i have no white vinegar, what can i use in washing machine?

[booyhoo]

as a fabric softener i mean. i only use vinegar so i dont have any of the other either. anything else i can use?

If you're feeling flush, white wine works. Both are basically dilute acetic acid.

you can use vinegar as softener? Wow never knew that. Do you put it in neat?

yep put it in neat, works lovely with my towels. don't drink wine so none in the house.

Boo - sounds good, what do the towels smell like though? Detergent?

well, i never notice a detergent smell of my clothes anyway, but vinegar is a deodoriser so that could be why. definitely no vinegar smell though.

I've never heard of using white vinegar as a fabric softener. How much do you put in? Same as a dose of fabric softener?

i pour up to the max fill level on the machine. well that is for a full load. i have a book of 1001 uses of vinegar. very interesting...or not depending on how sad you are i am very sad.

bicarbonate of soda if you have any

Drop of hair conditioner?

Or a clean toddler shoe or tennis ball will have a simolar effect as an eco ball thingy apparently

i have bicarb and i also have two of those tumble drier balls, would they do?

bicarb, or soda crystals if you have any.

Or none, and let them get wet on the line in the rain. Works a treat!

I'm definitely trying white vinegar in the washing machine tomorrow. Any other interesting household tips booyhoo?

emm apparently vinegar is also effective at preventing colour run. put it into the washing machine drum itself and use a cold wash. but then surely a cold wash would prevent colour run anyway?

ooh, also removes the white marks from letting a hem down.

Someone's already mentioned it but Bicarb is brilliant. It's dirt cheap and can be used for all sorts (apart from as a fabric conditioner). It will remove stains (it will clean a stainless steel sink like nothing else), you can brush your teeth with it, plus mixed in hot water with a spoonful of sugar it is one of the best upset tummy remedies I've ever come across (and it was a pharmacist who told me to try it and not waste my money on expensive pharmaceutical products).

i also have the arm and hammer pure baking soda book with over 100 helpful household hints

i really am that sad.

Ok, while we're at it, does vinegar work on red wine stains - just got back from a do and my white trousers are stained.

the book doesn't specify red wine but it does say it can be used as stain remover. 1 part white vinegar to 7 parts water. saturate stain, let it soeak for a few minutes then blot. although with red wine on white trousers you might be there a while.

I dunno about red wine stains, but I can tell you that milk gets biro marks off. I once walked to work in a pale pink top with a biro in my pocket and as I walked the pen was swinging back and forth drawing lines like a friggin' spyro gyro.

A woman I worked with told me to soak it in milk ... and it worked!!

wow, that's a good one to remember. ds is always drawing on himself.

my wasing machine is very smelly. I have tried a hot wash but this did nothing to stop the smell.I read somewhere that the use of Liqitabs and liquid detergent's could be a cause and that we need to use traditional powders more frequently. Also,Calgon has corrosives in it so be carefull about using it too often.

I used an elderly bottle of white wine vinegar on three washes today and they all came out as soft as when I use fabric softener. Thanks for that one, booyhoo!

And soaking biro stains in milk is definitely one to remember, fontella.

This may be a silly question, but could you use white vinegar as a fabric softener on baby clothes?