A few postings ago, I featured a recipe for homemade fabric softener that consisted of vinegar, baking soda, water and essential oil. The softener seems to work really well but the fragrance is...well......lacking.
For those of you who like the stronger smell of a commercial softener, I've experimented today and concocted a formula that I think you might like. Not only is it stronger smelling, it is more concentrated than the previous recipe (no sense in taking up valuable laundry room space with a lot of water in your homemade products).
The Magic Ingredient
 |
| Purex Crystals Laundry Enhancer |
It is not a softener, rather a fragrance product. When used as the packaging directs, you add about 1/4 cup to the beginning of your laundry wash cycle, not the rinse cycle.
I've used this product before as directed and did notice an improvement in the smell of our laundry, however, the bottle which does 15 to 30 loads is $4.76. I was still also buying fabric softener and felt that it was all adding up to be be a bit much per load.
Because I am using the Purex Crystals as an additive to the softener which will go into the rinse cycle, I figured I could use a lot less and still get good results.
Since I am using this product in a slightly different manner than the manufacturer intended, I did research the ingredients to be certain they weren't known skin irritants.
What Is In It?
The ingredients in Purex Crystals are as follows - Sucrose (table sugar), Bentonite (clay), PEG Distearate (binding substance used in many products, including cosmetics), fragrance (?) and Sanolin Blue (commonly used dye).
None are listed as skin irritants, however, with anyone who has sensitive skin, there is always the possibility of irritation. So discontinue use if skin irritation occurs and persists.
After experimenting a bit, this is the recipe that I ended up with -
 |
| 1) Mix 1/4 to 1/2 cup of Purex Crystals with 1 cup of tap water. Let sit and stir periodically until dissolved (about 15 minutes). |
 |
| 2) Measure out 1 cup of baking soda. Put in a large bowl. |
 |
| 3) Carefully and slowly add 6 cups of vinegar to the baking soda. It will foam and fizz. Just keep slowly adding and stir often. |
 |
| 4) Add Purex and water mixture PLUS one more cup of water. Stir carefully. Mixture will come together but when you let it sit, it will separate some. Don't be alarmed, just be certain it is mixed well before transferring to storage containers, especially if you are dividing the softener into separate containers. You wouldn't want one container to have less of the scent than the other. |
 |
| 5) Cap loosely to avoid an explosion from the mix of the vinegar and baking soda. Shake before each use. I have been using 1/4 to 1/2 cup per laundry load in the rinse cycle. I am enjoying the fragrance and since there are no sensitive skins in our home I'll probably continue to make this version. I've figured the cost per batch to be $1.51. This made a half a gallon. I think it is closer to commercial softener than the other recipe but at a fraction of the cost. I'd love to know how this works for you! Or if you are like me and enjoy experimenting with recipes, let me know what changes you made and I'll give it a try. I love trying new recipes! |
No comments:
Post a Comment