that fabric conditioner is VILE?

[BrazenlyDefying]

We are staying in a (very nice and modern) holiday let this week. No complaints apart from one. The entire house REEKS of fabric conditioner. The owners have obviously splashed out on nice white cotton bedding and thick, expensive towels, but it's all ruined by the stench. You get into bed and all you can smell is the chemical reek. You can't dry yourself with the chemical reeking towels because they're so "conditioned" that they slip all over you without actually absorbing anything.

Why do people do this? It doesn't smell clean, or laundered. It smells artificial and nasty. Just don't. At home we don't use conditioner at all, the water is soft and it's totally unnecessary. Laundry straight in off the line smells wonderfully fresh, the fab con stuff doesn't.

Should be banned!

YABU, I like the smell and change it regularly so I can smell it more.

Actually I find I do notice people's laundry smells a lot and always like standing near somebody who smells clean. The house I grew up in, washing always smelled damp and people smell like 3-day-old sweat and hair grease, so it's nice and novel to me to encounter a clean smell.

Actually I have come to the conclusion that for a strong laundry smell you need a tumble drier, which I don't have.

I love it but only ever use half of what they suggest as a dosage.

Admittedly I have not read all the thread, but some people point out it is very bad for our planet. Others point out it is very bad for people with allergies. Others point out it is yet another useless thing people are told to want, and they obey. Others, like the O.P. point out that what one person thinks is a lovely smell, is to others an unbearable stench.
(All scent is liable to set off people's allergies, rashes, sickness, headaches, which is perfectly fine, if it is their own choice, but not really fair, if it is forced upon them)

Some help in hard water areas seems to be using soda along with the (unscented, eco friendly, anti allergen) soap powder, then putting white vinegar in the conditioner drawer. Obviously, using a dryer softens the towels, but it isn't very eco friendly, or bill friendly!

I can’t get enough of overpowering fabric conditioner, always buying new ones to try. So there

I love it Although post pregnancy I seem to be very sensitive to strong perfume and aftershave. I think my nose has changed. Don’t have the same issue with fabric softener though.

@MonkeyDance I'm wearing Clean - cotton t shirt perfume today

Wow I’m surprised with these comments! I don’t know anyone that doesn’t use it, we are in a hard water area though. And I’ve never smelt it on anyone’s clothes.

White vinegar instead of fabric softeners, used it for years, no smell, soft clothes, cheap as anything plus you can also clean glass and loos with it

I struggle with fragrance but I need fabric conditioner (London water). But no one has mentioned Ecover Zero. It's fragrance free conditioner. I use that and a sensitive washing powder and it comes out just smelling clean with no powerful smell.

I love the one I use but don’t like many others.
I use loads of the stuff. My washing smells gorgeous.

Use bio d, no none eco stuff here, even Ecover smells over powering.
Love the fact not overpowering, no need.
Write and tell them this, could upset some, I had a fragrance free washing liquid bio d and conditioner if needed fir anyone.
Currently I use bio d gentle lavender, hsrdky any fragrance

I didn't realise that a lot of people use it! I never have ; I like the feeling of "crunchy" clothes (one or two shakes and they're fine!), especially towels! Line dried, no-softener hard towels remind me of my honeymoon in Greece. I have complimented people on the smell of their clothing (for instance, if I'm helping a friend fold laundry). But, honestly, I didn't mean it! But it's sort of a glitch from brain to mouth "ugh what's that smell - oh, it's deliberate-change the ugh into something nice." I don't really like the smell of fabric softener - it catches in the back of my throat or sinuses or something. Wouldn't want to live with it.

Not read the full thread but if there's one thing you can do to improve your home, and general, environment, ditch the fabric conditioner. Not good for the washing machine either.

Most MNers don't like perfumed sanitary towels so presumably you don't want chemically "scented" knickers either.

I like fabric conditioner. I use about half the recommended amount on everything except towels. I also add a small amount if zoflora when washing underwear and towels. Our clothes don't'reek'.

@TwilightSkies

No you haven't, don't tell fibs. Nobody goes around telling people how nice their clothes smell.

Fucking hell. Yes people do compliment each other on how nice their clothes smell because lots of people like laundry scents!

No-one has complimented YOU because your clothes smell like vinegar and soda crystals. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Agree there is a guy in my work who’s clothes smell lovely

Totally agree especially on bed linen - makes me nauseous

White vinegar in with towels etc that’s my limit

I don’t use fabric conditioner - they all stink! I can’t sit next to a colleague who uses it as the smell is so bad.

Why does anyone use it? Do they not realise how it impacts on people around them?

They don't stink @Catlover77. You just don't like the smell. Sewage farms stink, pig farms stink, vomit stinks. Fabric conditioner doesn't stink. Don't be so melodramatic

@TwilightSkies

No you haven't, don't tell fibs. Nobody goes around telling people how nice their clothes smell.

Fucking hell. Yes people do compliment each other on how nice their clothes smell because lots of people like laundry scents!

No-one has complimented YOU because your clothes smell like vinegar and soda crystals. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Ha! I second this, not bragging or anything but lot’s of people over the years have complimented me on how nice my clothes smell and asked me what fabric conditioner I use! I do admit to having a fabric conditioner obsession though and I was happy when I found my new washing machine had a magic fabric conditioner booster button. Woo hoo!

@Ginfordinner

They don't stink *@Catlover77*. You just don't like the smell. Sewage farms stink, pig farms stink, vomit stinks. Fabric conditioner doesn't stink. Don't be so melodramatic

Sewage stinks, vomit stinks, fabric conditioner stinks. Hardly melodramatic, it’s just factual

@Catlover77

I don’t use fabric conditioner - they all stink! I can’t sit next to a colleague who uses it as the smell is so bad.

Why does anyone use it? Do they not realise how it impacts on people around them?

I’ll tell you what impacts on me, colleagues with bad breath, BO, unwashed clothes, smelly farts & burps and eating stinky food in communal areas. I’m not too keen on sitting next to them and I’ve sadly had the misfortune to be around a few of them. But maybe they are your preferred kind of smells? I don’t know. 🤷🏻‍♀️.
I’d much rather be around colleagues who actually take the trouble to keep themselves clean and wash their clothes. But that’s just me.

Fabric conditioner has been around for a long time but really took off in the 60s. Since then, however, modern detergents and washing machine technology means that it's not so necessary. Nowadays it really is used only for fragrance and is marketed heavily. It's not great for the environment, it certainly doesn't do towels any good and also helps to clog up your machine along with liquid detergent -you'll know when you start to find black flecks on your white washing.
I've gradually stopped bothering to use it. One of my family particularly likes perfumed laundry so I add zoflora to their loads. Otherwise nothing. No noticeable difference in softness - it was purely habit.

@SomeoneTellBorisHeHasDandruff
Actually, it is rather bad manners to smell heavily of perfume/fabric conditioner/febreze etc. It's a form of environmental pollution!

It sounds to me that the issue isn't that people use fabric conditioner, but that they use too much of it. I can honestly say that I have never smelled fabric conditioner on other people's clothes, and I know they do use the stuff.

I can only conclude that most mumsnetters on this thread must have friends who go overboard with the stuff or they have the nose of a bloodhound.