Homemade fabric conditioner

Why even bother making your own fabric conditioner. Well, it's really easy, fun and you can create your very own scent that you like. The fabric conditioners used to use I were fairly pricey and by my calculations I could make a cheaper fabric conditioner they way I liked.

Here are two of my trusted scent blends. Sweet floral for everyday clothing and Relax for towels and bedding. I don't have any delicate items like silk so unsure how they would perform on delicate items of clothing.

I am able to make about 2 litres of concentrated fabric conditioner for just under £1.50 per litre. I re-used some old laundry liquid bottles and printed out my own labels.

My scent blends

Sweet floral

10ml orange essential oil

8ml Grapefruit essential oil

3ml Patchouli essential oil

1ml Geranium essential oil

Relax

12ml Lavender essential oil

5ml Rosemary essential oil

2ml Linen fragrance oil

You don't even have to add scent if you are using a strongly scented conditioner.

If you are looking for fragrances I have bought from Pure Scented and they have an amazingly wide choice. If you are after some essential oil then I use Fresh Skin as they have a wide selection and various sized bottles.

If you are going to use a pure fragrance rather than essential oils reduce the amount to 10ml first as these can be really concentrated. The if your first wash feel like you need a slightly stronger smell then mix in a bit more fragrance to fabric conditioner and mix in well.

Just remember to make a note on how much you needed for when to make your next batch of homemade fabric conditioner.

I use vinegar in my fabric conditioner help deodorise and kills off many germs. No, the clothes do not smell like vinegar at all at then end of the wash.

Feel free to change up the recipe to meet your needs and comment below with your favourite scent for your clothes and bedding.

Recipe

Ingredients

350ml Hair conditioner (I used Alberto Balsam) plain scented

400ml White vinegar (I used distilled vinegar)

1200ml De-ionised water (I used Carplan de-ionised water)

1 drop Food colouring (of your choice) optional

Fragrance (of your preference) optional

De-ionised Water is just purified water is water which has been mechanically filtered to remove impurities.

I use a plain-ish conditioner because I like to make my own scent blends. You could try a fragrance of your own choice, a blend or just one. If you are using a strongly scented hair conditioner you may not need to add any more fragrance.

Adding food colour in such tiny amounts has no effect on my washing. But if you are concerned about your white items then just leave the colouring out. I used a touch out yellow and a purple. I only do this is I can easily distinguish between the two types I make for easy grab-and-go.

Method

1. In a clean bowl add the fabric conditioner.

2. Measure out the vinegar add one drop food colouring and mix.

3. Add the vinegar a little by little to the conditioner stirring constantly with a whisk.

4. Measure out the water and add half to the conditioner mix. Stir really well.

5. Add the rest of the water and stir well.

6. Add the fragrance of your choice. Give a good last stir.

7. Pour into a storage bottle. I used a jug and a funnel to reduce the mess.

8. Add your label with what is it and its scent.

Usage

As this is a concentrated fabric conditioner you do not need heaps and 40ml is enough for a full load of washing. This formulation fives me about 37 washes. Just add the fabric conditioner to the conditioner compartment of the washing machine draw as usual.