I have finally found a homemade fabric softener recipe that makes fabric softener like the real thing. I know you can use vinegar and I often have but I really like the smell and the extra softness that fabric softeners like Downy give you.
This recipe is also great for those of you who have started using our homemade shampoo recipe and have a bunch of conditioner to use up. With all the new yummy smells they have for shampoos and conditioners now you can have a different fun smelling laundry each week! This homemade fabric softener recipes takes less than 5 minutes to make so you can be using your for your laundry today and the best part is it costs about $.02 per load!
Homemade Fabric Softener
3 cups hot water
1 1/2 cups vinegar
1 cup hair conditioner
essential oils (optional)
Pour the conditioner into the hot water. Stir (don’t shake) and then add the vinegar. Pour into a gallon container. Use the same amount of the fabric softener as you would use of the store bought kind or moisten a rag and throw it in the dryer. You can put it in your Downy balls too.
- I found that the water has to be very hot to dissolve the conditioner. If it doesn’t dissolve just whisk it or warm up the water hotter in the microwave.
- If you do need to buy conditioner, something like Suave Lavender from the Dollar Tree works just fine.
- This homemade fabric softener recipe makes a half gallon and if you want to make less, you can easily half the recipe.
- Yes it does work in HE washers.
- For sensitive skin, you will just have to use plain vinegar. My son has horrible eczema and I can’t use anything with scents on his clothes, so vinegar it is!
Thanks so much! I tried plain vinegar but wanted something with a little scent. I’ll try this!
Does this make your clothes french fries? I have been very hesitant to try for fear of this…
What? Why would it make your clothes French Fries? No they just turn out nice and soft.
Thanks! I can’t wait to try this. lol, french fries?
Lol. Because of the vinegar. That smell always makes me think of french fries. lol
Too funny Shannon. We were having trouble figuring the french fry one out but now it makes sense. Don’t worry though usually when you use vinegar to rinse things (clothes, hair) the smell goes away and in this case you are using the conditioner with it so you get a really nice scent. Thanks for coming back and explaining cuz we were confused. : ) : )
LOL @FrenchFries
And now that’s all I can think of. I have never had my hair smell like vinegar after using as a rinse. Ditto with laundry.
So I can just put this in my Downy ball and forget about it? If this works, it will change my life! lol
Yes, you should be able to just put it in the Downy ball.
Yes you can use it in your downy ball and just as you would regular fabric softener. You can also put it on a wash rag and toss in the dry as a dryer sheet.
This is great!!! Oh, I started reading the “Pretty for Pennies” e-book that I won…It’s FABULOUS
Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 
Suave conditioner is a very mild product and added to the vinegar is a great idea as a fabric softener alternative.
Thanks!
Always trying new “frugal” ideas.
Patti Graham
[...] you’re like me and have never tried making your own own fabric softener, here’s a fabric softener recipe from Living on a Dime that’s very simple and inexpensive. Just white vinegar, hair conditioner, and hot water. Share [...]
How about homemade hair dye to get rid of the gray? Any idea’s? I like my hair light brown with no red.
Thanks, I have tried the homemade laundary soap but with my son’s sports clothes and towels still have an odor. I still buy fablic softner to help with that odor. I need to save every penny so I can get out of debt.
Hi Beth,
I found with store bought laundry soap that my sons/husband clothes and towels still stink…much less with homemade. I found that if you add a half cup of ammonia at the beginning of your wash, with your soap (store bought or homemade, takes care of all stinky problems. I couldn’t believe that it works and does not leave an ammonia scent. My son is a bed-wetter and it took the pee/ammonia scent out of his clothes on the first wash!
I can’t wait to try this. It just kills me to pay for fabric softener and I have used the vinegar and it works great but I miss the smell. I have to smell everything.
I’m like you Felicia I love the smell. When ever I think of the smell of my clothes I always remember a young 13 yr. old neighbor girl who came over to my house one day and smelt my clothes and said “Your clothes always smell so wonderful”. Why this meant so much was this girl was the oldest of 8, her mom had left them and her dad was gone most of the time drinking while she took care of the kids. It was like those sweet smelling sheets stood for something she dreamed about having some day – a real home with clean sheets and clean house.
We don’t always realize how much the little things we do for our family which may not seem important but can mean so much.
Sandra, when I first started to go gray, my mother asked me if I was going to pull out the few gray hairs. My reply: “I worked really hard for that gray hair, I’m keeping it.” Now I have a lot more of it, and I would also be interested in a safe, homemade color. I used to be a strawberry blond, and now what isn’t silver is dark dishwater blond.
To color brown hair naturally you can use 1 cup dried sage, or 2/3 cups dried sage and 1/3 cup dried rosemary and add 3 cups of water and boil. Then simmer for 20 minutes until liquid turns brownish. Cool and put in clean spray bottle and spritz on hair after washing each time you shampoo. It adds color gradually. Also, strong brewed tea adds color or strong brewed coffee. I’ve done this many times in the past.
