'Most millennials aren't buying enough of our shit and that's a HUGE PROBLEM that all of you definitely care about!'
That's some pretty useful advice in the comments tho. But also I'm 52 years old and have literally never used fabric softener in my life and have no idea what it's supposed to be for other than making companies like Proctor & Gamble even more money.
Also, another handy tip: 'lather, rinse, repeat' is bullshit, unless you have really thick or really oily hair and don't wash regularly, you don't need to wash it twice, the shampoo company just wants you to buy more. Same with fill marks in a washing machine, unless you're doing a huge load there's no reason to fill it all the way up.
Even washing hair regularly is a scam. If you wash once a week your hair will be fine. It'll look like shit for a few weeks until your scalp gets the message that you aren't stripping away all the natural oils still and that it can cut back on oil production but afterwards your hair will be healthier.
The oil glands (which are known as sebaceous glands, and produce an oil called "sebum") are controlled by genetics, hormones, and stress. Sebaceous glands don't have any sort of "sensor" to tell them when to produce more/less oil, so washing or not washing won't make a difference.
Thank you. I have extra oily hair so if I skip washing it even a single day it starts to look like I'm using pomade, and whenever I tell people this they always insist I should just wash it once a week and my head will "adjust."
I am the exact same, friend. My hair becomes a big oil slick after only a day without washing and it's really obvious. Which is part of why this particular myth bothers me so much.
First, as teens, we had uninformed randos without oily skin telling us to heal our acne problems by putting nonsense like toothpaste and silly putty on our faces. Now, those same uninformed, non-oily randos tell us that our greasy hair can be solved by not washing it.
But my dermatologist was right about the acne care they recommended, I'm inclined to trust them about my scalp care too.
Yep, I had really bad acne when I was younger and the only thing that worked was isotretinoin, which is rough. My lips cracked and bled while I was taking that but when I was finished the acne was gone.
They made me pledge not to get pregnant while taking it despite the fact that I don't have a uterus, lol.
No, your hair stops becoming greasy. That's the point. It gets that way because you're stripping the oils, so it produces more to replinish it. If you stop then your scalp eventually adjusts and stops producing much oil.
People think greasy hair is just what happens, but no. It's what happens when you've been stripping your hair dry for years and your scalp is trying it's best to fix the problems you're causing. Stop causing problems and it'll normalize.
I wash with water frequently, but when I really need a good clean I wash with conditioner. The oils bind and are removed but your hair will be refreshed. I rarely wash with shampoo, for years at this point, and my hair isn't greasy. It just feels healthy.
It’s what happens when you’ve been stripping your hair dry for years and your scalp is trying it’s best to fix the problems you’re causing. Stop causing problems and it’ll normalize.
Please do explain how an exocrine gland on the scalp is supposed to know how much oil is on a strand of dead hair cells, located inches away from the skin?
I think that it's because the scalp itself gets dried out from too much washing, so the glands respond to that.
When the scalp skin "normalizes" the hair slowly normalizes as well, since the oil travels down the strands.
That's my guess. I went from shampooing daily to every other day and at first I would get an itchy, gummy scalp. But eventually that gummyness worked it's way out. Every time I shampooed I would get that dry, gummy scalp the next day.
So eventually I shampooed less and less. Now I don't shampoo at all. I just rinse daily with water and massage my scalp.
It doesn't know. That's stupid. I assume if it's cleared by shampoo then it has an easier time excreting more. It could also be that shampoo causes it to produce more in some way chemically, or that the oil shielded it from something that causes it to produce more. I don't know the mechanics of it, and I don't think there's been any research into it. All I can say is that my scalp seems to have stopped producing as much oil when I changed how I clean my hair.
I've seen one person post one article saying it isn't real. I read it. It doesn't have any research behind it. It only makes claims like the glands not having sensors. Sure, but many parts of our body perform differently based on different circumstances without sensors. To dismiss all the people with experience with no experience or evidence is pretty short-sighted. I'm sure that doctor is intelligent and knows her stuff to some extent, but she overreached with her conclusion without doing any analysis.
I can assure you my gf and I both invalidated this assumption during the covid19 lockdown. I have a friend who has thick grey hair and he never ever washes it. I guess we are all different on that matter because I can't even skip a single day (it gets scratchy and my skin starts to fall appart), as others testified in the comments.
I gotta wash mine twice(when i do wash it), but that's because of the extra oils I put in my hair. The first wash absorbs so much of the oil it won't really even lather.
I've literally never put oil in my hair in my life (tho now I say that I dunno if shampoo/conditioner has oil in it. Probably.) It's looked fine this whole time.
I've probably had pretty long hair for longer than you've been alive. If you have long hair and wanting it to look not crazy without tying it up, you're putting something in it. Whether it's leave in conditioner, or fiber or pomade or gel or hairspray or some type of oil or you manage to skip all that by straightening it all the time; you're putting something in it or doing something to it. Very few people have an exception to this. Namely people who have very straight, limp hair.
I'm in my 50s so color me skeptical on that count, but fair enough. ;) But yeah, I've never been able to grow my hair out and keep it that way even though I do have very straight, limp hair just because it was always a pain to wash and care for and I just didn't care enough.
I learned that from Lizzie McGuire. Ethan Craft, the character frequently noted to have amazing hair, calls the "lather, rinse, repeat" thing a marketting trick.
I've had a box of fabric sheets for a decade or so cause my mom got them for me when she house sat, and I didn't have any. I sometimes use em if there are sparks when I pull something out of the dryer, and i don't forget i have them.
Cotton and mostly-cotton blends don't get that much static but nylon, polyester, and bamboo/rayon/microfiber make sparks. If you're trying to wash pet hair out of something, the softener can help it let go. Although, before you wash, try using a squeegee or a silicone bowl-scraper to remove most of the hair.
You can just use white vinegar instead of fabric softener. It's significantly cheaper, can be used for other non-laundry things, eliminates odors, and doesn't gum up your washing machine with residue.
Further advice, don't use a lot of it. You'll see videos on youtube of people pouring like three cups of vinegar in their washing machine, don't do that. You only need a splash of it. If you use too much, the acid will eat away at the rubber gaskets and shit
You definitely don't need that much vinigar. That said most new washing machine are using a chemical resistant silicone or TPE instead of more traditional rubber compound. This eliminated the already miniscule risk of acid damaging the seals.
If you add 3 cups(about 700 mL) of standard 5% acetic acid bleach to 4 gallons of water(~ 15000 mL) you end up with a 0.2% acetic acid you will end up with a pH of something like 5.5 or about the pH of healthy skin. A lot of HE washers will use a 5 gallon initial wash so it's likely to be even gentler than what I came up with in my rough napkin math guesstamate.
While I agree with the general sentiment, the vinegar won't be released and diluted until later in the load, so it sits in its full 5% acetic acid glory for quite a while.
Most(maybe all) HE washers don't have mechanical flaps that hold back the liquids, they sit in plastic cups that empty by an overflow or auto syphon system when water comes out of a tube located above that tub or cup. It's a fancy plastic cup. Every plastic common to appliance manufacturing is resistant to 5% acetic acid.
Chemical resistance of plastics chart
I just looked at the fabric softener cup in my washer, it's HDPE(high density polyethylene). If you look at that chart you will see polyethylene is resistant to even concentrated acetic acid. The plastic bottle the vinigar comes in is made from a lower density polyethylene.
By the time the vinigar leaves the cup is already being diluted by the fill water causing it to overflow or start the auto syphon. It will not damage your washer, but even if it did, you can buy replacements for the entire soap tray for relatively little online. The same can be said for most other appliance parts with the notable exceptions being large motors and some brands control boards. There are tons of write ups, tutorials and videos on how to fix broken appliances and replace parts.
Yes, I was just being pedantic. Sorry to have triggered such an involved response, but thanks for all the information! From what I understand this is more of a problem in dishwashers, if you want to use it as rinse aid.
Yeah I'm not putting all that effort and potentially ruining my washing machine to save me a few cents per wash. That seems ridiculous.
You don't even have to buy the fancy, expensive, in a pod detergent or anything, considering they always contain the same stuff that comes in a box/bottle. Just buy whatever's cheap.
Yea, making your own laundry detergent from grated soap and borax seems like something people with money do to convince themselves they're frugal. When in reality, there is no way in hell you're making a commodity cheaper than GreatValue (tm)
Yeah, the cheap standard powder detergent would probably be less expensive. The volume you'd need to make to beat it is huge. Like, maybe five years' worth.
I am also laughing at making washing powder in the oven to save money. The amount you'd spend on electricity would put you in the red, unless you live in a petrostate with free electricity or something.
The amount of free time you'd have to have, as well, to even consider baking the powder for an hour per round to make it usable... After a certain point my time is valuable to me and I'd rather just pay a dollar or two extra to not have to worry about all this mess.
Lol yeah I didn't even consider that. At this point it almost feels like some of that has to be trolling. Either that or there is a large detergent hobbyist community out there that I have just not been aware of.
I'm not sold on that homemade detergent. Soap tends to leave insoluble residue, especially when you have hard water. There is a reason why almost everything uses synthetic detergents (though it might also be because those are cheap).
Yeah, I've never understood the point in using a different soap as the base of a different soap. I make my own laundry soap out of basic shit I get from Walmart, and it works great.
Good question, but I'll admit I've not actually run the exact figures. I'm actually doing this for health reasons rather than monetary, since one of my partners is allergic tio life.
But to your question,I might have spent the cost of 1.5 large boxes of laundry detergent ($30) for the 4 items that go into it (Baking soda,Epson salt,washing soda,sea salt), but given the fact I can buy in bulk, I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being cheaper. In the last 6mo I've made the laundry soap twice and haven't put a huge dent in my ingredient stock. I wouldn't be surprised to find I get more than 200 washes out of the base ingredients, which would definitely be more economical than the premade stuff.
I’ve read that the homemade laundry soap is actually soap, not detergent, and that it will over time ruin your machine.
So, I’ve just continued buying laundry detergent and have just used a fraction of what the instructions advise. It’s worked for me. I don’t buy softener or sheets. Couldn’t afford it if I wanted to. But I do have oxyclean on hand only for when I’ve forgotten a load in the washer until it’s stinky or when I wash the dog bed covers or whatever.
Yeah.... Especially if you have a high efficiency machine. Washing machines use a lot less water than back when these "recipes" were actually practical. So if you utilize shaved bar soap and borax, you're not only going to be leaving residue to build up in your machine, you're going to have it build up in your clothes as well.
Also, a lot of people are sensitive to borax. The reason they don't use it in regular detergent as an agitator is because it can cause rashes for a large percentage of the population.
Regular laundry detergent leaves residue as well, that's why a lot of washers have self clean cycles.
Vinegar will cut most residues from a washer. It's one of the reasons it works as a softener, it removes detergent residue and minerals from hard water to make your clothes soft. As a side note a lot fabric softeners does the same thing by coating this fibres of the clothes in refined beef fat.
If you want a really clean machine (specific to most HE washers) put half a teaspoon of TSP(trisodium phosphate) in the empty drum of the machine and another half teaspoon where you put your detergent, fill the bleach cup and the fabric softener cup with vinegar. Set the machine to run a pre wash cycle then a heavy duty cycle on the hottest water temp(if there is a hot tap that is after your clothes washer in the pipeline, you can run that tap until it gets hot before starting the washer. HE washers use a lot less water so most of the time they are filling with cold water before the hot water rescues the machine) and as many extra rinses as your machine will allow.
After the TSP removes most of the residue, it's rinsed away and then the bleach cup of vinigar is released with the next rinse cycle. Since TSP is basic and the vinegar is acidic they react and the TSP is neutralized, this may lead to some deposits of various salts(depending on the exact reaction ratio, if there is an excess of vinigar then the acidic solution will help prevent the salts from depositing.
When the fabric softener cup of vinigar is released in the next rinse we ensure that all acidic solution is flushed through the machine. This again will help with any salt deposits and help clean any of the remaining residue that reacts better to the acidic solution.
Any extra rinses after that help make sure that anything that can be washed away will be. Your washer will be very clean inside.
