Homemade fabric softener, Washing & Ironing

Homemade fabric softener - 23/05/2008

Domestic cleaners can add kitchen products to ordinary washing powder to make a fabric softener, according to one expert.

It may be a lesser-known cleaning services trick, but a small dose of bicarbonate of soda and vinegar will leave your clothes silky smooth without the need for shop-bought softeners.

According to Shannon Lush, author of Speedcleaning, the secret to cleaning clothes is to use lukewarm or "blood-heat" water.

She told the Manchester Evening News: "Always wash and rinse handwashing in blood-heat water.

"If the water's too cold then the fibres will stiffen and if it's too hot, they'll go soft and fluffy."

Ms Lush also suggests buying soap powder that is high in enzyme content for the best possible domestic cleaning results with clothes.

Meanwhile recent research published in the British Journal of Dermatology found that biological washing powders, which are high in enzymes, do not cause skin allergies.