How do you make your laundry soft and scented?

My life,along with countless numbers of fellow sufferers ,is a misery because of the constant exposure to the toxic chemicals used in the production of these dangerous products.It pervades the air wherever you go and there is seemingly no escaping inhaling airborne fumes,made even more lethal when ‘cooked’ in tumble dryers.My neighbour refuses to understand that she is ruining my life with her noxious dryer fumes (she herself has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease- coincidence?Possibly).
I urge anyone who uses them to go online immediately and search ‘Danger of Fabric Softeners’.
There you will find that what you are paying good money for is a lethal concoction of carcinogenic chemicals,one of which (Ethyl Acetate) is classed as HAZARDOUS WASTE by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
The sickening perfumes are there to mask the foul smell of these chemicals.

If you would like to develop one or more of the following conditions :

Upper respiratory tract irritation,pancreatic cancer ,irritation of mucous membranes or even Parkinson’s Disease -and I almost forgot – there are links with infant mortality or Cot Death Syndrome – then write yourself a shopping list that includes :
Benzyl acetate:Linked to pancreatic cancer

Benzyl Alcohol:Upper respiratory tract irritant

Ethanol:On the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Hazardous Waste list and can cause central nervous system disorders

Limonene:Known carcinogen

A-Terpineol:Can cause respiratory problems, including fatal edema, and central nervous system damage

Ethyl Acetate:A narcotic on the EPA’s Hazardous Waste list

Camphor:Causes central nervous system disorders

Chloroform:Neurotoxic, anesthetic and carcinogenic

Linalool:A narcotic that causes central nervous system disorders

Pentane:A chemical known to be harmful if inhaled

Time to wake up and smell the FRESH AIR and ban Unilever (and the rest) from manufacturing these harmful products with absolutely no obligation to disclose the ingredients on the label.
I’m very disappointed to see that your highly respected publication is actively promoting the use of fabric softeners when the government should actually be taking steps to ban them .

I am very much in favour of cutting down our exposure to chemicals in our daily lives but some of the lists of chemicals published on websites do little to put the problem in perspective. A large amount of a chemical can be harmful but smaller amounts may be harmless.

On your list is: “Ethanol:On the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Hazardous Waste list and can cause central nervous system disorders” Ethanol is better known as alcohol and in the UK we are advised not to drink more than 16g of ethanol a day. Ethanol fumes from laundry products are hardly likely to do us any harm.

I would like to see all manufacturers required to state what chemicals are used in the formulation of products used in the home for the benefit of those who understand the risks. It would also help members of the public who know that they have a sensitivity or allergy to avoid certain chemicals.

As most people have no idea what chemicals are harmful or how to find out it is more practical to have a responsible agency to examine products before they are released on sale. Does an EU agency do this, and is it successful?

I can’t answer these questions, Malcolm, but I would like to point out some of the complications:

1. The amount of a chemical is critical. To take a trivial example, toilet limescale remover and Coca-Cola both contain phosphoric acid but only one will burn the skin.

2. Ingredients do not necessarily represent what is in a product we buy. Chemicals can react with each other and produce other chemicals.

3. Manufacturers often change the formulation of their products, making it difficult to keep up. There are many reasons for this, including product improvement, elimination of ingredients that are now suspected to be hazardous and using lower cost ingredients. Manufacturers’ MSDS (material safety data sheets) sometimes give an insight into changing formulation of products but these do not list all the ingredients.

Many household and gardening chemicals have been withdrawn, either on grounds of safety to us or for environmental reasons. The fragrance industry is to some extent self-policing and Dieseltaylor has posted some information from a document that discussed, among other things, the need to limit the amount of certain chemicals in products.

In my view the top priority is to get manufacturers to declare what goes into their products. We have not even completed this job with the food we buy.

