heh... I used to do a lot of artisan silk dyeing... silk being a protein, like hair.

Tya

i don't use it. i perfer bounce ( sheets in the dryer )

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Surreal Farber

Bounce and similar products are sheets impregnated with fabric softener which is aerosoled by the heat of the dryer. Dryer sheets are probably what is causing Fmeh's issue.

Mourna Biziou

Because I don't enjoy crackling and sending off sparks whenever I move, and getting shocked by everything and everyone I touch.

FWIW, I have to use a no-dye-or-perfume detergent and fabric softener myself. But I have to use something, I'm prone to static electricity, and I REALLY REALLY hate it.

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Sarah Nerd

I only use one scent of downy with fabreeze because I'm picky with scents and I love it. I love the way it makes laundry feel, and I LOVE the way it makes the whole house smell good and clean when the dryers running. I think it makes me smell good and clean. We never had it as kids so maybe I just kinda see it as an extra luxury. What ever the case I love it to death and I'll be using it when ever possible.

I understand the laundromat issue though. With the exception of one I used to go to in this town most dryers you can't see through the glass because so much is built up on the window. The only one I went to that wasn't like that had a clean freak of an owner who wiped down the dryers after each use.

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Mourna Biziou

I despise laundromats in general.

They're unbearably hot, they reek of chemicals, they're usually grungy and populated with people who look... sad, somehow. It's depressing. And boring, because I'm not leaving my clothes. Not to mention lugging the clothes back and forth, or the fun of strangers seeing your pair of ratty panties (everyone has a couple of pairs of tatty drawers, don't deny it. )

Ugh, I hate it.

Briana Dawson

I saw a news special where they found E.coli 157-H7 in most of the dryers and washers in randomly sampled laundromats.

Use bleach people!

And i LOVE the fresh smell the dryer sheets make the house smell like.

Fmeh

Correct.

Dryer sheets ARE fabric softener, just in a different form.

Cristiano

I have to give you credit, Fmeh, you regularly have completely unexpected topics.

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Fmeh

Thanks, I think

Raindrop Drinkwater

Award!

Anyway, yes, laundromats are usually quite nasty.
There was one I was going to, where the owner and the customers SMOKED.

What's the point of washing your clothes if they're going to be all smokey?

I did quite a lot of handwashing in my bathtub. It takes forever to dry and is not always too practical, so I had to go to the laundromat every now and then.

I'm happy with my own washing machine now.

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Fmeh

I sure wish the washer and dryer we had could fit queen sized comforters.....

Briana Dawson

Comforters should not be washed in a machine - if you are referring to feather down comforters. They should be dry cleaned to prevent your feathers from clumping.

Yes, they can be washed in a machine, but should be over dried then because feathers stay damp and ultimately they are never the same again after each wet wash.

Surreal Farber

Strictly speaking you shouldn't take your natural feather comforters to the dry cleaners either unless they are one of the few who use processes specific for down. The chemical will penetrate the feather shafts and you will never get them out. If you're sensitive to chemicals, you'll notice it real quick.

The best course for down is to first keep it in a duvet - a cover over the the comforter and wash surface dirt off of that. To refresh down, pick a dry sunny day and hang it out to sun for several hours.... or if you're really stuck, tumble dry on low heat for a bit. All this goes for down jackets, sleeping bags, etc.

High-quality down, handled properly (for example not compressed and left that way) should last you 10-20 years.

Mourna Biziou

I switched to imitation down for that reason... I like to wash my comforter.

And yes, I heart my washer and dryer. Even back when I was super broke I scraped together 50 bucks to buy a used washer, and I hung myself a clothesline between two trees in the backyard. (I don't really like line-dried clothes either, though. The pollen-y grassy outside smell makes me feel itchy.)

Cocoanut Koala

I heart mine, too. For a few weeks after I first got them, I ran around the house just LOOKING for things to wash.

I'm allergic to feathers.

coco

Aisuru Rieko

yeah, without dryer sheets, I'd be a walking static-ball. in the winter it's terrible enough as it is... I hate to think what it would be like without them...

try going unscented? no perfumes/dyes? seems to me the soap you used is probably full of chemicals too. and the WATER? have you SEEN what they've