
Millennials Are Fine Without Fabric Softener; P&G Looks to Fix That - prostoalex
http://www.wsj.com/articles/fabric-softener-sales-are-losing-their-bounce-1481889602?mod=e2fb
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pmontra
This is an interesting read about the subject
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water)

I live in a city with hard water and I feel a difference when I do or don't
wash with a softener. Without it clothes are somewhat stiff. Washing with
water at room temperature helps and no softener is required. I add it only
when washing with hot water.

Anyway I'm not buying anything special. Believe it or not, vinagar works as
softener. I'm using the cheapest white vinagar (nearly transparent) in the
supermarket. Clothes don't have any smell and it's less than a Euro per months
of usage. My mother has been using it forever and me too for many years now.

Very important: don't mix it with soap. Use it only if your washing machine
has separate compartments for liquid soap and liquid softener. If it's one of
those washing machine where you put soap powder and softener powder directly
on clothes (I've seen them when I was little and in the USA), no vinegar in
there.

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droithomme
I'm older than millennial and don't understand any need or benefit from this
product category.

The article suggests that the use of these products will extend the life of
your clothes. This is a remarkable claim and it is striking they provide
absolutely no evidence for it.

~~~
jeena
I have the same problem with hair conditioner, I've been using it for years
and my (long) hair is gotten worse and worse, got tangled and really hard to
cumb the next day after washing. I then read an article about hair conditioner
and how it becomes a layer of silicon over your hair which first makes it nice
and soft but starts to stick together, etc.

I was sceptical but really tired of that problem, so it was either cutting off
the long hair or trying something else, so I stopped using hair conditioner.
In the beginning it got worse, but after a couple of weeks it got better, mich
better. I was able to go for days without washing my hair and still had no
problems to comb it, and it was still shiny and all. I never looked back and
still had long hair for a couple mor years.

Perhaps it's just not for my hair, but advertising on the telly during my
teenager years said that you have to use it, so I did.

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mercnet
All these scented detergents and fabric softeners would cause my back to break
out into pimples. I read a tip on reddit to switch to All Free Clear detergent
which finally eliminated my problem. So good luck P&G as they will probably
just add to the labels "naturally scented".

~~~
jrs235
If I approach the laundry detergent aisle at a store my skin begins to itch.

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niftich
I'm in this demographic. When I was a teenager and living with my parents, we
used liquid fabric softener, but when I went to college and had to deal with a
shared laundromat, I pared down my laundry products to make it more
convenient: a medium-sized bottle of liquid detergent, and a box of dryer
sheets impregnated with fabric softeners.

Now that I'm living on my own, I switched to a giant box of powdered
detergent, which I prefer, but would have been more inconvenient to handle in
college. I still use the same kind and brand of dryer sheets, and I'm not
convinced I'm missing anything.

~~~
raverbashing
Dryer sheets seems to help with static buildup in clothes, but apart from that
it seems it's less effective than the liquid softener versions

~~~
sundaeofshock
I roll up some aluminum foil to combat static. Reusable and cheap.

~~~
raverbashing
On the dryer? Or after you take them out?

~~~
sundaeofshock
In the dryer. The tumbling around makes it a nice smooth ball of aluminum.
Bonus: my cat likes to play with them as well.

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CodeWriter23
I don't use any P&G products. Mostly because the abundance of phthalates in
their products literally causes me to stop breathing.

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colanderman
Along a similar line, does anyone under the age of 50 use Borax [1]? I assume
people must have found it useful for laundry at some point in time, but I
wouldn't have the foggiest idea how or why to use it.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_Mule_Team_Borax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_Mule_Team_Borax)

~~~
droithomme
I use Borax and find it helpful. My water supply doesn't have chlorine in it.
The boron reduces problems with mildew. It also allegedly softens the water,
but I use baking soda as my primary water softener.

I also have successfully used Borax solution in cleaning of porous surfaces to
eradicate mildew problems in areas that bleach doesn't work to eliminate long
term.

~~~
abakker
Can second this. I use it in all my laundry in SF - drastically reduces
mildew. I also dissolve it into the hot water I used in my carpet shampooer. I
have an allergy to mold, and borax has proven to be extremely effective in
reducing mold to tolerable levels.

I'm a millennial.

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rokosbasilisk
Doesnt alot of research show millenials are exceptionally poor, I wonder how
much of not using it is just saving money.

~~~
gtaylor
I can't speak for everyone, but I just don't feel like using it. I can't
notice a difference. Not worth it.

~~~
grogenaut
I'm older than a millenial and I don't ever use it unless its really dry and
staticy. When I was in St. Louis I'd use it in the winter. I generate maybe 2
sparks all winter in Seattle no matter how hard I try and shock people.

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galago
Another problem they might face: As an adult, I've never used shampoo. I can
see that shampoo/conditioner might provide interesting outcomes for people
with long hair carefully maintained for aesthetic reasons. For me though, its
like fabric softener, a product category from which I will never purchase.

~~~
Perceptes
How do you clean your hair?

~~~
Turing_Machine
If you have a buzz cut (or some other very short hairstyle, as it sounds like
the OP does), you might as well just use the same soap you use for your face.
It will work fine.

~~~
Tharkun
You use soap on your face? I use water. My face turns to parchment when using
soap

~~~
lisivka
I saw no hard soap for long time. All soap I use is creamy soft soap. I
remember that I had same problem with regular soap when I was young. Modern
soap causes a very little harm to face, if any.

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crabstraggler
thats because fabric softener is a scam. clothing doesnt need oil added to it.
its gross.

if downy didnt make their product with copious fragrances and dyes it would
just be like a bottle of crisco.

~~~
douche
Much like virtually everything in the personal care category. Shampoo is a
scam. Conditioner is a scam. Lotions and washes and creams are scams.
Antibacterial xyz is a scam.

Hot water and plain soap work wonders all by themselves.

~~~
arstin
Heh, right now it's 10F and my hands are bloody and busted open from getting
extremely dry and chapped after a few hours in the cold. Lotion would
absolutely help right now...if I happened to own any! Alas, I am a tech nerd!

Likewise, this time of year I'm reminded by nature to buy a bottle of really
good quality moisturizing shampoo. My experience has also suggested any
conditioner you can buy at Walmart is a scam, but for certain heads and
certain climates, spending more on the good stuff makes the difference between
your hair being anemic or healthy. I switch to nice shampoo every winter and
year after year the difference is night and day within a week or two.

Fabric softener on the other hand...what a waste!

~~~
smallnamespace
Olive oil works well as a lotion as long as your skin isn't naturally super
greasy.

A bottle of the most expensive olive oil is still cheaper per fluid oz. than a
bottle of lotion.

~~~
basch
Ill give the edge to coco butter derivatives over olive oil.

[https://www.amazon.com/Palmers-Cocoa-Butter-Soothing-
Itchy/d...](https://www.amazon.com/Palmers-Cocoa-Butter-Soothing-
Itchy/dp/B000FVCNEK/) [https://www.amazon.com/Palmers-Cocoa-Butter-Formula-
Therapy/...](https://www.amazon.com/Palmers-Cocoa-Butter-Formula-
Therapy/dp/B001KYU1H2)
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002A4D5YM/](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002A4D5YM/)