Bea,
About this natural hair dye (sage or tea/coffee), how long does it last? How often does one typically need to do this to keep up the color?
Thanks for the idea; I’ve been going grey and not ready to embrace it, yet. ;o)
Nancy
I’m going to make this today using strawberry cream conditioner. I like the smell of strawberries, so this should turn out nice.
I made this last night and used it and my clothes smell nice.
[...] I originally found this fabric softener recipe from Living on a Dime [...]
I have been using the homemade fabric softener for a few weeks. It is a good substitute for the smelly stuff from the store and a lot less expensive.
I tried to make lavender fabric softener. The clothes came out nice and soft, but no smell. I used the correct measurements. Any ideas? I love the concept and plan on making my own detergent this weekend!!
Hum, I’m not sure. You might try a few drops of lavender oil added to it. BTW, that’s my favorite smell too!
Would I be able to omit the hair conditioner and just use the lavender oil? I have seen quite a few “recipes” for vinegar and essential oils only. Just curious.
You could Julie just use the vinegar and essential oils or you could use lavender scent conditioner too. Try the vinegar and oils if you don’t like the amount of softeness (sp) then add the conditioner.
What it really boils down to it the vinegar rinses all the residue and mineral build up out which can cause the clothes to be dingy and not as soft. The conditioner just coats the fibers and relaxes them a little for more softeness the oils of course just add scent.
I had no idea that vinegar worked as a fabric softener. I’ve been using it in my laundry lately because it can kill every bad smell I’ve encountered in our laundry. My husband’s work clothes had a smell that no amount of washing could get out and it had been driving me nuts! The first load with vinegar, and the smell was gone. It also works for pet smells, which is a huge deal for us as we’re still housetraining our 7 month old Great Dane. (No pun intended. lol)
I just ran out of my Snuggle fabric softener with one load of clothing to go. Ugh…I hate when that happens! So I decided to try to make my own. Thanks for the recipe. It literally took me minutes to whip up. I can’t wait to see how my clothes turn out. Thanks again!
Hi , I have followed this recipe and my clothes won’t come out soft, please help, I need soft! thankyou
Sally you may have to adjust it and add more to your wash. So often it depends on how hard your water is in how these things work. I have in times past used a cup of borax with my softener because borax and that type of thing is really the only thing I have found that helps with super hard water to soften things.
To be honest we have tons of readers who love this and many of our homemade recipes and use them for different reasons and they work great for them but I personally use regular store bought fabric softener because it works and smells best to me but that is just my personal preference.
Just an idea – try using distilled water when you mix up your fabric softener. If you use your tap or well water, it will probably contain some minerals, which is what you’re trying to get away from. Using distilled water in the recipes for laundry soap and fabric softener might make the difference – just an educated guess from someone who know just enough chemistry to be dangerous!
Thanks for answering so quicky. I never had a problem when I used regular softener. I just really wanted that to work. I make homemade detergent and I love it. I have ajusted it ,but still not soft. Thanks so much and have a blessed day!
This recipe makes 5.5 cups. How does that add up to a half gallon?
It is a couple 2 cups shy of a half of gallon but for some reason most of the recipes out there say this. I think part of it is that a whole recipe of this mixes easier in a gallon jug and it is close enough they say a gallon or in the case of ours where we halved the recipe a half a gallon.
Thanks so much for posting the recipe for the fabric softener. I will now be able to use fabric softener. I have not been able to before because what you buy at the store ahs fragrances to it and with my C O P D and allergies I could not use them.
I made it today. I love it. I have been using only vinegar and essential oils but the conditioner really adds a lot of softness.
I borrowed a saver from the Duggar website. If you are using store bought fabric softener you can mix it half and half with water to double your product. You can also take a package of 2 cheap sponges (the kind that don’t have scrub surfaces on them) cut them in half and drop them in your fabric softener. Use them like dryer sheets, just squeeze the excess out and toss in the dryer and dry as usual. This one really stretches a bottle of fabric softener.
If you are trying to get natural, and remove chemicals, isn’t the hair conditioner a chemical?
We aren’t pushing going natural or removing chemicals but how to save money and not waste things. We had people who went poo free and were needing ways to use up some of their conditioners.
I am happy to have found this it will save alot of money. Thank you.
Is it ACV or white vinegar for the fabric softner?
white vinegar
I love this recipe! It isn’t as heavy of a softner as Downey so I can use it on my towels to soften them up a bit without the heavy coating that some store bought softners leave. I use VO5 Vanilla Mint Tea condition which leaves a light spa-like scent.
Where do you find essential oils?
Health food stores and online.
You can even find them now in the craft department at WalMart