Some people clearly have too much time on their hands.
One of my lovely patients has been Detoxing for 5 years but clearly still has no grasp on reality in regards to how and why virii and bacteria behave as they do yet so say he takes in nothing that’s not natural but is one of the most poorly people I know!
I have been vegan for 30 years and eat only organic -mostly that I grow myself, I do not use artificial stuff generally but have early onset Parkinson really how does that work with your ‘theories’ get real. Sometimes you can’t buck nature genetics will out every time. Stop making people feel bad for what they do sometimes their life circumstance dictates what they can /can’t use cost and availability being 2 major issues. Get a life have some fun

Jill I totally agree with you on all counts!!!

Sorry but you are misinformed. Eg. Limonene is not carcinogenic, it can be extracted from lemons. Ethanol and pentane aren’t in fabric conditioners. As a chemist, I’m only too aware of the effects that chemicals can have, but chemicals make up everything on the planet so it is impossible to avoid them completely.

There is another way of imparting fragrance to laundry without using fabric conditioners but I don’t know how effective or pleasant it is. There is branded and own-brand ‘ironing water’ for use in steam irons. It seems a bit extravagant to me but claims to make the laundry smell fresher or sweeter depending on the ‘flavour’ in the bottle.

I have also seen adverts for a Febreze product that you can spray on the bedclothes to neutralise the odours of youth [eau de student?] Is this desire to permeate every textile surface with an aroma just another unnecessary and expensive fad, or is it an essential antidote to the hermetically-sealed and centrally-heated environment in which so many people spend their time?

I agree with your comment, I thought I was the only one who find fabric conditioner’s undesirable. I wash my cloths in antiseptic disinfectant to get rid of the bacteria in the washing. Then I set the washing machine to rinse and put a few drops of “Zoflora” in the wash drawer and hang out to dry.

missm do you use these?

http://www.johnlewis.com/ecozone-hypoallergenic-antibacterial-ecoballs-1000-washes/p164897

At £19:95, do you think it would be cost effective wev? I use Arial as my detergent with my laundry and two caps full of anti-disinfectant with a full wash, then set the washing machine to rinse with a few drops of “Zoflora” for freshness. I find this to be lucrative not only for my purse, but also for my clothing.

Very interesting. The John Lewis website refers to these Ecoballs as anti-bacterial yet the manufacturer’s website does not. The ingredients are listed as: Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Alpha Olefin Sulphonate, Laureth-9, Epoxy Resin, Polyamide Resin, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Metasilicate, Cellulose, Iron Oxide Yellow, Iron Oxide Red, Aqua.

I certainly don’t see anything that would be anti-bacterial in the small quantities used – these balls are supposed to last for 1000 washes. In fact I cannot see that the Ecoballs are going to achieve much more than washing in water.

Good grief! Antibacterial soaps are being banned next year as they cause more problems than they are worth. To wash your clothes in disinfectant then add more to the rinse cycle is nothing if not weird! As soon as you put them on they will instantly be covered in bacteria from you and the environment. You must smell like a hospital! A very unhealthy practice.

I can confirm that John Lewis Genuisa bed sheeting range starts of soft and silky and does indeed get even softer with use. Highly recommend

Bed sheets that have been treated with fabric conditioner always feel as though someone else has slept in them. Towels that aren’t crisp and a bit raspy simply feel dirty.
This is without the revolting smell of most fabric conditioners.

If towels and facecloths really get too scratchy, there’s a simple solution: put a few drops of coconut oil on your hands and rub it in, then squeeze the facecloths or towels or rub them over your hands. Then wash them and they will be much softer, without the sickly smell. It lasts for a number of washes.

When “towels and facecloths really get too scratchy” it’s probably time to say good bye. Facecloths tend to get hard with limescale in hard water areas so it’s best to buy thin cheap ones [Tesco £1] and replace them – the savings from not using fabric conditioner will pay for new ones.

2)
And it is death to most waterproofs as often is detergents.

Thank you dieseltaylor for the information, I always had the understanding that fabric conditioner’s was ineffective and no good for your skin. But you stated some useful facts.

http://www.ifraorg.org/Upload/DownloadButtonDocuments/c7b29dc8-19d2-4ffd-8aae-bb35ec2ae95b/IFRA-RIFM%20QRA%20Information%20booklet%20V7.1%20%28July%209,%202015%29.pdf

DO we have chemists who understand these things.?

