Many people will remember a famous television commercial in which a woman runs to her washing machine, fabric softener in hand, only to arrive just as the wash is finished. This woman who “forgot to add fabric softener” was actually doing herself and her family a favor.
Although they can make your clothes feel soft and smell fresh, fabric softener and dryer sheets are some of the most toxic products out there. And chances are, the staggering 99.8 percent of Americans who use common commercial detergents, fabric softeners, bleach and stain removers would think twice if they knew they contain chemicals that could cause cancer and brain damage.
Dirty clothes
Here is a list of some of the chemicals found in fabric softeners and dryer sheets:
* Benzyl acetate: Linked to pancreatic cancer
* Benzyl alcohol: Irritating to the upper respiratory tract
* Ethanol: On the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Hazardous Waste list and can cause central nervous system disorders
* Limonene: known carcinogen
* A-Terpineol: May cause respiratory problems, including fatal edema and damage to the central nervous system.
* Ethyl acetate – a narcotic on the EPA hazardous waste list
* Camphor: Causes disorders of the central nervous system
* Chloroform: Neurotoxic, anesthetic and carcinogenic
* Linalool: a narcotic that causes central nervous system disorders
* Pentane: a chemical known to be harmful if inhaled
So how can products with cute names like Soft Ocean Mist, Summer Orchard, and April Fresh be so dangerous?
The chemicals in fabric softeners have a strong, pungent odor, so strong that they require the use of these strong fragrances (think 50 times more fragrance) just to cover up the odors. Also, synthetic fabrics, which are the reason fabric softeners were created, don’t smell good when heated in a dryer or heated by our bodies…hence the need for even stronger fragrances.
In other words, remove all the added fragrance that draws people to fabric softeners and, like the wolf in sheep’s clothing cliché, the real smells of chemical fabric softener and the synthetic fabrics they were designed around they can prompt people to fire up their washing machines and voila.
Are “soft” clothes worth it?
Fabric softeners are made to stay on clothes for long periods of time. As such, the chemicals are slowly released into the air for you to inhale or onto your skin for absorption. Dryer sheets are particularly harmful because they heat up in the dryer and chemicals are released through dryer vents into the environment. Health effects of exposure to chemicals in fabric softeners include:
* Central nervous system disorders
* Headaches
* Nausea
* vomiting
*Dizziness
* Blood pressure reduction
* Irritation of the skin, mucous membranes and respiratory tract
* Pancreatic cancer
baby cloth
Safely soften your clothes with these tips
Even if you don’t feel the effects of these chemicals today, they can affect you gradually over time, and children, whose systems are still developing, are at particular risk. There really is no reason to expose yourself to these dangerous chemicals when there are natural alternatives. Not only are they safer for you, your family, and the environment, they’re also much cheaper:
* Add a quarter cup of baking soda to the wash cycle to soften the fabric
* Add a quarter cup of white vinegar to the rinse to soften the fabric and remove stickiness
* Visit your local health food store for a natural fabric softener that uses a natural base like soy instead of chemicals.
Fabric softeners and dryer sheets may not be the only toxic products in your home. Many household products that consumers consider to be safe are also full of toxic chemicals. Our previous articles on PEG compounds in cosmetics and phenols in common household cleaners are two of the most popular articles of all time on SixWise.com and will make you more aware of the pervasiveness of harmful chemicals that can be removed from your home.