Smelly toxic fabric softeners

by James K. Sayre

Being a somewhat lethargic housekeeper, I never until recently had ever bothered with trying a fabric softener in my laundry. Finally, I had noticed that several new 100% cotton T-shirts and a couple of 100% cotton work shirts were sort of stiff and scratchy, so I thought that I would give a liquid fabric softener a try. Big mistake. That liquid fabric softener imparted an awful smell to both the laundered clothes and to the laundry room itself. I hung the damp clothes outdoors in hopes that the smell would dissipate.

Then, belatedly, I decided to do a little research on the Internet on fabric softeners. A couple of consumer oriented web sites were highly informative. It seems that fabric softeners have no effect on natural fabrics, such as cotton, but only work on synthetic fabrics. Also, the action of the liquid fabric softener leaves a small layer on the fabric which can cause skin irritation.

Also, liquid fabric softeners are designed to try reduce "static cling" in synthetic fabrics, and since natural fabrics do not have "static cling," there is no reason to use them except for synthetic fabrics. Even in the case of synthetics, the amount of potential toxicity would seem to make any use of fabric softeners a very poor bargain.

Liquid fabric softeners contain a variety of unpleasant and toxic chemicals which may include:

benzyl acetate - (carcinogenic)

benzyl alcohol -

camphor -

chloroform -

ethanol -

ethyl acetate (narcotic)

limonene - (carcinogenic)

a-terpineol - (extremely toxic)

coal-tar dyes - (carcinogenic)

ammonia compounds -

For some non-toxic alternative chemicals to soften fabrics, try using some common vinegar or baking soda (use only one or the other; combined they will react chemically: nothing that you want to have happen in your washing machine).

Here are a couple of links that describe relatively non-toxic alternative fabric softeners:

The Guide to Less Toxic Products by the Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia, Canada: www.lesstoxicguide.ca/

: Less Toxic Guide. and

Better Health through Indoor Air Quality Awareness: from the Air Quality Sciences website, www.aerias.org/: aerias.org

End.

Bottlebrush Press has maintained its presence on the Internet since 1996.

Return to the home page of Bottlebrush Press: The homepage of Bottlebrush Press

This web page was recently created by James Sayre.

Author's Email: sayresayre@yahoo.com

Web page last updated on 30 March 2005.