Should we use all the talent we have in Which? subscribers to form mini-committees with the expertise beyond that of the journalists at Which?

I agree that fabric conditioner can soften up old clothes and make them more comfortable but given that there are many washing products that give a gentle wash I just wonder how many more chemicals we should be putting down the drains and next to our skin. As someone else suggested earlier, choosing bedding and garments of the right fabric makes a better contribution to comfort [and probably longevity of the material]. I never throw out clothes until they have been given a second or third life including cutting up shirts for wiping rags and cleaning cloths.

wave, how often would you recommend a 90 degree cleaning wash for a machine, and would bio or non bio be better at removing the hidden grime and bacteria?

Is adding clear vinegar to a rinse cycle good at removing oil hardened on to cotton clothes and sheets and the bacteria living in it, and will the vinegar damage the cotton fibres?

Hi Wev – I don’t actually do what I’m suggesting. 🙂 I use my ancient machine at 60°C setting at least once a week, so it does not have much opportunity to build up greasy gunge in its innards. I should add that my machine is that my machine reaches 60°C on the 60 setting, whereas Which? revealed that this setting is now a measure of cleaning performance rather than temperature. 🙁

The usual recommendation is to do a maintenance wash at the maximum temperature once a month: http://www.whitegoodshelp.co.uk/washing-machine-smells/ Bacteria can grow quite quickly so it would do no harm to do a maintenance wash more frequently than this. The recommendation is always to run the machine empty but that seems an unnecessary waste of detergent, electricity and water when you could wash all sorts of things like cleaning cloths.

There are two complications with bio laundry detergents in maintenance washes. To help remove grease they would have to contain enzymes called lipases. I don’t know which bio detergents contain lipases because the manufacturers don’t provide this information. The other problem is that the enzymes will be inactivated at higher temperature, though they might do some good during earlier stages of the maintenance wash. The combination of hot water and high temperature and detergent will hopefully be enough to wash away most of the gunge and bacteria and moulds it contains.

I don’t believe that adding vinegar to rinse water will achieve anything useful, though it is unlikely to harm fabrics. The link I gave above mentions using vinegar to clean a detergent drawer but brushing with oxygen bleach would be far more effective if contaminated by bacteria/mould.

Even though low temperature washing is effective in making clothes look clean, I doubt that this removes all the grease. There is a growing number of reports online about washed clothing, towels and bedding smelling musty after storage in drawers and wardrobes. My guess is that this is caused by moulds growing on oils/grease on fabrics, helped by atmospheric moisture. (The majority of bacteria don’t grow on oils/grease.) I wonder how many are using scented fabric conditioner to cover up unpleasant smells caused by failure to do maintenance washes or allowing oil and grease to build up in their ‘clean’ clothing.

Thanks 🙂

What about dust mites? Is 40 degrees enough to remove them, and again, is bio or non bio better for it?

I asked about vinegar because some clothes and bed linen don’t loose their musty smell after 60 degree and even 90 degree washes.

A common recommendation is to wash at 60°C to get rid of dust mites but that’s not much help when most modern machines don’t reach that temperature on the 60 setting.

The cause of dust mite allergy is mainly proteins the faeces of dust mites. As an asthma sufferer, I wash my bedding twice a week and always iron pillowcases, which would kill any dust mites and destroy any proteins.

A bio detergent contains proteases which help break down proteins. On the other hand, non-bio powders detergents usually contain bleaching agents, which might be better at killing dust mites. I’ve not seen much in the way of good scientific advice, so it might be best to experiment and find out what works best for you.

There seems to be a lot of comments on websites about musty clothing and how to get rid of the problem. I don’t know the answer but someone else may be able to advise.

Presumably whatever is responsible for the musty smell is binding to the fabrics and resisting washing, just like a stain or a dye does. There is plenty of suggestions on websites but I cannot see anything definite. I once came home from holiday and forgot that there was a plastic bag with a wet towel in it. I had to throw it out because it still smelled musty after washing at high temperature. Many years later I’m still using a matching towel I bought in Fenwick’s sale at the same time. I can’t imagine how many times it has been washed now but it still smells fine.

