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!

@AuntyPasta

I’m sure a more environmentally friendly version would be popular but some people like their clothes to be scented, so even if fabric softener disappeared from shelves overnight there would be a demand for scented ironing water or stronger smelling washing powders instead.

But why? Why do people need their clothes to smell of anything at all? What is the purpose?

I loathe the stuff. Unscented and line dried here.

I don’t know? It’s not my thing. People used to put lavender bags in their dresser drawers and in laundry cupboards. It’s not a new thing.

I’m not a fan of fabric conditioner but have had hand-me down clothes that smell lovely. The kids notice it smells different and like it too. Even if I ask my friend what they’ve washed them in and buy the same product, it never smells the same.

I disagree that line-dried clothes always smell the best because when I bring in my dry clothes they’re usually stiff and smell vaguely of hamsters. It never smells of ‘fresh’ air. Maybe because I don’t live in the middle of a wild-flower meadow or a spruce forest, just plain old suburbia.

Let’s face it, the whole clothes-washing process has been dressed up to be this opportunity to bring freshness and even ecstasy to a monotonous, never-ending cycle of drudgery (although with washing machines we’ve got it easy these days) They feed into our neuroses of smelling bad and being unclean. None of the powders and liquids get rid of the stains and the grease like they say they do in the adverts (hardly ever in 1 wash anyway) Whites never shine out and stay bright. Blood stains are a bastard unless you wash stuff within 5 seconds of it touching the fabric. It’s all a big con.

Think of the creative minds and the millions of pounds that are dedicated to selling washing products globally. The pods, the crystals, the powders, the gels, the capsules etc... I remember learning that the advertiser’s parlance for your average domestic product commercial (for washing-up liquid, floor cleaners, washing powder etc.) was known as ‘2 c**ts in a kitchen’. Charming.

If I could outsource anything in my life it would be the washing, and the drying and the folding and the sorting and the nagging to put away, and put in the washing basket and pick up off the floor. And the ironing - although I try and avoid that where possible but have to look at the ironing board every day as it’s stood in my bedroom with piles of clothes on top. Oh for a utility room!

Rant over

I really dislike it too. Fairy is actually the worst, it really reeks when you’re not used to the stuff. Very successful marketing as so many people think it’s “gentle”.

I sometimes use vinegar, I order a pack of 5 canisters from Amazon to next to nothing. Occasionally I use Waitrose’s own fabric conditioner, it has a very faint pleasant smell and half of the recommended amount is enough to soften clothes.

My kids sometimes have forgotten clothing at their friends houses and when I receive them back, they always smell so strongly on fabric conditioner that I have to put them straight back to the washing basket for a re-wash. It is lovely that my friends have washed them but it just goes to show how much this stuff is over used.

They might be laundered by a company. If you booked it through an agency instead of the owner they stipulate white bedding and white towels then they replace, collect, launder and replace.

I hate it, hate the non-absorbent feeling it gives towels and feel that it's totally unnecessary to have that additional product. Also, loads more plastic waste, even if the bottles are recyclable plastic it would be better not to create that waste in the first place. Another thing that gets me is air freshener. I get that people are sometimes embarrassed about leaving a bad smell in the bathroom but really, poo and highly chemical fragrance is not better. Just open the window for a few minutes FFS.

I use the Method coconut one and it's lovely, and completely necessary as I live in a hard water area. I don't really care a great deal if anyone else is offended by the smell of it.

I agree on the smell (well stench). We use a little ecover non fragranced just to make things a little softer, especially if not tumble dried. But I hate the fragranced stuff!

Hideous fake smelling chemicals. Line dry for a proper fresh smelling wash (and saving the planet.)

Ditto air fresheners. Open the window folks!

I havee always preferred a not too strong smell (Waitrose pure) but Tbh I discovered my kids skin is not so sensitive these days so we use bold powder, the lavender and chamomile one.

Smells way nicer than the liquid of the allegedly same fragrance, bizarrely. Softer, soapier and less lavender/astringent.

Leaves clothes soft, no conditioner needed, in cardboard easy to recycle box and no sludge in my machine.

Wins all round.

horrid stuff.

stinks, adds unnecessarily chemicals to the laundry, clogs up the machines, and pollutes the environment.

needs banned.

It makes you Laundry feel like an army of slugs have been rolling on it.

Mine doesn't, it just smells nice.

@Pinnacular

It's unnecessary and terrible for the environment. Yet another triumph of marketing - create a need and make money. The planet would benefit enormously if people realised how they're being manipulated into needing all sorts of ridiculous things to make someone else money.

We were at a talk at a seabird centre where they said tiny pieces of plastic from clothes (it's in a lot of clothes that you wouldn't realise) get washed off in the machine and into the sea. One way to reduce this was to use fabric conditioner. There are more environmentally-friendly brands.

Never use it. Horrible stuff. I use eco-friendly washing liquid and no conditioner.

I have found my people.

I have never used fabric softener because of psoriasis and an allergy to an ingredient in a lot of perfumes, but I am increasingly intolerant to chemical smells since coming off of hormonal contraception. It's interesting.

I was running through some woods at lunchtime and I hit a patch that absolutely stunk of aftershave - there was no one within a 5 min radius of me! I hate to think what that person smelt like close up. I often smell fabric softener before a person is even that close.

Like that ad said, I think people do get "nose blind". When my DH gave up smoking, one of the things he was amazed at was how much he could smell! I had an office mate who smoked and used to reek of perfume, yet she would complain vociferously if someone had a fishy/garlicky lunch (it wasn't me, incidentally).

There was a really good AMA by someone who worked for one of the big detergent companies, think Proctor & Gamble etc..

They said that the biggest driver of sales is scent. They also said that without any added scents, detergents (powder, pods, fab con..) smell pretty awful by themselves. So they need to add something to counteract this.

Aunty The difference between some naturally picked lavender\flowers in a bag (which is often to deter moths not to make the clothes smell) Is like the difference between the modern industrially made perfumes (which are artificially created to stay on your skin) and pure organic essential oils.

Fabric conditioner should help your clothes last longer without looking worn out. Surcare do fragrance free fabric conditioner although I also find Supermarket own brands are not as strong smelling as the brand names.

Some of the replies on here are so dramatic they've actually given me a good laugh!

I made the mistake recently though of buyingLenor Gold- it is utterly vile- smells strongly of piss.

😂

Hate it. I want my clothes to smell of nothing. An item of my son’s uniform mistakenly went home with another child recently and the mum helpfully washed it before returning - reeling of fabric softener!!! Yuk.

I can always tell when someone DOES NOT use fabric softener. To me they smell VILE and HIDEOUS and I once had to ask my neighbour to start using it because their washing just STANK, the waft across my garden was quite obscene. One of my colleagues in the office doesn’t eat a high salt or sugar diet, doesn’t smoke and doesn’t drink but also doesn’t use fabric softener and I’ve had to speak to HR about moving desks because the smell is just so obnoxious. I can’t believe there are people who don’t use it I’m genuinely in shock that people are happily walking around stinking to high heaven of god knows what!