Today's question:

Walking through any grocery store you can see shelves full of all kinds of fabric softeners. They come in many fragrances and I see people opening the container caps and smelling them. I think all of that fiber softener will wear out our clothes sooner than they would otherwise. Is there anything to that idea at all?

I thought at first that this was sort of a silly question: Why would they sell stuff that is supposed to keep your clothes nice when it is actually eating them up?

However, I looked into it a bit and found there is something to this.

Sort of.

It isn't so much that fabric softeners hurt your clothes, although some people say they do. The real problem seems to be what fabric softeners might do to you, not your duds.

According to a study reported in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health

" in May 2000, some fabric softeners can throw off, among other things, stuff such as toluene, styrene, phenol, thymol, xylene, and trimethylbenzene. None of these things is especially good for you.

Reach Thompson at clay .thompson@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8612.

The problem is that these chemicals build up in the fabric of your clothes and are released over time.

Granted, I haven't ever heard of somebody slowly poisoning a spouse with fabric softener, but still, the thought of all those chemicals is a bit off-putting.

If you're worried about it, I am told that putting a bit of vinegar and lavender oil on a sock and tossing it in your dryer will do the softening job.

I also read that putting a ball of aluminum foil or a tennis ball in the dryer will take care of static electricity.

Why a tennis ball would work, I don't know, but there you have it.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 04:09 PM

Originally Posted at: http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/claythompson/54087