My washing machine engineer recommends half a bottle of lemon juice on a 90 degree wash will clean all the gunk from your washing machine,do it once a month,works on mine

Hopefully you have detergent in the machine to help get rid of grease etc. I expect the lemon juice will produce a nice smell, but don’t expect it to do much else. 🙁

I agree that it would be beneficial to use a detergent containing bleach, which means a powder rather than a gel. I’m not up to date, but perborate salts used to be used in laundry detergents. A peroxide-based bleach (so called oxygen bleach) could be added but it will be inactivated rapidly.

If washing machines are overloaded then washing and rinsing will be inefficient. Kenneth Watt made this point in other Conversations. His company sold rebranded machines under the ISE name that would do up to seven washes. It is not difficult to calculate that multiple rinses with small amounts of water are more effective than fewer rinses using the same amount of water. Sadly the company is no longer trading.

It’s a long time since I looked into dust mite allergy but my understanding was that the faeces were the cause of allergies rather than the eggs. Of course eggs can produce more dust mites, so we need to either kill them or wash them away.

Sorry – the ISE machines would do up to seven RINSES.

Bri, I’ll tell mrs r about these – I’d never heard of them before. The web tells me they are shells of nuts from the Sapindus Mukorossi tree growing in the Himalayan foothills. The coating of saponin is the natural soap. You put half a dozen (6 in metric) in a little cotton bag in with your washing. Looking on the internet produces a number of suppliers including through Amazon and The Natural Gardener. Hopefully 2016 will still see you with clean clothes 🙂

Malcolm have you tried liquid castle soap? You can log onto wlkihow.com – How to use Castile soap
It has many uses as you will see. I haven’t tried it in my washing machine yet and would be interested to know if anyone else has? I use it as a shampoo as I am allergic to most commercial shampoo and It is chemical free. I hope you find this useful.

The most comprehensive website is wikihow.com – 3 ways to use Castile soap.

Please can I give a caution about using alternatives products in washing machines. When front-loading machines were introduced in the UK we were told that we must use detergents manufactured for this purpose. The reason is that laundry detergents used in twin-tubs and top-loading washing machines foamed too much. At best this can cause a wet floor and at worst serious damage to a machine. My guess is that most laundry detergents now contain defoamers/antifoams to prevent formation of large amounts of foam.

Keep an eye on the machine and if it is obvious that a lot of foam is being produced, stop it and drain it before it is too late. I once put some washing soda in my machine and it foamed out of the detergent drawer producing an ugly stain down the front. 🙁 It does not seem to have suffered any ill effects and I managed to remove the stain completely, but now I will keep a close eye on it if trying something new.

Apparently you can avoid static by crumpling up aluminium foil and throwing it in with the clothes. I have not tried it as I do not suffer statically charged clothes.

An apparent cause of static is overdrying, and possibly some dryers have better sensors to avoid this problem. Or it may be that a dryer has a setting for fully dry which may make sense for a cotton but is bad for synthetics. I have a Miele dryer.

I have the same problem and have to use inhalers that would normally be needed only once or twice a day. I have long since passed the embarrassment stage and just collect the various pong dispensers and consign them to a cupboard. When I was a teenager I had problems with feather pillows so always take a pillow or at least pillowcases when I am staying in hotels or with friends. That was long before we had fabric conditioners and air fresheners.

Sometimes I find the perfumes overpowering, and that is not uncommon with those who are sensitive to them.

I’ve also posted on the reference to ethanol, John. As has been said many times, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

While fruitloopery and general misuse of science can be very entertaining (and New Scientist has published some of my offerings), I’m not sure how we can tackle the problem that many believe what they read. Even advertising is full of misrepresentation, but there is no doubt that it works.

Scaring everyone sensible might be an option …….

For those who suffer no allergies it may seem a lot of fuss about nothing however if even the fragrance manufacturers are finding a higher than 5% reaction rate to certain ingredients they use then it is only fair that society accepts the fact. The market offers people goods that are not rigorously tested and may potentially adversely affect a proportion of users.

