Safe, inexpensive, and effective alternatives to commercial fabric softeners and dryer sheets that harm health, toxify indoor air, and mess up hormones with synthetic fragrances.
Without a doubt, fabric softeners are some of the most toxic personal care products sold to unwitting consumers today. This includes products marketed as dryer sheets and laundry detergents that contain fabric softening or anti-static properties.
While fabric softeners work extremely well to soften clothing and reduce static, they can contain hundreds of unlabeled, untested chemicals that come into direct contact with the body on a 24/7 basis.
These products do their job by leaving a residue on fabric that is very hard to remove. The fumes can easily be smelled for days or even weeks (years?) afterward.
Have you ever noticed that you have to wash an article of clothing two, three, or even four times to get the synthetic smell out?
I first noticed this when purchasing clothing from baby consignment stores when my oldest was very young. The sickly sweet floral scent of fabric softener used by the previous owners was so strong that I had to rewash the clothing multiple times before I felt safe using it to dress my son!
There are two groups of chemicals in fabric softener and related products that are most worrisome to our health:
Fabric Softener “Quats”
Quaternary Ammonium Compounds or “quats” are a group of toxic chemicals used in fabric softener liquids, crystals, and dryer sheets. Incidentally, these dangerous chemicals are also in most antibacterial wipes (make natural wipes instead!).
While quats very effectively soften fabric and eliminate static, they are toxic to human health. Here are some of the specific quat chemicals:
- diethyl ester dimethyl ammonium chloride
- dialkyl dimethyl ammonium methyl sulfate
- dihydrogenated palmoylethyl hydroxyethylmonium methosulfate
- di-(palm carboxyethyl) hydroxyethyl methyl ammonium methyl sulfate
Quats Cause Asthma
The biggest problem with quats is that they are well-recognized “asthmagens” and labeled as such by the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics, a leading global authority on asthma.
This means that quats not only can trigger an asthma attack in someone who already has asthma, but they can also cause asthma to develop in otherwise healthy people!
Another problem with quats is due to their antimicrobial properties. While this may seem desirable at first, clothes that have been washed are already clean and don’t require the addition of chemicals to keep them germ-free.
In fact, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), quats may contribute to the development of superbugs like MRSA, so ditching the fabric softeners along with other antimicrobial personal care products in your home is a smart move (1).
Hormone Disrupting Fragrances
Certainly, the problem with quats is bad enough, in my opinion. Who wants to use anything in the home that can give a child or an adult asthma?
The story gets worse for fabric softeners, unfortunately. The most concerning chemicals in these products are actually synthetic fragrances.
Fabric softeners are known for the powerful fragrance they impart to laundry. However, this fragrance that some enjoy comes with a heavy price.
Studies on Fabric Softener Dangers
A University of Washington study of the best-selling fabric softener brands found an untested cocktail of hundreds of chemicals. The research was published in the journal Environmental Impact Assessment Review.
Lead researcher Anne Steinemann, professor of civil and environmental engineering and public affairs, said that she first became interested to study these products because people she knew were telling her that these products were making them sick. What she found was shocking!
All of the products tested gave off at least one chemical regulated as toxic or hazardous under federal law, but none of those chemicals was listed on the product labels!
Steinemann said further:
I was surprised by both the number and the potential toxicity of the chemicals that were found. Chemicals included acetone, the active ingredient in paint thinner and nail-polish remover; limonene, a molecule with a citrus scent; as well as acetaldehyde, chloromethane and 1,4-dioxane. Nearly 100 volatile organic compounds [VOCs] were emitted from these six products, and none were listed on any product label. Plus, five of the six products emitted one or more carcinogenic ‘hazardous air pollutants,’ which are considered by the Environmental Protection Agency to have no safe exposure level (2).
Follow-up research published in the journal Air Quality Atmosphere and Health found that emissions from dryer vents are toxic when fabric softeners or dryer sheets were used.