TSP can be purchased at the hardware store for cleaning surfaces before you paint them, just make sure it's actually TSP and not a TSP replacement. Half a teaspoon of TSP in with your dish soap will make you love your dishwasher again. A little goes a long way, and using less TSP is more likely to give you a good result than using more.
That enormous rant aside, I have used homemade laundry soap recipes in several HE machines including two combination washer dryers(where the washing drum is the same as the drying drum, looks like a single HE machine, not a stacked washer and dryer) and in general those machines have more residue problems. I haven't really had any issues. That might be related to the fact that I do not put an excess of soap or detergent into the machine, again often less is more, and if you need better cleaning it's better to do a prewash cycle than add more detergent into the main cycle. More detergent =/= better cleaning, just more residue. Try washing a dish by hand with only liquid dish soap, no water, no damp sponge, just soap and a dry brush or dishcloth. While this is an extreme example, it does help illustrate that detergents or soaps allow grease and grime to be dissolved into water, and that's what allows it to clean effectively, the soap or detergent is just there to get stuff into the water.
I grew up watching my Mother make "laundry soap" from scratch as a kid. She would make a batch every fall from basically the tallow from the cow we home butchered for the winter and lye. I still remember that brown colored hard lump of soap and the wringer/washer she had. She would carve thin pieces off into the tub while it was agitating wait for a few minutes, then toss the clothes in to wash tub. There was no fancy detergent metering devices or small amounts of water. Even her first modern "spin dry" washer didn't have detergent dispensers. You simply poured the detergent directly on top of the clothes in the tub.
Modern washers are designed specifically to use liquid soaps or the pods. Though when using powders by pouring them directly into the tub won't cause anymore harm to the machine than any liquid will. Though you should probably use a longer wash cycle to make sure the powder dissolves completely. Back in the day, wash cycles were noticeably longer.
It's worse. Fabric softener is composed of an anti static oil. When you run it in the laundry, it coats all of your clothes with a very thin layer of oil.
Which is why towels dried with fabric softener and dryer sheets don't absorb water anywhere near as well as plain towels dried without it!!
My mom complained to me for years that I wasn't "doing it right" by not using fabric softener. But her towels are useless compared to mine! She continues to spends $100/ year on fabric softener while on social security. Over the year she has spent thousands and thousands of $$$. 🤦♀️
This is pure conjecture, but my guess is that the film of fabric softener left on the clothes would interfere with the fire retardant fibers/may be flammable itself.
From my understanding, the old fire gear I wore as a much younger man, the fabric was treated with special chemicals that could be washed out if not laundered correctly.
Yes, and it will even say so right on the tags. At least it did on the 35 year old bunker gear I wore when I was young and a volunteer fireman in my small rural town. They had special washing instructions right on a big tag sewn on the inside to the coat and pants.
I can't imagine baking baking soda in an oven is cheaper than just buying washing soda? They're both sold in similar size bags (1kg) for similar prices in my area (€9-€10). Seems like a waste of energy to buy the wrong type of carbonate.
That homemade laundry soap made with bar soap would be a nightmare in hard water. I don't even want to think about soap scum in the drains and in my clothes.
I just use the smallest amount of detergent I can get out of the bottle, that works well. And don't wash a garment after wearing it once if it's not underwear. Invested in a lot of Merino stuff which manages to be comfortable even here in Florida and doesn't stink ever. I can wear those shirts and just hang them back up.
My favorite is the Tide Free and Clear commercial where the kid goes "look dad, it's just as clean but without any of the chemicals that harm me!" They're literally admitting their core product contains harmful chemicals yet people are still buying it!
That mentality is why I use a safety razor. Buy one and you'll only spend a few dollars a decade on shaving blades and have a better shave. A lot of things in life are useless fluff that we only do because companies want us to do it since it's profitable.
I bought a Leaf Razor from an EU reseller about a year ago now and it was a game changer for head shaving with safety razor blades.
The head of the handle pivots so it's very difficult to cut myself with it accidentally unlike the regular handle I was using before.
I'm hesitant to share a link because I don't want to seem like a shill for a company I don't know much about but just wanted to say there are options out there!
I have a mole on the top of my head, multi blade razors glide over it, my safety razor is how i found out I had it: sharp pain and suddenly being covered in so much blood I could smell it.
I use a trimmer now, never really cared for a close shave and I often leave it for a couple of weeks. I found a razor just got clogged up too much between the blades.
Annoyingly the trimmer I have seems to vary in power, the motor charges speeds a lot during use. I think it might be a poor connection on the AA batteries, surface might have tarnished. Did think of soldering some wires on and connecting it to an extra battery, better connection and higher voltage. Overclock shaving!
I found a razor just got clogged up too much between the blades.
You might have better luck with one of those bog-standard single-blade safety razors, i.e. one of these:
I've heard from a hairdresser that they prefer the single-blade ones, specifically because the multi-blade ones clog up so much.
I mean, currently I also use a trimmer for my face, as I cannot be asked to do a wet shave every day. But I still use the safety razor for cutting back armpits and groin for hygiene reasons, and it works quite well for that. It's a lot less scary when you don't have to cut thick beard hair.
I did also consider that option but I don't really feel a need for a shave that close. I know using the multiblade razors left my skin feeling a bit uncomfortable after, not sure if safety razors do as well. Trimmer doesn't at all.
Yeah, they probably will leave your skin feeling uncomfortable. Many seem to consider shaving cream and whatnot a strict requirement. That's also part of the reason why I still use a trimmer for my face, too.
I have a rechargeable trimmer. Like you, I'm never going for that ultra-close shave. I have fairly light/thin facial hair though, so the 5 o'clock shadow looks works well for me.
Mine uses AA batteries rather than a built in lithium one, my hope was that it would mean it lasts longer as I can just swap NiMH batteries as I feel like it rather than having to throw out the entire thing when the lithium battery dies. Also its cheaper as it doesn't come with batteries and charging circuitry.
I do oil and clean it, I live in the UK so we don't normally have sockets in bathrooms. Getting one of those special ones installed would probably cost quite a bit.
I use the throwaway safety razors that you can buy a bag for a few euros. I get a close shave and it costs very little. I've wanted buy a more expensive one, that style where you can get cheap replacement blades, but I've always hesitated because, you know, what if it is shit. Then I've wasted like a few year's shaving budget on it. Would make for less waste though.
I don't know about needing to make your own detergent. But using dry detergent would be a drastic improvement in cost compared to what most people do because if you're buying liquid detergent, most of what you're buying is water.
I started using the dry stuff years ago and it works great. Also, if the clothes are not really dirty i.e. have literally dirt stains on them, you need surprisingly little detergent. Same goes for the dishwasher.
Problem with the powder is not all of it dissolves, especially at 30C. End up with crusty baked on powder around the dispenser. Maybe dissolve in a little water and then treat it like liquid detergent? Might try that
That is very store dependent. Last time I checked, my local grocery store only had premium brand dry detergent but had discount brand liquid detergent that was cheaper than store brand (which is what I use). I did the math, and the price per load on the dry detergent was not that good. Obviously, my math assumes that the advertised loads per package is true (which is assuredly not the case) or, at least, that brands have the same degree of inflation in their figure.
There's more than one store to buy such things at, try Home Depot for instance, they even carry the stuff in bulk. And online purchasing exists so you're not relegated to just that option.
If you believe being independent is more important, then more power to you. But even "making your own" you're dependent on getting the baking soda and soap from stores as well so it's really just a matter of how much you need to save and how far you're willing to go to secure that savings.
You don't need to go up to 400°F to decompose baking soda into washing soda. Decomposition starts around 122⁰F (50⁰C) and is complete at around 250⁰F (120⁰C)
Depending on the thickness you put in the pan you may want to put the oven around 300⁰F so to speed up the process.
You can safely go to higher temperature as it won't ever be overcooked.
Heating to transform (baking soda) sodium bicarbonate into (washing soda) sodium carbonate does remove moisture but also removes carbon dioxide :
When sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) is heated, it undergoes a decomposition reaction to form sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), water (H2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2).
The reaction can be represented as :
2NaHCO3 + heat → Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2
:::
P = = oven average power ~1kW=1/1000MW
C = = electricity cost ~50 to 200 $/MWh
Δt = = process time duration ~1.0h
Total = P x C x Δt
... so, a few cents maximum, right ?
... it's more the time and effort you put in !
You can also do it in a pan on the stove top. Basically just heat up the baking soda over medium-ish heat. Once it gets hot enough, it'll "bubble" as the carbon dioxide and water is driven off as gas. Once it stops "bubbling", it's done. It's a bit faster than the oven method, but it's more active since you have to stir it regularly.
You can also weigh the powder before and after heating it to see if it's fully converted* to washing soda. The resulting washing soda should weigh about 1/3 less than the starting amount of baking soda.
I buy a Eco friendly and very affordable detergent from Costco. I need to use such a small amount even for a large load the jug lasts seemingly forever. So I don't feel the need to do up a homemade detergent.
When it come to softener though. Vinegar. It works, it's cheap, I can also use it for other household cleaning. Cooking and baking as well of course. You can't use if for loads that need bleach and use with fabrics that have a lot of elastic material can decrease it's life span. Overall though it works great dissolving soap and detergent residue that can make clothes feel stiff and scratchy, and less prone to lint and pet hair cling. Can help with odor and colour brightening too.
I will happily continue to be a millennial who ruins industry on that front.
Yeah I don't use fabric softener or dryer sheets but a good value size jug of detergent is worth it to me. My wife and I both work two jobs., I don't want to spend any time grating soap.
I'd recommend powdered detergent instead. It's usually far cheaper per load since you aren't paying for them to ship you the water that's in the liquid detergent.
You also don't need to follow the 'load size' guidelines listed on the scoop, as only the bottom line or two is really adding anything to most loads.
With my washer I get undissolved detergent if I don't mix it with water before adding clothes. It's not a huge deal but sometimes I'm tossing it in in a hurry and my teenagers don't take the time to do it and then complain. Also teenagers can be very smelly and I have a little loyalty to a brand that seems to do a better job on the smell than others I've tried. I second your recommendation though for most people. I used to have a job doing laundry and the powdered detergent we used with the commercial washers worked great.
Add a 1/4 cup of distilled vinegar where you normally put in bleach. Vinegar is really good at removing smells, cheap, and doesn't leave a residual smell on the clothes
Yeah, I just looked it up. The name brand that I buy is $23 for 132 fl oz. With the way I use laundry detergent, at 0.5 oz per cycle, that's 264 cycles for $23. Less than $.10 for the name brand stuff, maybe less for a store brand.
I have kids so I run 2 batches per week, but that's still 20 cents per week for a family of 4. Not sure that's worth making my own.
Honestly at a loss here. The title references fabric softener, but the content relates more specifically to DIY laundry detergent while only mentioning that softener makes clothes more vulnerable to wear & tear. What's the nitty-gritty on the fabric softener? Does it actually damage clothing in some way?
Isn't detergent incredibly cheap though? I always buy the cheapest per weight Aldi stock. I think we may have spent less than £5 on it in the past year. Never bought fabric conditioner, wtf would I want that for, deliberately make my towels less absorbent and more flammable?
Want to add in here, that some washing mechanics can't handle the homemade detergent mix. I've damaged one or two with the mix. Not entirely sure as to the reason, but I believe it has something to do with the grated soap bar clogging something somewhere.
Small batches in an old blender. Grated soap mixed with you washing soda, borax or whatever else you are using as a booster. The powders will coat the soap as it gets cut apart and keeping it from clumping back together.
This is hard on a blender so do smaller batches (and don't use a good blender. Get one from goodwill or the like for ~ 10 bucks}. It will also produce very fine airborne power when you open the blender. I promise you that you don't want strong alkaline powers in your lungs, and even if you do it will make the air taste terrible. Do this in a well ventilated place, use PPE, and be careful. I find that after you powder it, the soap in the mixture holds on to the other ingredients and keep them from becoming airborne.
Also use a laundry soap bar, the soap is often stronger so you can use less and it doesn't have ingredients to moisturizer or make the soap easy on the skin. Those often contribute to buildup issues.
