Tip: Extend the Life of Your Fabric Softener

When I'm out shopping for household cleaning items, I'm almost always looking for the cheapest ones I can find. With a boost from some other basic items, like vinegar or baking soda, there's nothing that the more expensive brands can do, that the cheapos can't. 

Some things, however, are impossible to find at a low price. Fabric softener is one of them. Just try finding a bottle of liquid softener for under $5. 

Price is one of the reasons that I've been a long time fan of drier sheets and the Bounce bar. The other is convenience. Who wants to listen to the washer to click to the final rinse cycle, just so they can run and pour in their softener? Nobody. Liquid FTL.

Well, I have shocking news. I'm back to liquid fabric softener. But rather than be a dope and go against everything I believe and hold dear in regards to softeners, I wizened up. Actually, I just got a really good tip. 

You can make any liquid fabric softener last 50x longer by mixing one part softener with an equal part water in a plastic bottle. Then, whenever you throw a load of laundry in the dryer, spray a cheap cloth with several spritzes of your mix, enough to dampen the cloth slightly and toss it in the dryer! 

The perks of this method are severalfold. First, it's crazy cheap. Each load only uses a tiny fraction of the softener you would normally use. Second, by keeping the cloth you use in your laundry room, the room always smells like fabric softener. This is awesome for me, as my laundry doubles as my trash can room. Third, you throw the cloth in to the dryer, so you don't have to wait for perfect timing, and fourth, unlike dryer sheets, liquid softener doesn't leave any residue on your lint trap, which can burn up your dryer.