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!

I use comfort pure, it hardly smells at all. It helps keep down static if you use a dryer especially with man made fibres. I don’t use it on towels

Can’t get enough of the stuff, nothing better than sheets washed in comfort pure😍😍

OP has soft water so her washing will be ok anyway, a lot of the country has horrible hard water so cannot be compared

Used to by fairy non bio powder, blocked our washing so switched to the same but capsules - the smell is so strong! And it’s not as environmentally friendly - plastic containers and capsules versus cardboard box.
Is there something in between the two?

*buy

noworklifebalance do you run any high temperature washes or service washes regularly?

I use Fairy non bio for colours, and have never had this problem in my 17 year old washing machine. However, I wash my whites at 60 degrees with bio powder, and do an occasional service wash at 90 degrees with some soda crystals to clean my machine.

I’m with @Bojheybuddy- white vinegar in the fabric conditioner compartment. Helps rinse out any washing powder residue and leaves your clothes lovely and soft. And no, they definitely don’t smell of vinegar. Keeps your washing machine clean too. Also great as rinse aid in the dishwasher.

@Ginfordinner - thanks for your reply! I wash my towels on 90deg weekly and use soda crystals with almost every wash.
I think a clump of powder got stuck in the pipe from the drawer to the drum - water then poured out of the drawer, tripped the electrics and caused £600 worth of damage. I frequently use a delay timer for the washing machine to run over night or whilst we are at work and so can’t afford to have that happen again whilst we are not at home/awake!

@Flylilly - any particular white vinegar? Presume this is different to white wine vinegar? I only use balsamic vinegar (on food not washing!) so not familiar with all the others

YANBU. I hate strong smelling washing powder AND softener. It overwhelms my senses and just feels ‘chemically’ and carcinogenic.
I used to work in a school and I felt so sorry for the kids who came in every day reeking of the stuff. They can’t escape it!
I use Ecover Zero powder (unscented) and a tiny splash of an eco brand softener with a very subtle scent.
The big brands are awful.

I used to use it but not anymore.I got so sick of cleaning all the black gunk from my washing machines, I have been through a few in my time, till someone told me it is caused by a build up of fabric conditioner.
I got a lovely new, very expensive washer earlier this year to replace the latest cheap one that had died.I was determined not to spoil it with fabric conditioner and now have a spotless clean washer with no sign of horrible black stuff.To be truthful I have not noticed much difference in the clothes, even the ironing .

White vinegar is an amazing substitute - it's cheap, kills all germs and odours, softens your clothes and keeps the machine clean. It'll get the residue conditioner out for those asking about borrowed/second hand clothing.

I think the people saying "ooooh my clothes smell so clean and so fresh" are just seduced by the marketing.

The advertisers tell you that if you can smell their product on your laundry, then it's "clean" or "fresh". That clean or fresh literally means the scent of their product. And they've been telling you for years. People are so conditioned (no pun intended) into this train of thought that any items which don't smell of conditioner are dirty/stinky.

Also why companies sell scent boosters or whatever - so that your laundry smells of chemicals for longer, and is therefore uber-clean. All those ads with a woman (and it's always a woman, never a man), taking a blanket out of a cupboard and remarking how the scent stays there for UP TO FOUR WEEKS! Yuk.

I live in a hard water area and never use fabric conditioner

It's fine

I think the people saying "ooooh my clothes smell so clean and so fresh" are just seduced by the marketing.

I don't. I think the really, genuinely like the smell. You need to accept that there are some things in life you think are VILE, that other people don't.

Just like I accept that other people like eating parsnips and mussels. I think they both taste horrible, but I don't get hystercial about it.

I think the people saying "ooooh my clothes smell so clean and so fresh" are just seduced by the marketing.

Christ. Is it so hard to believe that other people like something you don't?

I not sure why people are so bothered about what others do, some use loads of bleach and Zoflora in their kitchens but that is up to them if they don’t mind the smell, I wouldn’t expect to ban Zoflora. If you don’t like what holiday places use, don’t go, no one is forcing you.

No, don't be silly. I recognise that an item of clothing which is clean but unscented is not dirty.

I just like the smell. There is nothing wrong with being different.

I love it. I don't buy it so my washing smells 'clean' I buy it for bed sheets so they smell nice. I don't use on clothes as it conflicts with perfume which I also love.

Id far rather someone smell of fabric conditioner than body odour, which is what a lot of people seem to smell of.

If you don’t like what holiday places use, don’t go, no one is forcing you.

How are you supposed to know this in advance?

Body odour is often because the clothes are manmade,. You can't wash them at hot enough temps to destroy it. You have to scrub the area and or soak before washing.

White vinegar not only softens but also helps deepens the colour of cottons. I use it and my clothes NEVER smell of vinegar.

That nasty conditioner smell just COVERS the B.O. it doesn't remove it.

The body odour can be removed by the vinegar because the manmade clothes wash better at a lower temperature with it.

If you don’t like what holiday places use, don’t go, no one is forcing you.

many holiday places use laundry services which boil wash and 'only' use detergent.
ime it's only the places that wash themselves that use softener.

Agreed! I've never understood fabric conditioner! WHY would anyone want MORE chemicals next to their skin?

I wash with those laundry pod things (usually Ariel), and then immediately hang to dry.

pinkbalcony and zingally I reckon that 'normal' detergents\liquids have smelly chemical 'perfumes' put in them too.

Even the 'natural' ones like Ecover, I just don't get it.