I wrote up a big rant with detailed instructions on how to remove residue from washers. A clean washer performed better and it's over of the reasons people get a new washer and it ends up cleaning much better.
This entire argument is obviously ridiculous from both sides but the main difference between the metric system and the Imperial system in this context is that almost everyone uses the metric system while pretty much only the USA uses the Imperial system.
So the Imperial system can be blamed for any faults of the USA. But the opposite is ridiculous since that's the standard. That would be like blaming Hitler on legs.
And yes again, it's incredibly ridiculous to blame anything on a system of measurement but if you are gonna do it the Imperial system makes way more sense to blame.
Good thing the US doesn't use the Imperial measurement system then, (we use US Customary which is different than Imperial). That pretty much started to diverge by the end of the revolutionary War. And for your information, we are all looking for that same missing 10mm wrench and socket just like you guys are. We use the metric system all the bloody time. From soda pop and whisk(e)y to every food item in a grocery store to the Canyonaro pickups we drive are all metric. We just don't force it by law like the rest of the world.
The point was to make fun of any and all who think ANY measurement system is better than another or even matters at all. They all consist of made up units all thought up by random dudes long ago that enough other people thought were pretty skookum and decided to use.
Yes, I know that you use your own fucked up flavour of the Imperial system.
The metric system is objectively a better system which is why you guys use it when it actually matters (except the times you fuck up because you use two different systems, like with the climate orbiter.)
FYI: the metric system isn't really "made up". All SI base units are defined by physical constants. It's also a logical system while the Imperial system was dreamt up by some mad lad.
It is my understanding that a mix of units was used. I do not know how much metric was used in the design of the engines or rockets, the construction was largely done in SAE units because that's what the aerospace industry was tooled up for. It is my understanding that calculations were done in metric but converted and displayed in nautical miles, feet, and feet per second for the crews who, being US aviators were accustomed to those units. The crawler transporter's fuel economy is measured in gallons per foot.
It happened a lot in our nation's history that folks would have relatively simple kitchens not equipped with scales or even a set of measuring cups, so eating vessels and utensils would be used. A lot of staple American baked goods like biscuits are really more about feeling the consistency of the dough than sticking to a recipe anyway, so laboratory precision is not necessary.
At some point the cup got codified as half a pint, or 8 fluid ounces, or slightly under 0.125L. A tablespoon is 1/2 of a fluid ounce and thus 1/16th of a cup. A teaspoon is 1/3 of a tablespoon.
It works out that tea- and tablespoons are ~ 4.928 and 14.786 mL respectively. The medicine industry, which actually does everything in metric and has for decades now, often writes dosing instructions in metric tea- or tablespoons of 5mL and 15mL respectively. For example, my bottle of Listerine mouthwash says in its instructions "swish 10mL (2 teapoonfuls) between your teeth for 30 seconds..."
Believe it or not we also know how long an inch is, too.
It happened a lot in our nation's history that folks would have relatively simple kitchens not equipped with scales or even a set of measuring cups
That's, like, every nation's history. Cooking has never required that much precision, especially home cooking. Even baking can be done by feel, with enough experience.
Learning to use recipes and then learning you don't need them are the two most important parts of learning how to cook imo. The first time I make something I use a recipe every time after that I do not and just go by feel/vibes unless I am trying to make something authentic.
The amount measured by a typical tea or coffee cup is approximately 1/2 US Pint, so when it comes time to codify it that's a reasonable place to put it.
Anything else you wish to artificially complicate?
I'm not convinced about the cost. A kilogram of borax seems to run about $10CAD. 2 cups, at 1.7g/CC, would be about 850g, so $7 just for the Borax. Unless there's a much cheaper place to get it...
A ~5L jug of Tide costs $31, or about $6/L. If they have approximately equivalent cleaning power per volume, Tide wins.
Borax gives me rashes, but I’ve used laundry bar soap or just the super sensitive skin liquid stuff. I use vinegar instead of name brand fabric softener because it’s cheaper and the other stuff gives me a rash. Nearly all of the store bought laundry stuff gives me rashes.
If you have a problem with limestone in your water you can use the cheapest vinegar you can find and add it to the washing machine to make your clothes smoother.
Vinegar is also great at getting smells out of stuff. It's excellent for animal smells. I use a little in each load of laundry because my fave hobby is doing stuff with horses and I also have a beagle with a natural hound stink. It gets out all the animal stank and a 2 gallon jug costs $3 at the local dollar store.
I also used the stuff to deep clean my carpets to help out a disabled cat I owned. He had trouble determining where the litter box was because he was blind and brain damaged and the person who was in my house before me didn't clean up after their cats. Most of the smell was gone, but just enough was there to confuse my boi.
Ordinary white vinegar is good for a lot of things, but it's too dilute to use as a fabric softener or limescale prevention.
I've used acetic acid (32%) for decades, 30ml or so per wash. It's even listed right on the bottle that it works as a fabric softener, keeps colors from fading and prevents limescale buildup.
And it goes in the fabric softener compartment of course, if you mix it with the detergent the acidity will reduce its washing power(detergent is alkaline).
How do I make my own fabric softener tho? One of the things it does is condition the fabric like you condition your hair, to keep its strength and retain its shape. Like if your shirt's neck has become a little stretched out, wash it with some fabric softener and it usually fixes that shit.
I'd DIY my own if I could. I'll probably start using this detergent recipe, too.
i use vinegar, but it's not the same. softener contains some oily component that stays in the fabric after washing and makes it more fluffy. vinegar doesn't do that.
Fabric softener mostly just deals with the leavings of hard water on your clothes and in your machine. So anything that does that same job would work. Lot of people say vinegar is a good idea. I don't know but a little bit of CLR might actually work too.
My MIL swears that dryer sheets are good for cleaning baseboards. You take one and rub it on a baseboard and some how dust just... avoids those annoying little nooks and crannies. I haven't had to clean them again in literal years, but thats the only good use I've heard for dryer sheets. It's a hack on a tiny task I never take time to care about really, not sure if that in anyway justifies the existence of dryer sheets, but there you go.
Literally just a thin disposable sheet of fabric impregnated with fabric softener that you throw in the dryer with your clothes. The idea is that it's supposed to make your clothes feel softer, smell better, and reduce static electricity. Waste of money and material, just throw a damn tennis ball in there
I’m talking out of my ass bc I don’t use them either, but I’d wager a buck my description isn’t that far off.
You put them in your clothes dryer to make everything smell like chemical clean and make them a little softer. And reduce static? I think? They give me a rash, personally.
That brought me back, I was on IRC in 1994 and someone shared the link to a website of the anarchists cookbook. And that is the first site I remember visiting... My brain says it was probably a Geocities site, but so much of the internet was that I can't recall
where the fuck are these people buying detergent that is 80x the ingredients they listed? isn't bar soap also industry made?
also I'm sorry maybe there's legit uses for it but whenever I hear someone say essential oil I assume they're knee deep in grlftland and have fucking crystals and shit all around the house.
The price things gets me too. I was actually talking about this with a coworker a couple months ago. I live alone so I'm not doing nearly the amount of laundry that some people are doing but even then that last bottle of laundry detergent I bought cost me like 9 bucks and took a bit over 2 years to go through. I think I'm fine spending 4.50 a year on my laundry supplies.
I just did the math on mine, I'm paying about 10 cents per cycle for laundry detergent. Even if the ingredients to make my own were literally free, I'm still only saving about $5 per year. Not worth my time.
Fabric softener is great. Mix a bit with water and use it to clean your shower glass doors/walls. It removes limescale like a charm thanks to the anionic surfactants that are in there. And the Aldi store brand costs hardly anything.
Fabric softener is sometime useful for very hard water. You don't have to buy it, though. You can use white vinegar to soften the water to actually soften the fabric mix in a big container one part white vinegar to one part sodium bicarbonate. Wait for it to stop foaming. Add four drops of essential oils per liter of mixture. Stir. Allow to rest a few hour before using. You can make big quantity ahead of time as long as your container is big enough for the big foam of the big batch.
This thread is so wild I swear. A bottle of softener costs 2 bucks and last you for so many washes (up to 100?). A bar of soap cost one buck, then you have to factor in the time to prepare the softener, the other ingredients and whatnot.
Why? It smells good. If you can’t afford a 2 buck softener at lease every 3 months (assuming a wash once a week) I’d say you have got much bigger problems
Sure, but the point is that fabric softener is not necessary.
At the very least in the case of towels (any type), it is actually counter productive, because it makes the towels less absorbent.
On top of that, it means clothes absorb less sweat, which, at first glance, seems like a good thing, until you realise it means your sweat will now stick to your skin longer, because it can't evaporate from your shirt.
Sometimes I'll be at the laundry detergent shelf at the shop and see a really low price, only to get disappointed by it being softener and not detergent. Shit be cheap, compared to detergent. Wouldn't even use softener if it were free though, so can't comment on how long it lasts.
I've not used fabric softener or any other substitute for whatever it does in like 10 years. Can't tell what problem I'm supposed to be having that it supposedly solves.
I actually stopped using it because the dryers at my crappy old laundromat tended to overheat and it would occasionally melt the fabric softener sheets and it smelled utterly horrible and left burnt on patches of fabric softener on my clothes. So I figured it was no longer worth the cost, and then I noticed I couldn't even tell what the benefit was. It was just a thing my mom told me to do and I never questioned it.
Fabric softener kills elastic and lots of clothes (including even jeans) have elastic in them. Yeah, you can do separate washes, but ain’t nobody got time for that.
Not heard of that one. The main one I know is it makes towels less absorbent, my partner's mum uses it and it's like trying to soak up water with a plastic bag.
Yeah when you coat all the fibers of the towel with slightly modified rendered animal fat, then they won't absorb water. The long hydrophobic tail on the tallow dimethyl ammonium chloride molocule really doesn't want to mix with water. It's almost completely insoluble in polar solvents like water.
Why make things soft by addressing the initial problem(residues and hard water salts in deposited in the fibers when the clothes dry) when you can just coat the whole thing in fat and call it "clean" and "soft"
We aren't there yet but soon. GenX I bet you'll see the first person die directly as a result of micro plastics. Boomers, I think cancer has got them for the most part and I'm confident we will solve that riddle in the next few decades
Sous vide style slow cooking, vacuumized in a bag, had it's merits as you can't really do it any other way. This, however is a lazy way to avoid cleaning (like using plastic plates to avoid doing the dishes).
You don't need dryer sheets if you're hang drying your clothes, which reduces wear on the clothes and uses less energy, along with requiring one less appliance, unless you have a combo washer/dryer.
I started hang drying my clothes maybe 4 years ago and I'm definitely not going back
Yeah, I hang dry most of my clothes, but I use a dryer for towels because they get really coarse otherwise, and bed sheets because I don't really have somewhere to hang them
You should enjoy the smell of them after they were freeze dried on the clothes line in the winter time. Growing up, my mother had a wringer/washer but no clothes drier. So she had to hang almost all the laundry outside on a clothes line-- even when it was well below freezing out. My Mother and Grandmother also made our own soap from tallow and lye after we butchered a cow for the winter.
We used it for everything, laundry, hand soap, and bath soap. Stuff would remove to hide off your ass due to the amount of lye used. Ahhh, the life of growing up dirt poor on a small farm.
I’ve used the same three tennis balls in my dryer for about 20 years now. My clothes seem to last well, and towels remain absorbant (fabric sheets can leave a waxy residue making towels less absorbent). After reading those comments maybe I’ll try adding a few drops of a scented oil to one of the tennis balls.
It's worth wondering how much fabric softener would cost someone over their adult lifetime as an exercise. Let's say 50 years of adulthood, and 12 bottles a year costing $10 each. That's six grand. For something that serves no functional purpose, makes towels less effective and has an environmental impact.
So yes it's a scam. If someone really needs to use fabric softener, at least buy a cheaper supermarket brand and use it sparingly.
It helps my laundry dry and keeps the house from feeling damp too. Nothing like high relative humidity inside a house to make the cold cling to the skin!
