 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
As far as I can tell all it does is make clothing and bedding smell like a candle shop and feel slightly strange and reduces towels' drying ability.
It definitely does not give things a line dried freshness, that is only achievable by line drying.
It's just a massive triumph of marketing tosh over common sense.
IMO
U ok, Hun?
I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that it somehow conditions the fabric. Like how fabric softener makes things softer
It also acts as a waterproofer so not the best thing to use on your Towels.
It makes it easier to go roller blading with your dogs. Or go skydiving.
That's true but ironically whilst it does make towels less absorbent (apparently indefinitely, no matter how many times they're washed) it absolutely doesn't make duvet covers repel tea...not even a little bit.
@cfh, I thought that was tampons?
It also often contains MIT and similar preservatives which appear to be causing sever skin reactions in a lot of people.
It's all about removing static cling from yer petticoat.
[url= https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylisothiazolinone ]Nasty stuff[/url]
Like the blue water they put on the tampons in the old ads to make the roller blading faster! On a more serious note, a lot of my technical clothing says no fabric conditioner.
Plain pure white vinegar works well too. Softens the water in the rinse cycle so less minute scale particles left on the clothes. You can buy unscented softenor too
Tea/duvet covers 🙂
No softener on tech clothes (as above) or jeans ...
I would say the point of it is to make you give more money to Unilever etc.
Fabric softeners coat the surface of a fabric with chemical compounds that are electrically charged, causing threads to "stand up" from the surface so the fabric feels softer and makes it fluffier. Cationic softeners bind by electrostatic attraction to the negatively charged groups on the surface of the fibers and neutralize their charge. The long aliphatic chains then line up towards the outside of the fiber, imparting lubricity.
Electrically conductive fabric softener chemicals may also prevent static charge buildup in clothes dryers. Other functions manufacturers claim include less friction during ironing, increased stain resistance, reduced wrinkling and pilling, and lower drying time. Most contain fragrances. Cationic fabric softeners are added during the rinse cycle rather than the wash cycle because they can interfere with detergent cleaning action.[citation needed] In addition to fabric softening chemicals, fabric softeners may include acids or bases to maintain optimal pH for absorption, silicone-based anti-foaming agents, emulsion stabilizers, fragrances, and colors.
As above, they also contain preservatives (CIT/MIT, BIT commonly) which some people are sensitive to (but many others are not) but they're cheap and effective. Actually, many of the older sensitization reports are not as reliable as some manufacturers material were worse than others due to impurities as much as the CITMIT itself, but to an extent mud thrown has stuck.
And as above as well, don't use them on technical fabrics or surfaces that are supposed to be absorbent, the lipophilic chains of the cationic surfactants will repel water / screw up the wicking properties.
It definitely does not give things a line dried freshness, that is only achievable by line drying.
who'd have thunk it?
😉
Funny stuff that MIT. Wife wasn't bothered by it for years, we weren't even aware of it. Now, the slightest wiff is enough to start a reaction. It's almost as if you "fill up" with the stuff. Once you're full, that's it, any extra amount is too much.
sort of - that's the definition of a skin sensitiser, but it's not really filling up so much as having a particular (over)exposure for some reason that causes a reaction, and thereafter even a small amount can set you off again. Kind of like the way vaccines work, getting the body ready to deal with it in the future.
Some people aren't susceptible, others are.
Similar phenomenon to peanut allergy, beesting anaphylaxis, etc. Not uncommon for people to be stung with no adverse effects beyond usual symptoms, but then the next time they're stung it all kicks off.
Sounds like that's your area of expertise there Jonv. I assume it means that stuff will always be an issue for her then.
after 25 years in and around the chemical industry you pick stuff up.
CITMIT gets a bad press, as said before not (all) of it is fair. A number of suppliers mucked it up, either by not removing impurities as effectively as they should, or by 'deliberately*' allowing the 'wrong' grades to be sold into other industries
* eg: looking the other way while sale folks sold grades designed for water treatment into paints, and grades for paints got sold into detergents, and detergent grades got sold into cosmetics, and......
Just back actually from 2 days at the world expo for the industry at ExCel, and has cemented that i need to escape this merry-go-round asap. 5 football pitches worth of stands of people pretending that their stuff is important / more important than exactly the same stuff being promoted on the stand 3 rows down. Will my life be judged on how much of this shit I sell - I ****ing hope not......
Apparently the fragrance really confuses butterflies and causes trouble for them.
Less scented options are available that are butterfly friendly. Also, if you start using less scented laundry products then you get used to it and the normal stuff then stinks overwhelmingly.