Look for Downy Free & Sensitive in the white bottle.

Vinegar or nothing will also work, as a non-toxic solution. The smell of vinegar in the rinse disipates once the clothes are dry. I never use fabric softener - it's unnecessary toxic chemicals I'd rather not use.

My sister-in-law is very sensitive to the chemicals and perfumes in softeners (liquid and sheets). When she's done hugging everyone at family reunions, her neck will turn scarlet and break-out from the residue of softeners on clothing. Her physician said unscented softeners were just as problematic as scented - if not worse - and recommends NOT using softeners.

If static is the reason you use fabric softener, static means you are over-drying your synthetic fabrics. Remove the garments made with synthetic fabrics before they are completely dry. OR, you can give your dryer load a spritz of water when it's completed the cycle, give it a few more tumbles, and the water should discharge the static.

The dryer balls with the 1-inch pink dots also work fairly well against static and is another non-toxic solution. (See link below.)

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Dryer Max Anti-Static Balls

I use the regular nubby (all-blue) Dryer Max balls and they seem to work pretty well too, along with a vinegar rinse.

Trust me, once you get the static under control and are getting all the detergent residue out of your clothes, you won't want to go back to using fabric softener.

Millions of consumers would disagree with you and like fabric softener. I am one of them.

I used to love fabric softener, and the smell of it.. Once I learned how bad it really is, and I been going "green" in some ways, i stopped using the fabric softener.

I use vinagar, and dryer balls for about a year now, and I no longer can stand the smell of fabric softener from my neigbor's dryer anymore, and other people's who use a lot of it.

curriousshopper -

Millions of consumers are duped every day into doing all kinds of unnecessary things... It's called marketing.

mayguy -

I'm another person who can't stand to be outside where our neighbor's dryer vent is located - which happens to be next to my clothes line. The smell discharging from their dryer will give me a fit of coughing. The side of their home where the dryer vent is located is completely coated for 24-inches (the width of the dryer vent) with a disgusting residue!!! Just think what's coating their clothing!

-Grainlady

Most of what Americans have can be considered unnecessary...that doesn't mean they're being "duped."

Fabric softener makes clothes softer and kills static cling...and it really works.

You advocate "dryer balls" which Consumer Report scientifically tested and found useless.

Now tell me again, who is being duped?

I have tried vinegar in my final rinse and after I dry my laundry it all has a faint smell of vinegar. I'm not using very much, maybe 1/4 cup (probably less - never measured - but do fill up the rest of dispenser with water). I noticed my laundry also was not on the soft side. I want to use vinegar; is there a particular brand...what am I doing wrong?

Vinegar does not soften laundry. It does strip out all detergent so there is no residue. I like to use it when I wash towels for that reason. Fabric softener is not recommended for towels because it greatly reduces their absorbency. I do use fabric softener in clothes and sheets. All of us like the scent, it does eliminate static, and none of us have any sensitivity issues.

beanwabr -

I use the least expensive vinegar I can purchase and get it from Sam's Club (it's sold two 1-gallon jugs in a box). It has 5% acidity, as most white distilled vinegars do. I only use it in the kitchen towels and the bath towels, incase they have any soap residue on them from use. Vinegar acidifies the water to aid in removing soap/detergent residue.

You can add scent to vinegar, if you like. Look on-line for something like "Lavender Vinegar Laundry Rinse" if you need a specific recipe - you'll find LOTS of variations. I have a few recipes in a file and once made Lavender Vinegar with real lavender buds soaked in vinegar for 6-weeks. I didn't think it was worth the expense and effort, but it did have a mild lavender scent. I've also put lavender sachets in the dryer. "Sachets" may be stretching it a bit...LOL! I used 1/2-cup of lavender buds and put them in one of hubby's old, thin, dress socks and tied the sock shut (rather than making a nice muslin bag for it). It DOES leave a mild lavender scent on clothing for several loads. Then you have to add some lavender oil to the buds. A spritz with a scented linen spray may work for you, as well.

I dry my clothes on a line indoors or outdoors and have never noticed any lingering vinegar scent. Nor when I used the dryer. Are you using white distilled vinegar or cider vinegar? That may make a difference.

I think there's a difference between "soft" clothing and "limp" clothing from all the chemicals in softeners that coat and permeate the fabrics. Perhaps you haven't given yourself, and your clothing, enough time to adapt to using vinegar in the rinse. I use Charlie's Soap, and that may also make a "softness" difference. Laundry washed in Charlie's Soap is SOFT coming wet out of the washer. That was one thing I noticed when I finally got the old detergent residue washed out of our clothes when I first started using Charlie's Soap.

My husband's brother was staying with us for a few days and asked me where I got my towels because they were the softest he'd ever used. I got them at K-Mart and had never used softener on them, only vinegar in the rinse...

You might want to give dryer balls a try. I'd suggest the new ones - same blue nubby balls, but with the large pink dots on them (I linked to them in another post above). They are the "improved" second generation. The ones with the large pink dots help reduce static, while the plain blue ones didn't.

I used the dryer balls in the dryer when we first moved here and didn't have a clothes line for several months while the landscape work was being done, which included a courtyard for my clothes line. Dryer balls also "fluff" the clothing and I found they reduced drying time by 25%, and some loads as much as 50%.

Hope there's something there that will help...

-Grainlady

We have really hard water here and one thing I noticed is that after I switched to vinegar the last bit of white chalky residue I'd been trying (unsuccessfully) to get out of my SS washer drum started to slowly go away, and was completely gone after about 6 months. I think the extra acidity in the rinse water really did the trick. My hope is that the internal parts that I can't see were similarly descaled by the vinegar in the rinse.

mysteryclock

When we purchased our F/P I asked if there was anything I could do to keep it from needless repairs, and they said to use vinegar in the rinse - so you may be on to something.... We've had the washer since 11/2001 and the only "repair" was to replace the water hoses.

-Grainlady

Back when new jeans would be so stiff, one of the things I'd do is wash them a time or two with a double or triple dose of fabric softener. Yes they'd be less stiff but you could also feel the slime on them. I quit using fabric softener probably 15+ years ago and am very happy without it. I can control static since I know how to wash and dry clothes so I don't need the coverup.

As for who's being duped? I'd say anyone who gives Consumer Reports much credibility! LOL

I will say I've thought about trying some unscented softener for a few things but the only reason I can justify it is for when I goof up washing and drying and have static. My clothes are truly soft, and not slimy. And I don't like to have my clothes stink when I wear them. When they stink, it's time to wash them.

Dryer balls have received mixed reviews. But given there's no real extra charge to use them and the fluffing action is undeniable. I don't think I get the benefit Grainlady does, but then again we wash different things so that will impact it. I have enough anecdotal evidence to suggest they add enough benefit to warrant using. And this coincides with most independent tests of the dryer balls that I've seen. Some report massive help, some say nothing, and some are in between. A couple of those who said they didn't do anything weren't a good test when you read the details. Given the historically biased methods of testing used by Consumer Reports, and having not seen the "test", I wouldn't be surprised if they misused them. Or at least tested only one "load".