Depends. They do save on space, which is why it's so weird that most US people have them and europeans who generally have much smaller homes usually don't.
I think family size is the kicker. My kids are really active and exploratory. So residue and odor leaves me needing to do multiple loads a week. I know scientifically when it comes to bacteria and odor I could do the deep freeze/freezer thing....but I just can't.
There are some items we have to hang dry. Those I can keep on the one hanging rack. If I did it for everything though my 3-4 loads a week means my office/desk/craft space is now basically permanently occupied by laundry. Summer is more feasible......that's only three months of consitent +13 C for my area though. :'(
IDK your living situation, but that "bit of room" might be a lot in smaller homes. My first room as a college student wouldn't even fit a full-size drying rack, and it was definitely in the way in most of my places since then. And it's going to be a lot more often than once every 2 weeks if there's more than one inhabitant, and depending on what how thick the clothes are and the air humidity, 24h is not enough to dry everything.
Whilst I'd prefer not to have to hang my laundry I'm not willing to pay for that much electricity, particularly as I keep my shirts on hangers, so it's literally a case of moving them from one rack to another.
The machine takes only about half as much space as the rack and it's easily stackable with a washing machine.
edit: I think you were actually referring to a clothesline instead of a rack? I never had a place to actually put up a clothesline, where do you put that? Straight through your bedroom?
If you want a rack you can get collapsible clothes drying racks that just fold up to almost nothing. As far as a washing line, put it up anywhere, just need 2 hooks. Usually dry stuff outside on a line other than in winter, could have a few lines across the kitchen to hang stuff from if you wanted.
Totally in with the 'make your own soap' mentality. I've been making my own laundry soap and liquid hand soap for ~6mo, and I'm still working through the first set of supplies I got for both. Only downside to making it yourself is the time commitment, but I've got it to a point where once I have the batter made, I just throw it and some distilled water into a covered mason jar, put in a covered stock pot with enough water to get around the inner water level and just let it simmer for a few hours.
It's actually super simple to make my laundry soap, it's just a 6:6:2:1 ratio:
Baking soda:Epson salt:washing soda:sea salt
Works great and take the smell out of my potty training son's laundry.
The only reason why clothes get staticky in the dryer is because of the heat. If you run the dryer for 10-20min after drying with no heat they'll come out without a trace of static.
Ive stopped using softener and dryer sheets a while ago; just detergent and for the first load of the week (usually towels) a short cycle with vinegar to clear up any mineral deposits left by my horribly bad hard water.
Gen X here, I only use unscented dryer sheets because if I don't I will get shocked a lot. My apartment is great because the humidity is super low in the winter, but clothing hurts. Humidifier doesn't work because if I don't use distilled water everything gets a rust color on it. Also I'd be going through a gallon of distilled water a day. I can't afford that, but I sure as heck can afford a big box of unscented dryer sheets that solves my problem.
Asking because I honestly don't know, for the laundry detergent recipe, does it matter that I was always told to get HE detergent? I was under the impression that the soap for "high efficiency" washers was different somehow than normal soap. I am ready to admit I was conned by the detergent industry and this is just marketing speak, but I also don't want to fuck up my washer, it cost a lot of money I don't have to replace it.
I use soap nuts for washing and vinegar as the softener. It comes out perfectly clean but has a neutral smell (which might smell weird when you first start doing this). I sometimes add a tiny bit of store bought softener to the vinegar for stuff like more expensive hoodies and tshirts.
How expensive do people think fabric softener is lol. I don't use it because I don't care for it, but not buying it because you're too poor sounds wild.
Just glancing through my grocery app, it's anywhere from $5 to $15 per bottle, depending on size and brand. For the same amount of money, you could buy enough food for one person for 2 or 3 days. That's not insignificant since you can get a pack of dryer balls for around the same price, which have pretty much the same effect, and last way longer than a bottle of softener.
And how long does that $5 last? Consider how much money it is per wash, especially if you use less than the quite generous recommendation.
I'm standing in a store right now and they go from 1,5€ to 6€. The expensive brand option with big bottle is 6,26€ and lasts for 110 washes with the recommended amount. The expensive one is 5,7 cents per wash.
6€ isn't nothing but as an expense over time, considering how long it lasts, even that expensive one is quite literally pennies.
Looking at price-per-use is only helpful if you have it in your budget right then to spend the full amount. For some, they can't spare that $5 on a frivolity because it's allocated to a necessity like food.
In my store there was an 1,5€ one, the store brand. And we're not a cheap country. I'm sure there's situations where someone couldn't even save up 1,5-5€ for fabric softener every what, six months or more, because it all goes to necessities, but I doubt that's at all typical. At least in the sense that the cost of it would be a serious reason people don't use it.
A much more likely reason is that it's not at all necessary. It can make clothes smell and feel nicer, but that's just extra. I personally don't use it, I actually prefer the "fresh" smell of no-fragrance laundry detergent.
I think you might be more privileged than you think in this case. Making the choice between feeding oneself and buying a frivolity like fabric softener isn't that uncommon in the US, where a huge chunk of people live paycheck to paycheck.
Hygiene, beauty, and medicine. All products with literally pennies worth of ingredients charging hundreds to thousands of times what they cost to make.
Medicine has the excuse of going to research at least. But we all know that system is broken.
What.. ? Bar soap? Which coats your skin in wax and makes you feel like a walking crayon when you wash yourself with it?
No thanks, I'll stick to my detergent and dryer sheets.
(which do work btw, I grew up poor without them and HATED the feeling of my clothes, and the static. Pissed me off all the time. Grew up, started making money, and bought dryer sheets, boom problem solved.)
'Most millennials aren't buying enough of our shit and that's a HUGE PROBLEM that all of you definitely care about!'
That's some pretty useful advice in the comments tho. But also I'm 52 years old and have literally never used fabric softener in my life and have no idea what it's supposed to be for other than making companies like Proctor & Gamble even more money.
Also, another handy tip: 'lather, rinse, repeat' is bullshit, unless you have really thick or really oily hair and don't wash regularly, you don't need to wash it twice, the shampoo company just wants you to buy more. Same with fill marks in a washing machine, unless you're doing a huge load there's no reason to fill it all the way up.
Even washing hair regularly is a scam. If you wash once a week your hair will be fine. It'll look like shit for a few weeks until your scalp gets the message that you aren't stripping away all the natural oils still and that it can cut back on oil production but afterwards your hair will be healthier.
I'm sorry to have to say, but the idea of "hair training" is a myth.
The oil glands (which are known as sebaceous glands, and produce an oil called "sebum") are controlled by genetics, hormones, and stress. Sebaceous glands don't have any sort of "sensor" to tell them when to produce more/less oil, so washing or not washing won't make a difference.
Thank you. I have extra oily hair so if I skip washing it even a single day it starts to look like I'm using pomade, and whenever I tell people this they always insist I should just wash it once a week and my head will "adjust."
I am the exact same, friend. My hair becomes a big oil slick after only a day without washing and it's really obvious. Which is part of why this particular myth bothers me so much.
First, as teens, we had uninformed randos without oily skin telling us to heal our acne problems by putting nonsense like toothpaste and silly putty on our faces. Now, those same uninformed, non-oily randos tell us that our greasy hair can be solved by not washing it.
But my dermatologist was right about the acne care they recommended, I'm inclined to trust them about my scalp care too.
Yep, I had really bad acne when I was younger and the only thing that worked was isotretinoin, which is rough. My lips cracked and bled while I was taking that but when I was finished the acne was gone.
They made me pledge not to get pregnant while taking it despite the fact that I don't have a uterus, lol.
I took that stuff too (aka accutane). Severest depression I've ever experienced but I'm thankful to only get the occasional acne as an adult now.
I knew /r/nopoo was a lie!
This is true, but greasy hair looks greasy and makes your pillow smell bad which impacts your ability to fall asleep.
Like sure, it's not natural to wash your hair every 2/3 days, but imo it's worth it
No, your hair stops becoming greasy. That's the point. It gets that way because you're stripping the oils, so it produces more to replinish it. If you stop then your scalp eventually adjusts and stops producing much oil.
People think greasy hair is just what happens, but no. It's what happens when you've been stripping your hair dry for years and your scalp is trying it's best to fix the problems you're causing. Stop causing problems and it'll normalize.
I wash with water frequently, but when I really need a good clean I wash with conditioner. The oils bind and are removed but your hair will be refreshed. I rarely wash with shampoo, for years at this point, and my hair isn't greasy. It just feels healthy.
Please do explain how an exocrine gland on the scalp is supposed to know how much oil is on a strand of dead hair cells, located inches away from the skin?
I think that it's because the scalp itself gets dried out from too much washing, so the glands respond to that.
When the scalp skin "normalizes" the hair slowly normalizes as well, since the oil travels down the strands.
That's my guess. I went from shampooing daily to every other day and at first I would get an itchy, gummy scalp. But eventually that gummyness worked it's way out. Every time I shampooed I would get that dry, gummy scalp the next day.
So eventually I shampooed less and less. Now I don't shampoo at all. I just rinse daily with water and massage my scalp.
It doesn't know. That's stupid. I assume if it's cleared by shampoo then it has an easier time excreting more. It could also be that shampoo causes it to produce more in some way chemically, or that the oil shielded it from something that causes it to produce more. I don't know the mechanics of it, and I don't think there's been any research into it. All I can say is that my scalp seems to have stopped producing as much oil when I changed how I clean my hair.
I've seen one person post one article saying it isn't real. I read it. It doesn't have any research behind it. It only makes claims like the glands not having sensors. Sure, but many parts of our body perform differently based on different circumstances without sensors. To dismiss all the people with experience with no experience or evidence is pretty short-sighted. I'm sure that doctor is intelligent and knows her stuff to some extent, but she overreached with her conclusion without doing any analysis.
I can assure you my gf and I both invalidated this assumption during the covid19 lockdown. I have a friend who has thick grey hair and he never ever washes it. I guess we are all different on that matter because I can't even skip a single day (it gets scratchy and my skin starts to fall appart), as others testified in the comments.
Yeah, it's definitely different for every person. I don't think anyone's going to argue with that.
I'm a head-sweater so when I work out my hair gets as wet as it would in the shower. I'm not gonna leave it like that, it'll be stinky.
Yes, not all advice/recommendations apply to everyone. Specifically: our bodies vary quite a bit and they also change over time.
100%.
Use a shampoo that has aloe as the primary ingredient as well. Can comfortably make it a week and half before it looks gnarly.
Routinely get complimented on it so I know its not nasty.
Huh, I didn't know that. But I mean I gotta shower every couple of days at most anyway or I feel gross, so might as well.
Hair training is a myth, so take their advice with a grain of salt.
Duly noted, thanks.
Oh, I shower every day with soap. I just don't wash my hair every day. I also feel gross without a shower.
Soap is also not great for your skin; you don't need to soap up more than your armpits and underwear area.
Apple cider vinegar and tea tree oil baby. (I am not a gross hippy, shampoo dries the f out of my hair and Ive gone no shampoo for ~10 years)
Your hair isn't left smelling of the vinegar after?
It rinses out really well, and the tea tree oil is used to negate any residual smell
Main reason I do vinegar is because it strips out maybe 60-70% of the oils vs shampoo
I use dryer sheets for static. shrug
Dryer sheets will ruin your towels too, just toss some wool balls in the dryer.
How so?
It coats your towels with a light film that makes them less absorbent.
I gotta wash mine twice(when i do wash it), but that's because of the extra oils I put in my hair. The first wash absorbs so much of the oil it won't really even lather.
Obvious solution seems to be to put less oil in your hair? shrug
Then it doesn't look right. Obvious solution is to just wash my hair twice. So obvious it's what I do and it works great.
I've literally never put oil in my hair in my life (tho now I say that I dunno if shampoo/conditioner has oil in it. Probably.) It's looked fine this whole time.
I've probably had pretty long hair for longer than you've been alive. If you have long hair and wanting it to look not crazy without tying it up, you're putting something in it. Whether it's leave in conditioner, or fiber or pomade or gel or hairspray or some type of oil or you manage to skip all that by straightening it all the time; you're putting something in it or doing something to it. Very few people have an exception to this. Namely people who have very straight, limp hair.
