How much fabric conditioner do you all use?

[Tostartagain]

Just wondering as I see other people say that they don't use it but have to here as very hard water and things feel rough without. I only use a capful for say a 5kg wash but the bottle suggests using a little less. My Mum done my washing for me once, I noticed her just pouring it out the bottle into the draw, my clothes stank of the stuff!

My MIL likes to be 'helpful' by doing the washing when she is visiting. I know which loads she has done because the clothes are stiff as boards and smell yuk.

OTOH I can't bear it when my own mum washes clothes because she pours in heaps of fabric conditioner like previous posters. Then the washing feels slimey and smells nauseatingly strong. I guess I'm just fussy!

We dont use any. I hate that slightly slimey feel you get on towels when you use it and it reduces the absobency of the towels. If you've got stiff cardboardy towels, a 10 second steam iron will sort that.

Yes Soda Crystals are on sale in supermarkets - usually around £1 for a packet.

www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=285047163

baby, you don't have to dry your towels in the drier - dried outside or inside if the heating is on and then literally a few mins with those bobbly drier balls and they no longer resemble cardboard.

Do drier balls make things dry quicker? Only ever use my drier for sheets and towels.

I only use it for bedding/towels in the winter too, apart from things like padded gilets that need to go in there to fluff up the filling - not sure about drying quicker but anything that has dried like cardboard softens up in less than 5 mins max with the balls - can save on ironing too - not that I do much of that tbh.

I used to work in the laundry products lab for Proctor and Gamble. One of my jobs was to make white fabric dingy so that whitening agents could be tested. I'd wash squares of white cotton in a mixture of dirt substances like clay, bbq sauce, vegetable oil, etc....and fabric softener was a key ingredient in the mix... It makes clothes dingy.

I also prepared fabric for testing softeners... And removing the stuff from test swatches took repeated washes with special chemicals.

It reduces absorbency and breathability of fabrics and makes them dingy.

None of the people who worked in the lab would use the stuff at home.

That said, for best results, follow the instructions on the packaging. A product developer told me that getting consumers to use products correctly for optimum results was a struggle. (We used scales and pipettes for measuring every variable in the lab.) P&G (and I'm sure Unilever, etc) will provide you with information on the best amounts for your local water.)

Ecover flowers. Someone on here recommended it a few years ago as one which is really light and has a very mild fresh fragrance and I've never looked back. A capful is lovely.

I rarely use it (I live in a moderately hard water area). Definitely not for towels as it works by coating the fibres and this stops towels from being as absorbent. I do always tumble dry towels though so that softens them. From my cloth nappy days I think that a small amount of white vinegar in the wash also helps soften fabric.

None but soft water area and my mum never did so it never occurred to me. My mil uses the yellow Lenor stuff and it has such a strong smell which I really dislike so I am not tempted to try it. I smell it as soon as I walk in the door of her house. Two washes in and I can still smell it on the kids clothes she washed. Also her towel won't absorb water I end up smearing it round my skin and mostly air drying.

It seems more people don't use it than who do then. I don't think I could give it up though.

None and I've lived in the areas with the hardest water. It doesn't do anything other than smell. It doesn't make clothes any softer but it does stop towels being absorbent and make your washing machine work less well.

If I want soft towels I put them in the dryer. If it's dry enough for line drying I put them in for 20 mins to fluff them up.