We also have a rapidly increasing number of people with allergies. Not all allergies are related to man and s lot is natural however the incidence is rising and these are a few figures from AllergyUK:

” Allergy is widespread in the UK. Millions of adults suffer from at least one allergy, with numbers continuing to rise. Each year the number of allergy sufferers increases by 5%, half of all affected being children.

Below is an overview of allergy related statistics. Please contact the press office for more information:

615% increase in hospital admissions for anaphylaxis in 20 years, 1992-2012 (Turner et al, JACI, 2015)
In the last decade, the cases of food allergies have doubled and the number of hospitalisations caused by severe allergic reactions has increased 7-fold (EAACI, 2015)
Over 20,000 admitted to hospital each year with allergy, 61.8 per cent (12,560) of admissions due to allergic reactions were emergencies, a 6.2 per cent increase (730) on the same period last year (11,830).(HSCIC, 2014)
By 2025, asthma will represent the most prevalent chronic childhood disease and result in one of the highest causes of health care costs (EAACI, 2014)

Over 150 million people have allergies in Europe, the most common chronic disease (EAACI, 2014)

6–8 % of children have a proven food allergy (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, 2011)

Allergy is a chronic disease that is expected to affect more than 50% of all Europeans in 10 years’ time (EAACI, 2011)
Up to 1 in 5 allergic people suffer a serious debilitating disease and are in fear of death from a possible asthma attack or anaphylactic shock (EAACI, 2011)

An estimated 21 million adults in the UK suffer from at least one allergy (Mintel, 2010)
An estimated 10 million adults suffer from more than one allergy (Mintel, 2010)

Seasonal allergic rhinitis is associated with a detrimental effect on examination performance in UK teenagers. (Walker et al, J Allergy Clin Imm 2007)

UK hospital admissions for food allergies have increased by 500% since 1990 (Gupta, 2007)
The prevalence of diagnosed allergic rhinitis and eczema in children have both trebled over the last three decades (Gupta, 2007)”

Until such time as science can get a handle on this problem I think being cautious on chemicals is no bad thing. There must be something causing this change and whether it is diet or we are too “clean” for our own good the result is being more people being susceptible.

Dieseltaylor – You suggest we be cautious with chemicals and I agree. But how can we be cautious when manufacturers are not obliged to list which chemicals they put in their products?

Every product on sale must have an ingredients list, similar to those on processed food.

One of the things I used to like was the smell of a traditional hardware store in the days before hermetic packaging where soaps and detergents were stacked amid a residue of product and gave off a whiff of good clean [albeit chemical] atmosphere. This aroma is now regarded as unwanted and has to be masked by alluring scents whose fanciful descriptions belie their obnoxity. Added to which we introduce an aromatic conditioner to the mix and then ‘enhance’ it with a further dose of fragrant water in the ironing. And the manufacturers kid us that our laundry now smells lovely. But should it pall, we can now spray yet another vapour all over our textiles to ‘refresh’ them. Of course the carpets have also been dusted with deodorant and there is a plug-in thing in the socket wafting an oriental bouquet round the room. Preceding generations, who knew real austerity, would think we had all gone bonkers. And we wonder why we have allergies and respiratory conditions.

Hello “Hoovermatic ” yes I had one , remember the plastic slotted edge “key ” you plugged in to change programmes ? I take it you refuse to accept the new £5 “plastic” notes because they contain animal fat ? Morrissey is against them as is the Rainbow Cafe and Hindu,s ?

Since manufacturers are not obliged to mention non-hazardous ingredients of their products it would be difficult to know if fabric conditioners contained tallow. As you say, they remain on the fabric and I’ve never used them.

Duncan – Are you referring to the Hoover Keymatic? Hoovermatics are twin-tubs and I’ve not heard of one with a key.

Your right Wavechange but I also had a steel/aluminium Hoover twin-tub previously , one of my aunts ran a Hoover spares shop and I got spares cheap. Not very big spin section on the old twin tub but they lasted a while just belt changes.

I remember because my mother had a Hoovermatic for many years. The blue anodised aluminium cover on the spin drier looked very modern. That was in the happy days before anyone tried to convince us we needed fabric conditioner.