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?
Sarah, have you investigated MyGreenFills? A responsible company saving on packaging (refills only come in small plastic envelopes) and their give-back commitment goes towards stopping sex trafficing, giving jobs to women who make their ‘dryer angels’, etc. The ingredients are reported to be safe from toxins also. I gave up all my healthy laundry and soap products to go with them. What do you think?
I haven’t investigated the ingredients of this product, but I would warn you to look at them closely as many products that use “green” in the name are simply greenwashing the consumer. I prefer dryer balls or white vinegar added to the rinse cycle instead as the most sustainable and safe options I’ve come across. We have very hard well water too, and these simple and very inexpensive approaches work very well.
Does the clothes end up smelling like vinegar?
No they don’t thankfully!
Everyone suggests dryer balls. I use them in every load and still have static cling, so they clearly aren’t magic. I love them, but vinegar is the better option. I use the dryer balls for essential oils and to help dry the clothes quicker and better.
Does the white vinegar cause any certain fabrics and/or colors to bleed/discolor at all? This would be my concern. In advance, thank you.
If you use white vinegar, there isn’t any discoloration issue.
Can you just add the vinegar to where the liquid softener goes in he washer?
That doesn’t work as well in my experience as putting it in the rinse cycle.
use soap nuts for the wash cycle – then there is no need whatever for fabric softener!
In my experience, even using soap nuts requires something to reduce static especially during the winter. White vinegar works very very well as does wool dryer balls as mentioned above.
Great article. I need to switch to organic vinegar after reading this! To Melissa’s question of how to make it easier to use vinegar. I use a “Downy Ball”. It’s been around for a long time. I found it at my Wally World in laundry soap area. You might be able to google and find it for sale online. You pour your vinegar into it, and seal it up and drop it in with your clothes and soap…when starting a load. The spinning action during rinse cycle releases the vinegar into the machine for the rinse cycle. Very convenient.
I am trying to get my mom to use alternatives to fabric softener. She is willing to try the wool balls for towels and sheets but says she has to put it in the wash for her clothes because they are line dry and get very staticey without the softener. I would love to try the vinegar but we never pay attention to the washer when it is going so I doubt we would get to it when we need to for the vinegar. Is there anything I can get her to try in the washer? Can we just put the vinegar in the fabric softener slot on the washer?
I have recently been washing with Green Scents lavender laundry liquid and the results have been good, plus it’s chemical free. What do you think of this brand Sarah?
I use quarter of a cup of bicarbonate of soda as fabric conditioner, is this a good thing?
Yes, that’s fine. A half cup of white distilled vinegar (nonGMO) is an excellent alternative that I use (add to rinse water).