Odrade

Deb L wrote:

[we still smile when we think about the "Downey ball"
fabric softener, because he was SO sure we couldn't
live without one.]


I bought one and *love* it, but don't use Downy in it.
I use distilled white vinegar in lieu of "fabric
softener" and get soft, non-static clothes without the
scent, colors, chemicals -- or cost! :)

And no, the clothes don't smell like vinegar
whatsoever. LOL

=====
~Tracy~
Mama to Aydn and Fiona

*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.
See what's new in Tupperware!
http://my.tupperware.com/tracythornburg
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop!
http://platinum.yahoo.com

[email protected]

In a message dated 3/27/03 10:25:03 AM Eastern Standard Time,
odrade7@... writes:

> I bought one and *love* it, but don't use Downy in it.
> I use distilled white vinegar in lieu of "fabric
> softener" and get soft, non-static clothes without the
> scent, colors, chemicals -- or cost! :)
>
>

Me too!! I don't consider the Downey ball a consumeristic unneeded gadget, it
saves me money on fabric softener(using vinegar), and provided an interesting
lesson on centrifugal force. How's that for unschooling math and science <g>

Ang


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

nellebelle

Tell me, how much vinegar do you put in?

Could it relate to how hard or soft one's water is, whether clothes come out
soft? Our stuff gets pretty stiff without fabric softener. I have a downy
ball, but use the less expensive store brand. And I bought it based on my
mom's recommendation, not a commercial.

Elevator music plays in background. I am sitting on the divan, wearing
pearls and playing Monopoly Jr with two neatly groomed, smiling children.
"Before my Downy ball, I was always on edge, waiting to hear the clothes
washer go into the rinse cycle. I had to drop whatever I was doing to rush
in and pour the fabric softener in. Now I am free to enjoy my children, as
nature intended."

Mary Ellen

[email protected]

In a message dated 3/27/03 12:15:54 PM Eastern Standard Time,
nellebelle@... writes:

> Tell me, how much vinegar do you put in?
>
>

I usually do 1/2 cup. You may want to start with 1 cup the first time, to
remove buildup of soap and softeners on your clothes. I know that towels
rinsed with vinegar come out smelling so fresh and clean, no perfumey scents.



Ang
Unschooling mom to
Megan(10) Ashlyn(3) Christian(1.5)
<A HREF="http://hometown.aol.com/unolist/index.html">UNO Unschoolers Network of Ohio</A>
<A HREF="http://members.aol.com/megamom08/page1.html">My Links Page MEGAMOM08</A>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 3/27/03 8:44:59 AM, unolist@... writes:

<< Me too!! I don't consider the Downey ball a consumeristic unneeded gadget,
>>

I wish I still had one. One came free with Downey years ago.

Our washing machine is down until next week when parts come in. It's nearly
as old as Marty is. It needs a whole new agitator-everything.

My van is down. Transmission in all its pieces on a bench at the shop.

So... Yesterday Keith took me and Holly to a laundramat, where we did the
three most crucial loads and read books. I read about conjoined twins in the
Middle Ages and the Renaissance. She had planned to read a Happy Hollisters
book, but was frustrated with long words, so looked through the ads in
whatever women's magazine has Bruce Willis on the front.

I saw it as a frightening evil laundramat, and me there without a car.

Holly saw it as a very cool place, an adventure, a time to be alone with me.

I think Holly might voluntarily choose laundramat over home-machines when
she's older. I'm serious. She saw it as something social, and efficient (to
have all that stuff in one place and do more than one load at a time). I saw
it as something for people who can't afford a washing machine, and I kept
being reminded of the ghostly little girl in me whose mom made us be still,
sit down, be quiet at the public laundry when I was a kid (which is still
there, in a half a quanset hut stuck on another building, in my home town. I
saw it a few months ago. Same name and everything).

So... the consumerism is me and my washing machine, proof of income and
status.

For Holly, her baggage is light and she was actually looking at the
comparison without ANY thought of wringer washers, clotheslines in the desert
when the sandstorms are coming, NONE of the compex laundry trauma inside of
me. <g>

I think she will make some really great decisions in her life.

Sandra

Heidi Wordhouse-Dykema

You guys are freakin' me out. Especially the one who's got the neatly
groomed kids.... If a ball thing can do that... Tell me, does the ball
have a spiral on the side? (grin)

Anyway, WHY doesn't everything come out smelling like vinegar when you do
the rinse *with* vinegar? Does anybody know?
HeidiWD

Sorcha

This is quite possibly the stupidest question of the entire discussion.
What the heck is fabric softener for and why do so many people use it?
Our clothes are already soft. They don't stick together, which is what
those dryer sheets are for (isn't it?). I've used vinegar in the rinse
for cloth diapers, but not to soften them. They're already soft and if
I knew it was for that, I wouldn't have done it. I read a website about
cloth diapers once that said to use a vinegar rinse and I assumed it was
to kill germs or something.

Sorcha of the Tee Shirts and Jeans, who does laundry in as few steps as
possible and has never gone to the dry cleaners in her life




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 3/27/03 1:52:55 PM, sorcha-aisling@... writes:

<< What the heck is fabric softener for and why do so many people use it?
Our clothes are already soft. They don't stick together, which is what
those dryer sheets are for (isn't it?). >>

Hard water and static electricity.
Where we live, in New Mexico, it's a necessity.

I use dryer sheets. If I didn't, the clothes would be lint collectors, or
really stiff (depending on the fabric) and anything with polyester would give
you a pretty serious shock when you pulled it out of the dryer (not a
surprising shock, an electrical shock worse than sliding across the carpet
and touching someone).

The fabric softener keeps the minerals from the water from depositing
themselves on the cloth as it dries, and they somehow stop the electrical
buildup of the dry air with artificial fibers in the spinning chamber. They
separate lint from clothes somehow too. A mystery to me.

If you live in a humid place with soft water, then you may not need any.

-=I read a website about
cloth diapers once that said to use a vinegar rinse and I assumed it was
to kill germs or something. -=-

You might as well stop doing things just because articles say to without
knowing WHY they said so! <bwg>

Sandra