I'm in my 50s so color me skeptical on that count, but fair enough. ;) But yeah, I've never been able to grow my hair out and keep it that way even though I do have very straight, limp hair just because it was always a pain to wash and care for and I just didn't care enough.
Was "lather, rinse, repeat" an advertising jingle or something for you guys, or do you just all get taught to wash your hair twice?
It was on the instructions on the bottles and IIRC in the ads for the major brands too.
I learned that from Lizzie McGuire. Ethan Craft, the character frequently noted to have amazing hair, calls the "lather, rinse, repeat" thing a marketting trick.
I've had a box of fabric sheets for a decade or so cause my mom got them for me when she house sat, and I didn't have any. I sometimes use em if there are sparks when I pull something out of the dryer, and i don't forget i have them.
Cotton and mostly-cotton blends don't get that much static but nylon, polyester, and bamboo/rayon/microfiber make sparks. If you're trying to wash pet hair out of something, the softener can help it let go. Although, before you wash, try using a squeegee or a silicone bowl-scraper to remove most of the hair.
You can just use white vinegar instead of fabric softener. It's significantly cheaper, can be used for other non-laundry things, eliminates odors, and doesn't gum up your washing machine with residue.
Is there anything vinegar can’t do?!? Between white and apple cider vinegar, I feel like they cover so many areas of cleaning and household stuff.
Vinegar ain't basic, that's for sure.
Ha ha... groan
I have been thinking of making my own fruit vinegar this year. Hopefully good enough to consume rather than just use for cleaning
Further advice, don't use a lot of it. You'll see videos on youtube of people pouring like three cups of vinegar in their washing machine, don't do that. You only need a splash of it. If you use too much, the acid will eat away at the rubber gaskets and shit
O.O
That's a terrifying amount. I use around 1/4 cup for most mid to large loads. 1/2 maaaybe if it's a large towel load. Does the job well enough.
You definitely don't need that much vinigar. That said most new washing machine are using a chemical resistant silicone or TPE instead of more traditional rubber compound. This eliminated the already miniscule risk of acid damaging the seals.
If you add 3 cups(about 700 mL) of standard 5% acetic acid bleach to 4 gallons of water(~ 15000 mL) you end up with a 0.2% acetic acid you will end up with a pH of something like 5.5 or about the pH of healthy skin. A lot of HE washers will use a 5 gallon initial wash so it's likely to be even gentler than what I came up with in my rough napkin math guesstamate.
While I agree with the general sentiment, the vinegar won't be released and diluted until later in the load, so it sits in its full 5% acetic acid glory for quite a while.
Most(maybe all) HE washers don't have mechanical flaps that hold back the liquids, they sit in plastic cups that empty by an overflow or auto syphon system when water comes out of a tube located above that tub or cup. It's a fancy plastic cup. Every plastic common to appliance manufacturing is resistant to 5% acetic acid. Chemical resistance of plastics chart
I just looked at the fabric softener cup in my washer, it's HDPE(high density polyethylene). If you look at that chart you will see polyethylene is resistant to even concentrated acetic acid. The plastic bottle the vinigar comes in is made from a lower density polyethylene.
By the time the vinigar leaves the cup is already being diluted by the fill water causing it to overflow or start the auto syphon. It will not damage your washer, but even if it did, you can buy replacements for the entire soap tray for relatively little online. The same can be said for most other appliance parts with the notable exceptions being large motors and some brands control boards. There are tons of write ups, tutorials and videos on how to fix broken appliances and replace parts.
Yes, I was just being pedantic. Sorry to have triggered such an involved response, but thanks for all the information! From what I understand this is more of a problem in dishwashers, if you want to use it as rinse aid.
No worries, I am a fan of pedantry. The amount of involved in the response was just me getting mentally stuck in a washing machine hole.
Meh. I say you need half a cup to a cup. A splash don't do it.
Yeah if you can use just a splash you might have water soft enough to not require anything.
1/2 cup to 1 cup is the sweet spot for my water, 1/4 cup on a very small load.
I have a water softener and it works great for how the clothes feel from the wash. The half cup I add is mainly for odor eliminating.
Please don't do this. It seems like a hack, but will mess up your machine bc of how corrosive the vinegar is. Learned this the hard way.
If your clothes really need it, just soak them in a bath of diluted vinegar for a while, then rinse and wash.
Isn't vinegar used to remove fabric softener
Yeah I'm not putting all that effort and potentially ruining my washing machine to save me a few cents per wash. That seems ridiculous.
You don't even have to buy the fancy, expensive, in a pod detergent or anything, considering they always contain the same stuff that comes in a box/bottle. Just buy whatever's cheap.
Yea, making your own laundry detergent from grated soap and borax seems like something people with money do to convince themselves they're frugal. When in reality, there is no way in hell you're making a commodity cheaper than GreatValue (tm)
Yeah, the cheap standard powder detergent would probably be less expensive. The volume you'd need to make to beat it is huge. Like, maybe five years' worth.
I am also laughing at making washing powder in the oven to save money. The amount you'd spend on electricity would put you in the red, unless you live in a petrostate with free electricity or something.
The amount of free time you'd have to have, as well, to even consider baking the powder for an hour per round to make it usable... After a certain point my time is valuable to me and I'd rather just pay a dollar or two extra to not have to worry about all this mess.
Indeed. Or working for prison slave wages.
Lol yeah I didn't even consider that. At this point it almost feels like some of that has to be trolling. Either that or there is a large detergent hobbyist community out there that I have just not been aware of.
Not just the effort, but by the time you buy all those ingredients, you're probably paying more than you would for normal laundry detergent.
And if you use Dr. Bronner's bar soap as recommended, you'll be paying out the ass.
Not to mention the gas to go to the three separate stores you probably need to buy that shit from.
Eh, all of that stores really well, so buy in bulk.
I'm not sold on that homemade detergent. Soap tends to leave insoluble residue, especially when you have hard water. There is a reason why almost everything uses synthetic detergents (though it might also be because those are cheap).
Yeah, I've never understood the point in using a different soap as the base of a different soap. I make my own laundry soap out of basic shit I get from Walmart, and it works great.
Is it actually cheaper than buying dry detergent for cheap?
Good question, but I'll admit I've not actually run the exact figures. I'm actually doing this for health reasons rather than monetary, since one of my partners is allergic tio life.
But to your question,I might have spent the cost of 1.5 large boxes of laundry detergent ($30) for the 4 items that go into it (Baking soda,Epson salt,washing soda,sea salt), but given the fact I can buy in bulk, I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being cheaper. In the last 6mo I've made the laundry soap twice and haven't put a huge dent in my ingredient stock. I wouldn't be surprised to find I get more than 200 washes out of the base ingredients, which would definitely be more economical than the premade stuff.
I’ve read that the homemade laundry soap is actually soap, not detergent, and that it will over time ruin your machine.
So, I’ve just continued buying laundry detergent and have just used a fraction of what the instructions advise. It’s worked for me. I don’t buy softener or sheets. Couldn’t afford it if I wanted to. But I do have oxyclean on hand only for when I’ve forgotten a load in the washer until it’s stinky or when I wash the dog bed covers or whatever.
Yeah.... Especially if you have a high efficiency machine. Washing machines use a lot less water than back when these "recipes" were actually practical. So if you utilize shaved bar soap and borax, you're not only going to be leaving residue to build up in your machine, you're going to have it build up in your clothes as well.
Also, a lot of people are sensitive to borax. The reason they don't use it in regular detergent as an agitator is because it can cause rashes for a large percentage of the population.
Edited: spelling corrections
Regular laundry detergent leaves residue as well, that's why a lot of washers have self clean cycles.
Vinegar will cut most residues from a washer. It's one of the reasons it works as a softener, it removes detergent residue and minerals from hard water to make your clothes soft. As a side note a lot fabric softeners does the same thing by coating this fibres of the clothes in refined beef fat.
If you want a really clean machine (specific to most HE washers) put half a teaspoon of TSP(trisodium phosphate) in the empty drum of the machine and another half teaspoon where you put your detergent, fill the bleach cup and the fabric softener cup with vinegar. Set the machine to run a pre wash cycle then a heavy duty cycle on the hottest water temp(if there is a hot tap that is after your clothes washer in the pipeline, you can run that tap until it gets hot before starting the washer. HE washers use a lot less water so most of the time they are filling with cold water before the hot water rescues the machine) and as many extra rinses as your machine will allow.
After the TSP removes most of the residue, it's rinsed away and then the bleach cup of vinigar is released with the next rinse cycle. Since TSP is basic and the vinegar is acidic they react and the TSP is neutralized, this may lead to some deposits of various salts(depending on the exact reaction ratio, if there is an excess of vinigar then the acidic solution will help prevent the salts from depositing.
When the fabric softener cup of vinigar is released in the next rinse we ensure that all acidic solution is flushed through the machine. This again will help with any salt deposits and help clean any of the remaining residue that reacts better to the acidic solution.
Any extra rinses after that help make sure that anything that can be washed away will be. Your washer will be very clean inside.
TSP can be purchased at the hardware store for cleaning surfaces before you paint them, just make sure it's actually TSP and not a TSP replacement. Half a teaspoon of TSP in with your dish soap will make you love your dishwasher again. A little goes a long way, and using less TSP is more likely to give you a good result than using more.
That enormous rant aside, I have used homemade laundry soap recipes in several HE machines including two combination washer dryers(where the washing drum is the same as the drying drum, looks like a single HE machine, not a stacked washer and dryer) and in general those machines have more residue problems. I haven't really had any issues. That might be related to the fact that I do not put an excess of soap or detergent into the machine, again often less is more, and if you need better cleaning it's better to do a prewash cycle than add more detergent into the main cycle. More detergent =/= better cleaning, just more residue. Try washing a dish by hand with only liquid dish soap, no water, no damp sponge, just soap and a dry brush or dishcloth. While this is an extreme example, it does help illustrate that detergents or soaps allow grease and grime to be dissolved into water, and that's what allows it to clean effectively, the soap or detergent is just there to get stuff into the water.
Borax sensitivity is a legit concern.
For those rare times I forget a load in the washer and it sours, I generally use a little vinegar.
I grew up watching my Mother make "laundry soap" from scratch as a kid. She would make a batch every fall from basically the tallow from the cow we home butchered for the winter and lye. I still remember that brown colored hard lump of soap and the wringer/washer she had. She would carve thin pieces off into the tub while it was agitating wait for a few minutes, then toss the clothes in to wash tub. There was no fancy detergent metering devices or small amounts of water. Even her first modern "spin dry" washer didn't have detergent dispensers. You simply poured the detergent directly on top of the clothes in the tub.
Modern washers are designed specifically to use liquid soaps or the pods. Though when using powders by pouring them directly into the tub won't cause anymore harm to the machine than any liquid will. Though you should probably use a longer wash cycle to make sure the powder dissolves completely. Back in the day, wash cycles were noticeably longer.
I used it for about 10 years. I didn't notice any difference in my clothes or machine.
Fiance is fussy and wants Tide, so she pays for it.
If only millennials bought more fabric softener instead of avocados and coffee they would be able to afford a house.
It's worse. Fabric softener is composed of an anti static oil. When you run it in the laundry, it coats all of your clothes with a very thin layer of oil.
Which is why towels dried with fabric softener and dryer sheets don't absorb water anywhere near as well as plain towels dried without it!!
My mom complained to me for years that I wasn't "doing it right" by not using fabric softener. But her towels are useless compared to mine! She continues to spends $100/ year on fabric softener while on social security. Over the year she has spent thousands and thousands of $$$. 🤦♀️
Hello electricians and safety nerds. Fabric softener removes the fire rating on fire rated clothing protecting you from arc flash hazards.
I want to know more.
This is pure conjecture, but my guess is that the film of fabric softener left on the clothes would interfere with the fire retardant fibers/may be flammable itself.
From my understanding, the old fire gear I wore as a much younger man, the fabric was treated with special chemicals that could be washed out if not laundered correctly.
