Fabric Softener

1. Heat a large pot of water (over 6 cups).
2. Mix 2 cups of conditioner with 6 cups of the hot water in a glass or metal bowl until all conditioner is dissolved.
3. Add 3 cups white vinegar and mix well.
4. Set aside to cool.
5. Take a clean cloth rag and place it into a large glass jar.
6. Pour cooled mix into jar over the rag.
7. Allow the rag to soak up the liquid.
8. Remove the rag and ring out the excess liquid into the jar. 
9. Cap the jar and save it for future use.
10. Hang the rag somewhere and allow it to dry completely.

Uses

I simply throw the dried rag into the dryer and each time I remove a load I dig through and throw it back into the dryer once more.  It can be a bitch to find in large loads but it is worth the savings both in cost and to the environment!  You can re-use the liquid left by re-soaking the rag and drying out again over and over until the liquid is gone.

Cost  

·         Conditioner: $1 for V05 bottle 15oz

·         Vinegar: $4 large bottle distilled white vinegar 64oz

For a total of $5 you can make a batch of fabric softener that you can soak a rag in up to 3 times and will last up to 40 loads each time with a total of 120 loads per batch.  You can then purchase up to 8 more conditioners for $8 and use them with the left over vinegar for a total of 9 batches, 27 soaks, 1080 loads.  Overall you can do up to 1080 loads of laundry for a total cost of $13 in fabric softener.

Savings

The more popular fabric softener sheets run approximately $7 for 160 sheets.  You would have to purchase 7 boxes to dry up to 1080 loads for a total of $49 compared to $13 for the same amount of loads with the homemade solution.