Analysis of the captured gases found more than 25 volatile organic compounds, including seven hazardous air pollutants, coming out of the dryer vents. Of those, two chemicals – acetaldehyde and benzene – are classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as carcinogens, for which the agency has established no safe exposure level.
“These products can affect not only personal health, but also public and environmental health. The chemicals can go into the air, down the drain and into water bodies,” head researcher Steinemann said (3).
Those of you who know exactly when your neighbors are doing their laundry due to the odor of fabric softener wafting down the street now know to close your windows and screens during that time to keep these toxic emissions from entering your home!
Beware of Fragrance-Free Fabric Softeners
As awareness of the toxic nature of personal care products increases, some companies have come out with fragrance-free fabric softeners specifically designed for babies or those with sensitive skin.
Beware!
While these products may not have any hormone-disrupting fragrances, they still contain quats that are odorless and colorless!
Remember that quats can cause asthma, so don’t be fooled! Unscented fabric softeners are still best avoided.
What About Green Brands?
Being green has become trendy in recent years, and companies are capitalizing on its popularity by using the term to market their products.
As of this writing, of all the “green” fabric softeners and dryer sheets on the market that were tested by the Environmental Working Group, only one brand received an “A” rating. All the other brands that claimed to be green and natural received B, C, or even D ratings (4).
The lesson here is not to be swayed by clever marketing, as the vast majority of “green” fabric softeners and dryer sheets are still going to contain questionable chemicals and fragrances.
Ready to Ditch the Dryer Sheets and Softener?
If all of this information has you concerned, don’t be.
Ditching the fabric softener is simple to do!
I haven’t used fabric softener once in 25 years of marriage and raising three children. Let me share with you that I’ve never missed it.
I guess you could say that I became aware of the problem with fabric softeners very young. My Mom loved the stuff when I was growing up and the smell of fabric softener seemed to permeate everything!
My siblings and I used to joke that Mom poured half a bottle of fabric softener into every load of laundry. While this was an exaggeration, it was definitely much more than the recommended amount on the bottle.
As a result, I switched to nontoxic methods of doing laundry before I was even married. If you are ready to make the switch too, below are three safe, easy, and very effective alternatives to try.
Three Safe Alternatives
- Make your own fabric softener or sheets! A very simple swap is to pour half a cup of white distilled vinegar into the rinse cycle. Note that nearly all the white distilled vinegar on the market is derived from GMO corn! If this bothers you, use organic white distilled vinegar instead. I would also recommend washing any new clothing using a half cup of distilled white vinegar before wearing to remove any chemical residue that is still on the clothing.
- If you are like me and can never make it to the washer at the right time to put vinegar into the rinse cycle, you may wish to opt for wool dryer balls. I’ve tried several brands, and my favorite is Eco-Nuts. You can also make wool dryer balls yourself. This tutorial tells you how.
- If you or someone in your family is allergic to wool, I’ve tried these hypoallergenic dryer balls, and they work as well as wool balls to reduce static cling and soften clothes. As a bonus, they fluff up the laundry nicely and seem to significantly reduce drying time.
One tip if you use either wool or hypoallergenic dryer balls. Keep a few extras on hand as one or two always seem to go missing at least at my house. Usually, they get stuck in the sleeve of a hoodie or in the corner of a fitted sheet. Even though they turn up again within a week or two, having extras on hand is helpful when this happens.
Have you ditched the fabric softeners in your home yet? Which fabric softener alternative do you like best?
If you haven’t made the switch yet, what are you waiting for?
Another alternative to fabric softener is to use Epson salt mixed with essential oil. everydayroots.com/homemade-fabric-softener
Another alternative – if you can, ditch the dryer. It’s surprising how quickly you can get used to stiff jeans and rough towels. And a quick run with the iron softens things up beautifully.
I’ve also found that putting my laundry out on the line in the evening so it can catch the dew overnight leads to softer clothes, and a light rain shower is the best fabric softener of all.
I know these aren’t solutions for everyone Sarah, but they work for me. I dry my laundry on racks next to the wood stove in winter.