Yes, and it will even say so right on the tags. At least it did on the 35 year old bunker gear I wore when I was young and a volunteer fireman in my small rural town. They had special washing instructions right on a big tag sewn on the inside to the coat and pants.
I can't imagine baking baking soda in an oven is cheaper than just buying washing soda? They're both sold in similar size bags (1kg) for similar prices in my area (€9-€10). Seems like a waste of energy to buy the wrong type of carbonate.
That homemade laundry soap made with bar soap would be a nightmare in hard water. I don't even want to think about soap scum in the drains and in my clothes.
I just use the smallest amount of detergent I can get out of the bottle, that works well. And don't wash a garment after wearing it once if it's not underwear. Invested in a lot of Merino stuff which manages to be comfortable even here in Florida and doesn't stink ever. I can wear those shirts and just hang them back up.
My favorite is the Tide Free and Clear commercial where the kid goes "look dad, it's just as clean but without any of the chemicals that harm me!" They're literally admitting their core product contains harmful chemicals yet people are still buying it!
That mentality is why I use a safety razor. Buy one and you'll only spend a few dollars a decade on shaving blades and have a better shave. A lot of things in life are useless fluff that we only do because companies want us to do it since it's profitable.
If only i could shave my head with one i would in a heartbeat.
I bought a Leaf Razor from an EU reseller about a year ago now and it was a game changer for head shaving with safety razor blades.
The head of the handle pivots so it's very difficult to cut myself with it accidentally unlike the regular handle I was using before.
I'm hesitant to share a link because I don't want to seem like a shill for a company I don't know much about but just wanted to say there are options out there!
I shave mine with a safety razor. Knobbliness of head is probably a factor though!
I have a mole on the top of my head, multi blade razors glide over it, my safety razor is how i found out I had it: sharp pain and suddenly being covered in so much blood I could smell it.
So yeah knoblliness should not be overlooked.
Ooft, that's rough. Eyyyy
I use a trimmer now, never really cared for a close shave and I often leave it for a couple of weeks. I found a razor just got clogged up too much between the blades.
Annoyingly the trimmer I have seems to vary in power, the motor charges speeds a lot during use. I think it might be a poor connection on the AA batteries, surface might have tarnished. Did think of soldering some wires on and connecting it to an extra battery, better connection and higher voltage. Overclock shaving!
You might have better luck with one of those bog-standard single-blade safety razors, i.e. one of these:
I've heard from a hairdresser that they prefer the single-blade ones, specifically because the multi-blade ones clog up so much.
I mean, currently I also use a trimmer for my face, as I cannot be asked to do a wet shave every day. But I still use the safety razor for cutting back armpits and groin for hygiene reasons, and it works quite well for that. It's a lot less scary when you don't have to cut thick beard hair.
I did also consider that option but I don't really feel a need for a shave that close. I know using the multiblade razors left my skin feeling a bit uncomfortable after, not sure if safety razors do as well. Trimmer doesn't at all.
Yeah, they probably will leave your skin feeling uncomfortable. Many seem to consider shaving cream and whatnot a strict requirement. That's also part of the reason why I still use a trimmer for my face, too.
Just looked at it and I think most shaving creams cost more than my trimmer did
I have a rechargeable trimmer. Like you, I'm never going for that ultra-close shave. I have fairly light/thin facial hair though, so the 5 o'clock shadow looks works well for me.
Mine uses AA batteries rather than a built in lithium one, my hope was that it would mean it lasts longer as I can just swap NiMH batteries as I feel like it rather than having to throw out the entire thing when the lithium battery dies. Also its cheaper as it doesn't come with batteries and charging circuitry.
i bought for cheap one pluggable razor much more powerful than those with batteries ... also you have to oil the blades and clean them regularly.
I do oil and clean it, I live in the UK so we don't normally have sockets in bathrooms. Getting one of those special ones installed would probably cost quite a bit.
I use the throwaway safety razors that you can buy a bag for a few euros. I get a close shave and it costs very little. I've wanted buy a more expensive one, that style where you can get cheap replacement blades, but I've always hesitated because, you know, what if it is shit. Then I've wasted like a few year's shaving budget on it. Would make for less waste though.
Buy a merkur handle. I have the merkur futur and that’s lasted about 20 years so far.
It's worth noting that cat owners(at least, never had anything buts cats) should avoid certain essential oils, As our furry pals' little organs aren't equipped to process them, and they can easily be deadly!
@[email protected], saw you mention essential oils too, just a PSA.
I don't know about needing to make your own detergent. But using dry detergent would be a drastic improvement in cost compared to what most people do because if you're buying liquid detergent, most of what you're buying is water.
I started using the dry stuff years ago and it works great. Also, if the clothes are not really dirty i.e. have literally dirt stains on them, you need surprisingly little detergent. Same goes for the dishwasher.
Problem with the powder is not all of it dissolves, especially at 30C. End up with crusty baked on powder around the dispenser. Maybe dissolve in a little water and then treat it like liquid detergent? Might try that
Yeah I've tried them multiple times but every time it leaves my clothes with white stains on them.
I mix it with a cup of hot water before putting in in my wash. This completely eliminated that issue.
That is very store dependent. Last time I checked, my local grocery store only had premium brand dry detergent but had discount brand liquid detergent that was cheaper than store brand (which is what I use). I did the math, and the price per load on the dry detergent was not that good. Obviously, my math assumes that the advertised loads per package is true (which is assuredly not the case) or, at least, that brands have the same degree of inflation in their figure.
There's more than one store to buy such things at, try Home Depot for instance, they even carry the stuff in bulk. And online purchasing exists so you're not relegated to just that option.
If you believe being independent is more important, then more power to you. But even "making your own" you're dependent on getting the baking soda and soap from stores as well so it's really just a matter of how much you need to save and how far you're willing to go to secure that savings.
You don't need to go up to 400°F to decompose baking soda into washing soda. Decomposition starts around 122⁰F (50⁰C) and is complete at around 250⁰F (120⁰C)
Depending on the thickness you put in the pan you may want to put the oven around 300⁰F so to speed up the process.
You can safely go to higher temperature as it won't ever be overcooked.
::: spoiler details https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_bicarbonate
Heating to transform (baking soda) sodium bicarbonate into (washing soda) sodium carbonate does remove moisture but also removes carbon dioxide :
When sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO
3) is heated, it undergoes a decomposition reaction to form sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), water (H2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2).The reaction can be represented as :
2NaHCO
3+ heat → Na2CO3+ H2O + CO2:::
I also wonder about the cost of using the oven, and whether it's cheaper than just buying washing soda.
P = = oven average power ~1kW=1/1000MW
C = = electricity cost ~50 to 200 $/MWh
Δt = = process time duration ~1.0h
Total = P x C x Δt
... so, a few cents maximum, right ?
... it's more the time and effort you put in !
When you put it that way, it's not nearly as expensive as I thought.
You can also do it in a pan on the stove top. Basically just heat up the baking soda over medium-ish heat. Once it gets hot enough, it'll "bubble" as the carbon dioxide and water is driven off as gas. Once it stops "bubbling", it's done. It's a bit faster than the oven method, but it's more active since you have to stir it regularly.
You can also weigh the powder before and after heating it to see if it's fully converted* to washing soda. The resulting washing soda should weigh about 1/3 less than the starting amount of baking soda.
This new generation can't do anything and spends money frivolously.... This generation is too stingy and resourceful.... Guys pick a damn lane.
They can't afford fabric softener or washing detergents to clean those avocado stains.
I buy a Eco friendly and very affordable detergent from Costco. I need to use such a small amount even for a large load the jug lasts seemingly forever. So I don't feel the need to do up a homemade detergent.
When it come to softener though. Vinegar. It works, it's cheap, I can also use it for other household cleaning. Cooking and baking as well of course. You can't use if for loads that need bleach and use with fabrics that have a lot of elastic material can decrease it's life span. Overall though it works great dissolving soap and detergent residue that can make clothes feel stiff and scratchy, and less prone to lint and pet hair cling. Can help with odor and colour brightening too.
I will happily continue to be a millennial who ruins industry on that front.
Yeah I don't use fabric softener or dryer sheets but a good value size jug of detergent is worth it to me. My wife and I both work two jobs., I don't want to spend any time grating soap.
I'd recommend powdered detergent instead. It's usually far cheaper per load since you aren't paying for them to ship you the water that's in the liquid detergent.
You also don't need to follow the 'load size' guidelines listed on the scoop, as only the bottom line or two is really adding anything to most loads.
Relevant Technology Connections Video
With my washer I get undissolved detergent if I don't mix it with water before adding clothes. It's not a huge deal but sometimes I'm tossing it in in a hurry and my teenagers don't take the time to do it and then complain. Also teenagers can be very smelly and I have a little loyalty to a brand that seems to do a better job on the smell than others I've tried. I second your recommendation though for most people. I used to have a job doing laundry and the powdered detergent we used with the commercial washers worked great.
Add a 1/4 cup of distilled vinegar where you normally put in bleach. Vinegar is really good at removing smells, cheap, and doesn't leave a residual smell on the clothes
Yeah, I just looked it up. The name brand that I buy is $23 for 132 fl oz. With the way I use laundry detergent, at 0.5 oz per cycle, that's 264 cycles for $23. Less than $.10 for the name brand stuff, maybe less for a store brand.
I have kids so I run 2 batches per week, but that's still 20 cents per week for a family of 4. Not sure that's worth making my own.
Honestly at a loss here. The title references fabric softener, but the content relates more specifically to DIY laundry detergent while only mentioning that softener makes clothes more vulnerable to wear & tear. What's the nitty-gritty on the fabric softener? Does it actually damage clothing in some way?
As geek analogy, is it like the subatomic bacteria that starts destroying the Klingon ship in Star Trek: the Next Generation S2E8's "A Matter Of Honor", or does it just make the material more susceptible to tearing?
Isn't detergent incredibly cheap though? I always buy the cheapest per weight Aldi stock. I think we may have spent less than £5 on it in the past year. Never bought fabric conditioner, wtf would I want that for, deliberately make my towels less absorbent and more flammable?
Are all your clothes towels? Just don't use it when you wash your towels lol
I often wash towels with other things though. It would be rather wasteful to run a second load just for towels.
Want to add in here, that some washing mechanics can't handle the homemade detergent mix. I've damaged one or two with the mix. Not entirely sure as to the reason, but I believe it has something to do with the grated soap bar clogging something somewhere.
Wonder if you could powder it somehow.
Small batches in an old blender. Grated soap mixed with you washing soda, borax or whatever else you are using as a booster. The powders will coat the soap as it gets cut apart and keeping it from clumping back together.
This is hard on a blender so do smaller batches (and don't use a good blender. Get one from goodwill or the like for ~ 10 bucks}. It will also produce very fine airborne power when you open the blender. I promise you that you don't want strong alkaline powers in your lungs, and even if you do it will make the air taste terrible. Do this in a well ventilated place, use PPE, and be careful. I find that after you powder it, the soap in the mixture holds on to the other ingredients and keep them from becoming airborne.
Also use a laundry soap bar, the soap is often stronger so you can use less and it doesn't have ingredients to moisturizer or make the soap easy on the skin. Those often contribute to buildup issues.
I wrote up a big rant with detailed instructions on how to remove residue from washers. A clean washer performed better and it's over of the reasons people get a new washer and it ends up cleaning much better.
EDIT: a link to my washer cleaning and residue removal rant
Freedom units should be replaced with something like racist units or genocide units or orange units
The freedom was always sarcastic
Godwin's law
So the metric units? Those were used by racists and genocidal tyrants throughout history.
Racism isn't a defining characteristic of all metric users though .
I didn't say it was. Just that has been quite popular with those types of defective people over the history of the use of the metric system.
The Imperial system has it's own special though.
This entire argument is obviously ridiculous from both sides but the main difference between the metric system and the Imperial system in this context is that almost everyone uses the metric system while pretty much only the USA uses the Imperial system.
So the Imperial system can be blamed for any faults of the USA. But the opposite is ridiculous since that's the standard. That would be like blaming Hitler on legs.
