Now Fabric softener is a no no

Faithful-Heart

New Member
What kind of fabic softeren are they talking about? The sheets you put in the dryer or the liguid kind you put in the washer? I have heard some things about heavey metals being in one of these...probably the sheets. Gosh darn it anyway...I will look at mine and see what the ingretance are. We have to get the unsented kind due to Nate's allergies. I hate to not beable to use any as the clothes get that static cling so bad without it. Of course I just bought some too... :frown:
 

Guest
I'm allergic to very few things. But several years ago, I suddenly broke out in a terrible rash all over my body and with a most horrible itching all over. I was totally miserable.

I called my mother and was telling her about it. She immediately said, "Do you use the Bounce sheets fabric softner?" I did, and told her that couldn't possibly be the problem because I'd used it for several years -- never a problem before. She'd had the same thing happen to her. Mom suggested that I quit using it and wash absolutely everything in the house.

I had to wash EVERYTHING 5 or 6 times before I got it out of all the various fabrics -- sheets, underwear, socks, towels.... But it was the Bounce.

About a year later, a girl I worked with came into the office late one morning. (She's allergic to everything.) She used the Bounce sheets also. She had the same symptoms Mom and I had. I told her what I'd had to do -- but she was hard headed like me. LOL

Long story short -- it turned out to be Bounce sheet fabric softner.

I wouldn't be surprised to find that whatever is in the fabric softners can affect people in various ways and to various degrees -- particularly children.
 

Guest
by the way -- this happened many years ago. Mom's doctor knew what is was instantly. He said Bounce was the worst fabric softener to cause allergic reactions -- particularly the sheets.
 

Faithful-Heart

New Member
Oh great! NOT. That is what I use but the get the dye, perfurm free ones. blah! I just bought some too. Guess I need to investage this some more...here a few days ago I got a rash and alot of itching around the area where my socks are...have had other areas itching bad too but my skin looks pretty dry and the extra lotion has helped...I thought it might be I used a different laudry soap that isn't dye and perfume free but doens't have a strong ordo...anyway as long as I use the extra lotion I am fine...but I will still check into the fabic softeren.
 

mirandalee63

New Member
humm I have bounce in my basement too .. EEKS
I dont know what else to use? I want my clothes to not stick together. I dont use softner in the summer just mostly in the winter.. GOSH>> :frown:

You should read the info I found on... DOG FOOD!!! OH GOSH!! makes a person wanna hurl!!!
 

Faithful-Heart

New Member
I did a search on Bounce because after I thought about this website I really had a hard time believing they put some of this stuff in a fabic softeren. Some of this like the benzyl Alcohol, Choloroform (now why is the world would they put Chloroform in it anyway?) and Ethyl Acetate I think are both flammable. Well being put in a dryer alot of people would have explosions by now I would think...lol.

Some of these chemical listing I think are ridiculous...I don't any of them stop static clean. Anyway I am having a hard time believing this so did a search on Bounce. I can't say I understand what is in it...but none of these chemicals are listed in Bounce that are listed on this other site. This bothers me and I would like to get to the 'facts' on this. I hope these people on this site aren't just trying to panic people for know reason.

You can check the ingretances listed in Bounce yourself. I am going to do further searches on this.
 
I stopped using ALL fabric softeners, oh, probably about a year ago, as an experiment -I thought it might be affecting difficult child - she has sensitive skin and gets mild excema, unexplained mild rashes, a rash from the sun, etc. I still don't know for sure if it had anything to do with it or not, but her "sun rash" was almost non-existent last summer (except for when we went to the beach, and she also ate red dye then went out in the sun).

But, I started using it again about 3 months ago, and she started getting odd rashes that come and go. Never bad or long enough to see the doctor. about. She also had a bout of strep about the same time, so it's hard for me to say if the fabric softener had anything to do with it.

I'm at the point where it seems like most chemicals have a bad effect on her, so I'd like to quit using fabric softener again, since it's relatively easy to eliminate that (as opposed to shampoo and things like that).

Problem is, one of her big problems is clothes not being right, and static cling is a definite "not right" !! Refuses to wear her PJs if they're the slightest bit clingy, and they're too "stiff" if I hang them up to dry! Any suggestions?
 

Faithful-Heart

New Member
Well stiff clothes and stactic cling drive anybody nutty! I know I can't stand it. Once when I had no car and no money to wash my clothes...I washed them in the tub and hung them in the closet...over trash bags. Talk about some stiff jeans! yuck! If you really don't want to use fabic softener try calling GNC and other natural places and see if they have anything that doesn't have the chemicals in it. I use Bounce which is biodegradeable...the NO dyes and NO perfume ones...maybe you could try that. Otherwise I have no idea how to stop the static cling or the stiffness. :frown:
 

Guest
Well I know of several different ways to make fabric softener.. here are a few:
2c baking soda
2c white vinegar
4c water
To use: Shake he mixture and add 1/4c to the final rinse in your washing machine. If you have hard water, use 1/3c.

Vinegar is a natural fabric softener (1/2 cup a load usually works).

1 cup of Glycerin (available at your local natural market) and 1 gallon of water. Add 1/2 cup of this mixture to the wash or rinse cycle.

Or a 1/4 cup 20 Mule Team Borax in your rinse water will do the trick.


These work and maybe won't make you as itchy as all those chemicals!

(Oh and by the way you can add herbs to the vinegar if you like to give it a pleasant scent.. lemon, mint, lavender etc.)
 
I never even thought of making my own fabric softener - I'll give that a try!

The Bounce I have is just regular. I've had it so long I didn't even realize they made a dye/perfume free kind. Maybe I'll try that before resorting to making it myself! LOL I did recently decide to use only the dye/perfume free detergent, so maybe the two will help.

Alisha Leigh - I brought up sensory integration disorder with difficult child's psychiatric., who basically scoffed and said it wasn't something they (Kaiser) did - that they didn't have anyone who could do the evaluation/therapy and, besides, it hadn't been proven to be beneficial, only anecdotedly, and then only in severely autistic children, etc..... :mad: Grrrrrr New Year's Resolution - to find a different insurance plan than Kaiser!!!
 

Faithful-Heart

New Member
I think I will try just not using any at all and see how that goes...I don't want any scents added to my clothes due to our airborne allergies...any perfume smells bother our noses. Kind of a pain...I wish I could wear perfumes but they would set unused for many years. Once in a great while I would put a tiny bit on. I am one of those people who if I pass a person in the store who has alot of smelly stuff on...smells from landry, shampoos, soaps, hair spray, make-up AND on top of all that these people will put perfume on...I start gagging. Nate will say he is getting sick!

One time a lady got behind me in line at a check out stand and since I was paying for my groceries and all I couldn't just move...lol. I had my hand over my nose...I could smell everything she had on...like I listed above. Each scent! I wish my nose wasn't like that! Another time I went down and asile looking for something and this perfumy smell hit me and I turned around and there was a whole line of scented candles....I left right away. Believe it or not these smell can make people sick that have bad allergies.

I grow flowers in my flower gardens but never smell them...don't want too...to me they dont smell good. :frown: I TRY not to smell...really...most of the time I can not smell things. I think I trained myself over the years to not smell...lol. I know I am weird.
 
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