Here, here to hanging your laundry…all year round! Hydrates our northern Michigan home in the winter and your clothes last much longer!
Like a couple of other people who commented, I hang the majority of my laundry to dry indoors. I use white vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser and will throw jeans in the dryer for a few minutes before hanging them up……seems to help with the stiffness issue. The only things that I dry completely in the dryer are bedding items because don’t have a place large enough to hang king sized sheets, lol! Can’t hang them outside due to allergies. I haven’t used fabric softener in 20 years. The scents are awful and give me a horrible headache. Hanging your clothes to dry also has the added benefit of reducing your electric or gas bill!
I hangout in summer. wind helps soften. Not that I worry about soft so much. I used vinegar. doesn’t help the dry static of winter here in NY. I hang cloths in hall on line Hubby hung. static static static. so what do to when vinegar doesn’t help static. I use natural liguud that tells me what is in it. like seven generation. for short time of worst part of dry winter. yes we have water on the stove. and hummidud reader on thom. so short fit is vinegar didn’t work for static in NY
My younger brother, who loves all chemicals:(, told me to put a dryer sheet in my pocket to keep the mosquitoes away. I guess there is one use for them. I bought some years ago knowing that I’d much rather use white vinegar. So they are still on the shelf–I guess they were waiting for me to run out of vinegar which I buy by the gallon every time it goes on sale. When mosquito season heats up, perhaps I’ll try a dryer sheet to see if it has any redeeming value. Of course, if I had asthma, etc. it would be a bad idea for sure.
I wanted to thank you for this article! I have asthma and stopped using fabric softener years ago….then I saw the fragrance free kind a few months back and started using it. I thought no scent meant it would not be harmful to my lungs. My asthma has been terrible for months and I did not make the connection until reading your article! After a few washes of my sheets without the fabric softener, I already can tell a difference in my health!
Those quats are some very insidious chemicals! Glad I helped solve the mystery for you Jessica 🙂
For those who like a fragrance, what about adding a couple of drops of essential oils on a microfiber cloth? I have not tried it. I have used fabric softner on microfiber clothes because my rinse dispenser doesn’t work.
Theresa, back when I still had a dryer I used to do this, just a drop on a facecloth and it would last for several loads. BUT fragrances change in the heat, so it’s trial and error. Once or twice it went horribly wrong! 😉
I use the hypoallergenic dryer balls. I had not heard of the wool balls. On my front loading washing machine I have a slot for putting the rinse but I prefer the dryer balls.
I have found something simpler for the dryer, instead of buying wool balls I use old socks, about three socks inside one tie them up, and voila! DIY and new uses for old socks
I love your rolled sock idea – I’m trying it tomorrow! Thanks.
My washing machine has a fabric softner dispenser and I have been adding vinegar to this for years. Works great, although it doesn’t do anything for the static.
I do not use fabric softener and find that dryer balls are noisy and cause my dryer to sense that a load is dry long before it IS dry. So when I find static cling I just run the clothes over with a wire coat hanger. If a large item has static, I drag it over the end of my ” brass” bed.
How about seventh generations dryer sheets?
Here is a link (also provided in the post) to EWGs testing: http://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners/2513-SeventhGenerationNaturalFabricSoftenerSheetsBlueEucalyptusLavender
Seventh Generation dryer sheets got an overall B rating, but most of the ingredients got a C rating. Some ingredients got a D rating for respiratory effects and acute aquatic toxicity (DI-(PALM CARBOXYETHYL) HYDROXYETHYL METHYLAMMONIUM METHYL SULFATES)
I personally would not buy this product. Try the dryer balls linked to above (either wool or hypoallergenic) instead … they work great!
7th generation’s products are not as pure as one would think. A few years back they were in hot water with dangerous chemicals that were in their automatic dishwasher soap. I use to do professional home cleaning and found their products to be harsh on my lungs after repeated use. I don’t use any of their products any more as they have proven themselves untrustworthy, so I switched to Shaklee and have never had a problem.