And yes again, it's incredibly ridiculous to blame anything on a system of measurement but if you are gonna do it the Imperial system makes way more sense to blame.
Good thing the US doesn't use the Imperial measurement system then, (we use US Customary which is different than Imperial). That pretty much started to diverge by the end of the revolutionary War. And for your information, we are all looking for that same missing 10mm wrench and socket just like you guys are. We use the metric system all the bloody time. From soda pop and whisk(e)y to every food item in a grocery store to the Canyonaro pickups we drive are all metric. We just don't force it by law like the rest of the world.
The point was to make fun of any and all who think ANY measurement system is better than another or even matters at all. They all consist of made up units all thought up by random dudes long ago that enough other people thought were pretty skookum and decided to use.
Yes, I know that you use your own fucked up flavour of the Imperial system.
The metric system is objectively a better system which is why you guys use it when it actually matters (except the times you fuck up because you use two different systems, like with the climate orbiter.)
FYI: the metric system isn't really "made up". All SI base units are defined by physical constants. It's also a logical system while the Imperial system was dreamt up by some mad lad.
I tend to use moon landing units.
Didn't the Apollo missions use metric, though?
It is my understanding that a mix of units was used. I do not know how much metric was used in the design of the engines or rockets, the construction was largely done in SAE units because that's what the aerospace industry was tooled up for. It is my understanding that calculations were done in metric but converted and displayed in nautical miles, feet, and feet per second for the crews who, being US aviators were accustomed to those units. The crawler transporter's fuel economy is measured in gallons per foot.
239.59 ml
Edit: switched out the original number for the correct number
It happened a lot in our nation's history that folks would have relatively simple kitchens not equipped with scales or even a set of measuring cups, so eating vessels and utensils would be used. A lot of staple American baked goods like biscuits are really more about feeling the consistency of the dough than sticking to a recipe anyway, so laboratory precision is not necessary.
At some point the cup got codified as half a pint, or 8 fluid ounces, or slightly under 0.125L. A tablespoon is 1/2 of a fluid ounce and thus 1/16th of a cup. A teaspoon is 1/3 of a tablespoon.
It works out that tea- and tablespoons are ~ 4.928 and 14.786 mL respectively. The medicine industry, which actually does everything in metric and has for decades now, often writes dosing instructions in metric tea- or tablespoons of 5mL and 15mL respectively. For example, my bottle of Listerine mouthwash says in its instructions "swish 10mL (2 teapoonfuls) between your teeth for 30 seconds..."
Believe it or not we also know how long an inch is, too.
That's, like, every nation's history. Cooking has never required that much precision, especially home cooking. Even baking can be done by feel, with enough experience.
Learning to use recipes and then learning you don't need them are the two most important parts of learning how to cook imo. The first time I make something I use a recipe every time after that I do not and just go by feel/vibes unless I am trying to make something authentic.
It boggles your mind that the units people were actually using became standardized?
The amount measured by a typical tea or coffee cup is approximately 1/2 US Pint, so when it comes time to codify it that's a reasonable place to put it.
Anything else you wish to artificially complicate?
I just realized 59.15 ml is 1/4 of a cup while 1 cup is 239.59 ml
Annoyingly, the US has two different "cups"
US legal units puts it as 240ml
US Customary Units puts it at 236.59ml
Then there's Imperial cups, which is 284.13ml
Then there's the metric cup at 250ml
Freedom units were imported from Britan.
And then bastardised.
Chad UK/Irish Imperial pint: 568ml
Virgin US Customary Unit pint: 473ml
American and British cups are also different.
In liberté units.
I'm not convinced about the cost. A kilogram of borax seems to run about $10CAD. 2 cups, at 1.7g/CC, would be about 850g, so $7 just for the Borax. Unless there's a much cheaper place to get it...
A ~5L jug of Tide costs $31, or about $6/L. If they have approximately equivalent cleaning power per volume, Tide wins.
Am I the only one who likes fabric softener? For me it was a game changer to go from wrinkly, stiff clothes to softer, less wrinkled clothes.
I definitely don't use it every wash, but I do think it makes a real difference.
I wouldn't be caught dead using dryer sheets, though. That's a scam.
I like both softener and dryer sheets ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I don't, but dryer sheets are incredibly cheap too.
IDK anything about it, but I've read "softener bad" a few times so I've just stopped putting it in and honestly haven't noticed.
My partner does though so now when she sees or hears me doing laundry she reminds me to use the softener.
Many clothes, especially athletic/athleisure fabrics, should not be washed with fabric softener. Check the label to be sure.
I really don't understand the point of that trend. Unless you're competing at a high level, your clothing doesn't matter at all.
That said, it makes average women's bodies look incredible. So maybe that's why.
Sounds like maybe you do understand the point.
probably most everything is a scam if you look close enough.
Borax gives me rashes, but I’ve used laundry bar soap or just the super sensitive skin liquid stuff. I use vinegar instead of name brand fabric softener because it’s cheaper and the other stuff gives me a rash. Nearly all of the store bought laundry stuff gives me rashes.
All ot does is make the fabric soft? Are yall wearing potatoes sacks?
If you have a problem with limestone in your water you can use the cheapest vinegar you can find and add it to the washing machine to make your clothes smoother.
Vinegar is also great at getting smells out of stuff. It's excellent for animal smells. I use a little in each load of laundry because my fave hobby is doing stuff with horses and I also have a beagle with a natural hound stink. It gets out all the animal stank and a 2 gallon jug costs $3 at the local dollar store.
I also used the stuff to deep clean my carpets to help out a disabled cat I owned. He had trouble determining where the litter box was because he was blind and brain damaged and the person who was in my house before me didn't clean up after their cats. Most of the smell was gone, but just enough was there to confuse my boi.
10/10 recommend vinegar.
"doing stuff with horses"
I'm not sure if I want to know more, but I'm a bit suspicious of the legality of your hobbies.
Ordinary white vinegar is good for a lot of things, but it's too dilute to use as a fabric softener or limescale prevention.
I've used acetic acid (32%) for decades, 30ml or so per wash. It's even listed right on the bottle that it works as a fabric softener, keeps colors from fading and prevents limescale buildup.
And it goes in the fabric softener compartment of course, if you mix it with the detergent the acidity will reduce its washing power(detergent is alkaline).
How do I make my own fabric softener tho? One of the things it does is condition the fabric like you condition your hair, to keep its strength and retain its shape. Like if your shirt's neck has become a little stretched out, wash it with some fabric softener and it usually fixes that shit.
I'd DIY my own if I could. I'll probably start using this detergent recipe, too.
usually they advise vinegar.
how much vinegar do you use for a normal load?
Just finely crush about a half a bag of salt and vinegar chips and then toss 'em in
i use vinegar, but it's not the same. softener contains some oily component that stays in the fabric after washing and makes it more fluffy. vinegar doesn't do that.
Wait can it fix crew necks that get a little shitty?
Fabric softener mostly just deals with the leavings of hard water on your clothes and in your machine. So anything that does that same job would work. Lot of people say vinegar is a good idea. I don't know but a little bit of CLR might actually work too.
Awfullydull and I are now best friends, I've been saying the same about dryer sheets for YEARS now
FUCK DRYER SHEETS pointless ass waste of money
My MIL swears that dryer sheets are good for cleaning baseboards. You take one and rub it on a baseboard and some how dust just... avoids those annoying little nooks and crannies. I haven't had to clean them again in literal years, but thats the only good use I've heard for dryer sheets. It's a hack on a tiny task I never take time to care about really, not sure if that in anyway justifies the existence of dryer sheets, but there you go.
What's a dryer sheet? I don't think I've heard of it before.
Literally just a thin disposable sheet of fabric impregnated with fabric softener that you throw in the dryer with your clothes. The idea is that it's supposed to make your clothes feel softer, smell better, and reduce static electricity. Waste of money and material, just throw a damn tennis ball in there
A microplastic rag dipped in PFAS.
I’m talking out of my ass bc I don’t use them either, but I’d wager a buck my description isn’t that far off.
You put them in your clothes dryer to make everything smell like chemical clean and make them a little softer. And reduce static? I think? They give me a rash, personally.
This feels like info that should be in the new Anarchist Cookbook.
That brought me back, I was on IRC in 1994 and someone shared the link to a website of the anarchists cookbook. And that is the first site I remember visiting... My brain says it was probably a Geocities site, but so much of the internet was that I can't recall
where the fuck are these people buying detergent that is 80x the ingredients they listed? isn't bar soap also industry made?
also I'm sorry maybe there's legit uses for it but whenever I hear someone say essential oil I assume they're knee deep in grlftland and have fucking crystals and shit all around the house.
Essential oils will not cure diseases or anything, but they are great for making things smell nice. I would give using these in a dryer ball a pass.
fair
So you just saw the words "essential oil" and quit reading? They're using it to make their laundry smell good, not cure cancer.
it was at the end, there wasn't much left to quit
The price things gets me too. I was actually talking about this with a coworker a couple months ago. I live alone so I'm not doing nearly the amount of laundry that some people are doing but even then that last bottle of laundry detergent I bought cost me like 9 bucks and took a bit over 2 years to go through. I think I'm fine spending 4.50 a year on my laundry supplies.
I just did the math on mine, I'm paying about 10 cents per cycle for laundry detergent. Even if the ingredients to make my own were literally free, I'm still only saving about $5 per year. Not worth my time.
Fabric softener is great. Mix a bit with water and use it to clean your shower glass doors/walls. It removes limescale like a charm thanks to the anionic surfactants that are in there. And the Aldi store brand costs hardly anything.
Fabric softener is sometime useful for very hard water. You don't have to buy it, though. You can use white vinegar to soften the water to actually soften the fabric mix in a big container one part white vinegar to one part sodium bicarbonate. Wait for it to stop foaming. Add four drops of essential oils per liter of mixture. Stir. Allow to rest a few hour before using. You can make big quantity ahead of time as long as your container is big enough for the big foam of the big batch.
Haven’t used it for years
This thread is so wild I swear. A bottle of softener costs 2 bucks and last you for so many washes (up to 100?). A bar of soap cost one buck, then you have to factor in the time to prepare the softener, the other ingredients and whatnot.
Where is the saving?
The saving is due to not using a useless softener - the point of this this thread
Why? It smells good. If you can’t afford a 2 buck softener at lease every 3 months (assuming a wash once a week) I’d say you have got much bigger problems
Sure, but the point is that fabric softener is not necessary.
At the very least in the case of towels (any type), it is actually counter productive, because it makes the towels less absorbent.
On top of that, it means clothes absorb less sweat, which, at first glance, seems like a good thing, until you realise it means your sweat will now stick to your skin longer, because it can't evaporate from your shirt.
I find it hard to believe that a $2 "fabric softener" smells all that good? Pretty sure it smells like cheap chemical fragrances.
Mmmm febreeze!
Oh it smells good? Idc, if I cared enough to perfume my clothes I'd do it at point of use.
What do you want your clothes to smell? What's the point?
IMO fabric softener is utterly pointless but my main problem with it is that it can degrade some clothes faster.
https://www.consumerreports.org/appliances/laundry/why-fabric-softener-is-bad-for-your-laundry-a5931009251/
https://fabrictopics.com/does-fabric-softener-damage-clothes/
It's not the softener itself. It's the softener plus a dozen other little luxuries that all add up.
https://www.target.com/p/downy-april-fresh-liquid-fabric-conditioner-140-fl-oz/-/A-82823990
Here's a typical fabric softener at Target. $13 before tax. Still not a lot, but it's not nearly as cheap as $2.
Then the problem is with murica not with softener
What kind of fabric softener is that cheap for that much? My experience is that it's way more expensive than that.
Sometimes I'll be at the laundry detergent shelf at the shop and see a really low price, only to get disappointed by it being softener and not detergent. Shit be cheap, compared to detergent. Wouldn't even use softener if it were free though, so can't comment on how long it lasts.
Yeah same here
I've not used fabric softener or any other substitute for whatever it does in like 10 years. Can't tell what problem I'm supposed to be having that it supposedly solves.
I actually stopped using it because the dryers at my crappy old laundromat tended to overheat and it would occasionally melt the fabric softener sheets and it smelled utterly horrible and left burnt on patches of fabric softener on my clothes. So I figured it was no longer worth the cost, and then I noticed I couldn't even tell what the benefit was. It was just a thing my mom told me to do and I never questioned it.
Fabric softener kills elastic and lots of clothes (including even jeans) have elastic in them. Yeah, you can do separate washes, but ain’t nobody got time for that.
Not heard of that one. The main one I know is it makes towels less absorbent, my partner's mum uses it and it's like trying to soak up water with a plastic bag.
Yeah when you coat all the fibers of the towel with slightly modified rendered animal fat, then they won't absorb water. The long hydrophobic tail on the tallow dimethyl ammonium chloride molocule really doesn't want to mix with water. It's almost completely insoluble in polar solvents like water.
Why make things soft by addressing the initial problem(residues and hard water salts in deposited in the fibers when the clothes dry) when you can just coat the whole thing in fat and call it "clean" and "soft"
probably uses too much. it has that effect, but it also makes them more fluffy
What's a dryer sheet, I'm nearly 40 and I've never heard of that
It's a sheet of chemicals that makes your clothes smell better.
Downside is it adds a sort of...coating to clothing which for some types of clothing, like wicking sports apparel, makes them less effective.
They're absolutely useless and when I learned that I stopped using them and there was literally no negative change in my post-laundry output.
That makes me think of crockpot liners, which are apperently a thing
Like, you cook your food, in the plastic. The most pointless thing I've seen.
I suppose it's for people who feel like they are not ingesting enough microplastics.
Gotta get your 5 grams worth!
Savings up for a credit card
Mmmm that plastic bag taste. Just like mom used to make. Until she died of microplastic poisoning.
We aren't there yet but soon. GenX I bet you'll see the first person die directly as a result of micro plastics. Boomers, I think cancer has got them for the most part and I'm confident we will solve that riddle in the next few decades
Slightly related, why does clingfilm smell so strong? I never used it because the taste always went onto whatever I wrapped in it.
Sous vide style slow cooking, vacuumized in a bag, had it's merits as you can't really do it any other way. This, however is a lazy way to avoid cleaning (like using plastic plates to avoid doing the dishes).
If your laundry tends to suffer from a lot of static when you remove it, it can help with that.
What a beautiful phrase, I'm totally gonna nick the term post-laundry output
If I don't use a dryer sheet in the winter, my clothes literally stick to me and it is uncomfortable. The static is crazy. In summer its not an issue.
You don't need dryer sheets if you're hang drying your clothes, which reduces wear on the clothes and uses less energy, along with requiring one less appliance, unless you have a combo washer/dryer.
I started hang drying my clothes maybe 4 years ago and I'm definitely not going back
I've been hang drying for a decade. Moved house recently, treated myself to a dryer. My god clothes feel so much softer now. Especially towels.
Yeah, I hang dry most of my clothes, but I use a dryer for towels because they get really coarse otherwise, and bed sheets because I don't really have somewhere to hang them
For me, nothing beats clothes hung dry that have been drying in the sun. It has its own unique smell to them.
You should enjoy the smell of them after they were freeze dried on the clothes line in the winter time. Growing up, my mother had a wringer/washer but no clothes drier. So she had to hang almost all the laundry outside on a clothes line-- even when it was well below freezing out. My Mother and Grandmother also made our own soap from tallow and lye after we butchered a cow for the winter.
We used it for everything, laundry, hand soap, and bath soap. Stuff would remove to hide off your ass due to the amount of lye used. Ahhh, the life of growing up dirt poor on a small farm.
As you know I am disgustingly wealthy being top 50 richest abigender as seen in shlorbes magazine but I am still going to use this recipe
This is how you save for the superyacht
I’ve used the same three tennis balls in my dryer for about 20 years now. My clothes seem to last well, and towels remain absorbant (fabric sheets can leave a waxy residue making towels less absorbent). After reading those comments maybe I’ll try adding a few drops of a scented oil to one of the tennis balls.
It's worth wondering how much fabric softener would cost someone over their adult lifetime as an exercise. Let's say 50 years of adulthood, and 12 bottles a year costing $10 each. That's six grand. For something that serves no functional purpose, makes towels less effective and has an environmental impact.
So yes it's a scam. If someone really needs to use fabric softener, at least buy a cheaper supermarket brand and use it sparingly.
UK person: dryer?
Welsh person: no dryer?
(For our foreign friends - it rains eight days a week here...)
I'm on the southern coast of Wales. I have a dehumidifier.
That just seems like a heat pump dryer with extra steps.
It helps my laundry dry and keeps the house from feeling damp too. Nothing like high relative humidity inside a house to make the cold cling to the skin!
Yeah, dryers themselves are a waste of both money and energy.
Depends. They do save on space, which is why it's so weird that most US people have them and europeans who generally have much smaller homes usually don't.
My drying rack takes a bit of room for 24h every 2 weeks and folds to non-existence between loads, so I don't really share that logic.
Plus, it does not try to compete with my water tank on electricity consumption.
I think family size is the kicker. My kids are really active and exploratory. So residue and odor leaves me needing to do multiple loads a week. I know scientifically when it comes to bacteria and odor I could do the deep freeze/freezer thing....but I just can't.
There are some items we have to hang dry. Those I can keep on the one hanging rack. If I did it for everything though my 3-4 loads a week means my office/desk/craft space is now basically permanently occupied by laundry. Summer is more feasible......that's only three months of consitent +13 C for my area though. :'(
IDK your living situation, but that "bit of room" might be a lot in smaller homes. My first room as a college student wouldn't even fit a full-size drying rack, and it was definitely in the way in most of my places since then. And it's going to be a lot more often than once every 2 weeks if there's more than one inhabitant, and depending on what how thick the clothes are and the air humidity, 24h is not enough to dry everything.
Whilst I'd prefer not to have to hang my laundry I'm not willing to pay for that much electricity, particularly as I keep my shirts on hangers, so it's literally a case of moving them from one rack to another.
How does having this massive machine save you space compared to a bit of string?
The machine takes only about half as much space as the rack and it's easily stackable with a washing machine.
edit: I think you were actually referring to a clothesline instead of a rack? I never had a place to actually put up a clothesline, where do you put that? Straight through your bedroom?
If you want a rack you can get collapsible clothes drying racks that just fold up to almost nothing. As far as a washing line, put it up anywhere, just need 2 hooks. Usually dry stuff outside on a line other than in winter, could have a few lines across the kitchen to hang stuff from if you wanted.
And space
It also makes the clothes extremely flammable.
I have a friend that would make his own clothes soap. It looked like semen, but worked.
I hate to be the guy to tell you this, but I think your friend might have washed his clothes with cum.
Could his jeans kinda, stand upright all by themselves?
It helps you stand for long periods of time, you just relax against your clothes which support you.
A bit of alcohol vinegar can replace or help fabric softener.
Totally in with the 'make your own soap' mentality. I've been making my own laundry soap and liquid hand soap for ~6mo, and I'm still working through the first set of supplies I got for both. Only downside to making it yourself is the time commitment, but I've got it to a point where once I have the batter made, I just throw it and some distilled water into a covered mason jar, put in a covered stock pot with enough water to get around the inner water level and just let it simmer for a few hours.
It's actually super simple to make my laundry soap, it's just a 6:6:2:1 ratio:
Baking soda:Epson salt:washing soda:sea salt
Works great and take the smell out of my potty training son's laundry.
The only reason why clothes get staticky in the dryer is because of the heat. If you run the dryer for 10-20min after drying with no heat they'll come out without a trace of static.
Ive stopped using softener and dryer sheets a while ago; just detergent and for the first load of the week (usually towels) a short cycle with vinegar to clear up any mineral deposits left by my horribly bad hard water.
Gen X here, I only use unscented dryer sheets because if I don't I will get shocked a lot. My apartment is great because the humidity is super low in the winter, but clothing hurts. Humidifier doesn't work because if I don't use distilled water everything gets a rust color on it. Also I'd be going through a gallon of distilled water a day. I can't afford that, but I sure as heck can afford a big box of unscented dryer sheets that solves my problem.
Fabric softener / dryer sheets make clothing feel disgustingly slimy.
Stubby used too much fabric softener on his jpeg.
Wool balls do not work with synthetics.
Asking because I honestly don't know, for the laundry detergent recipe, does it matter that I was always told to get HE detergent? I was under the impression that the soap for "high efficiency" washers was different somehow than normal soap. I am ready to admit I was conned by the detergent industry and this is just marketing speak, but I also don't want to fuck up my washer, it cost a lot of money I don't have to replace it.
I use soap nuts for washing and vinegar as the softener. It comes out perfectly clean but has a neutral smell (which might smell weird when you first start doing this). I sometimes add a tiny bit of store bought softener to the vinegar for stuff like more expensive hoodies and tshirts.
Tumblr is such a nice place.
You know, when it is.
I'm lazy enough to pay a lazy tax on it.
I just use Dr Bronners and wool dryers balls.
If the Dr Bronner's your referring to is one of their liquid soaps you're still paying mostly for some water.
I don't mind paying for something that's mostly water as long as it's cheap. It isn't the water that's the problem; it's the price.
Baked baking soda is used to make ramen
But it can also irritate your skin
How expensive do people think fabric softener is lol. I don't use it because I don't care for it, but not buying it because you're too poor sounds wild.
Just glancing through my grocery app, it's anywhere from $5 to $15 per bottle, depending on size and brand. For the same amount of money, you could buy enough food for one person for 2 or 3 days. That's not insignificant since you can get a pack of dryer balls for around the same price, which have pretty much the same effect, and last way longer than a bottle of softener.
And how long does that $5 last? Consider how much money it is per wash, especially if you use less than the quite generous recommendation.
I'm standing in a store right now and they go from 1,5€ to 6€. The expensive brand option with big bottle is 6,26€ and lasts for 110 washes with the recommended amount. The expensive one is 5,7 cents per wash.
6€ isn't nothing but as an expense over time, considering how long it lasts, even that expensive one is quite literally pennies.
Looking at price-per-use is only helpful if you have it in your budget right then to spend the full amount. For some, they can't spare that $5 on a frivolity because it's allocated to a necessity like food.
In my store there was an 1,5€ one, the store brand. And we're not a cheap country. I'm sure there's situations where someone couldn't even save up 1,5-5€ for fabric softener every what, six months or more, because it all goes to necessities, but I doubt that's at all typical. At least in the sense that the cost of it would be a serious reason people don't use it.
A much more likely reason is that it's not at all necessary. It can make clothes smell and feel nicer, but that's just extra. I personally don't use it, I actually prefer the "fresh" smell of no-fragrance laundry detergent.
I think you might be more privileged than you think in this case. Making the choice between feeding oneself and buying a frivolity like fabric softener isn't that uncommon in the US, where a huge chunk of people live paycheck to paycheck.
Not a huge privilege to have 1,5€ to spare.
For you.
Everything related to cleaning and hygiene industry is a scam
Hygiene, beauty, and medicine. All products with literally pennies worth of ingredients charging hundreds to thousands of times what they cost to make.
Medicine has the excuse of going to research at least. But we all know that system is broken.
No. Just no. Sodium carbonate, you americans!
Been using a set of wool dryer balls from Trader Joe's for years. Haven't had to use fabric softener at all.
What.. ? Bar soap? Which coats your skin in wax and makes you feel like a walking crayon when you wash yourself with it?
No thanks, I'll stick to my detergent and dryer sheets.
(which do work btw, I grew up poor without them and HATED the feeling of my clothes, and the static. Pissed me off all the time. Grew up, started making money, and bought dryer sheets, boom problem solved.)
If your fabric needs softening then maybe you just buy the wrong clothes.
I don’t use the shit. My clothes don’t wrinkle and they sure as fuck aren’t uncomfortable so all I can think of is you’re buying shitty clothes.
Actually its because you are buying shitty clothes why they dont wrinkle. Synthetic fabrics dont wrinkle.
Sounds like you’re upset that you found out how shitty your clothes are.
Better luck next time.
Nope. Try again.