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We have been trying for several years to come up with the best way to wash bed linens and bathroom towels – because that is important in bed & breakfast.
We were especially concerned about having soft towels and the smell which we sometimes could not get out of the sheets without several washings.
We tried every fabric softener on the market. They all do the same thing and none really great. -They give the towels, particularly, a slimy feel rather than a clean fluffy feel. The towels, after they have been through the wash with fabric softener, are too soft and too greasy to think that is a good solution. Having done a bit of research on this, I find that is because the fibers are coated with chemicals – that can’t be good! Especially when the results we were trying to achieve were not happening. And, what happens to the chemicals which coat the towel fabric? Do they go on your face when you wipe with the towels? Or on other parts of the body?
Trying to wash towels and bed linens without a fabric softener left the towels really scratchy and uncomfortable to use. You wouldn’t want to wrap up in the very large bath towels because that would not meet the ‘feel good warm and cozy’ test.
We received many suggestions about putting White Vinegar into the rinse water. However, after having worked with White Vinegar and knowing from whence it has come, we discarded that idea.
We put organic apple cider vinegar with the ‘mother’, in the washing machine in the small box which asks for fabric softener.
We fully expected to ruin all of the clothes in the machine because we expected there would be residue from the organic apple cider vinegar, especially since we were using the ‘mother’ so we couldn’t think beyond = ‘there goes the wash’.
We couldn’t use a lot of the apple cider vinegar because the container of our LG Washing machine would only hold what seemed to be less than 1/4 cup, so while we tried it anyway, our hopes were not high for success.
The results, however, were spectacular.
With bed & breakfast guests, some are exceptionally clean and their bedding doesn’t have an odor when they leave. Some people, even though they wash, leave behind an odor in the sheets which doesn’t always leave after the sheets have been through the wash, so we have been super concerned to get the odors out. Basically, we assumed if there was an odor there was bacteria still in the sheets and towels.
Putting organic apple cider vinegar in the fabric softener container of the washing machine solved the problem. And weren’t we surprised!! We found organic apple cider vinegar worked wonders as an anti-perspirant, but we couldn’t make the leap to the washing machine.
When the clothes came out of the washer, there was no odor left in any of the sheets, towels or clothes. The towels were softened to perfection. They had no slimy feel, which happened when we used commercial fabric softeners. We don’t have to worry about people being allergic to the linens or towels because of how and with what they were washed and the towels were neither too soft nor too hard and scratchy. The towels were sturdy enough to allow one to dry one’s face when you wanted a little roughness to get the blood circulating, but not much. And they were soft and nice enough to please those who wanted soft towels. The same thing happened to the bathrobes. They are perfect after coming out of the organic apple cider vinegar rinse.
My great-grandmother used to put her clothes through a vinegar rinse – I should have had more respect and given her the credit she deserved for the things she knew and did. Is this how sexism works? – hand and glove with the marketing and advertising machine? If young people don’t learn the lessons from their families, but from what used to be called “Madison Avenue” we are all doomed to destruction- a slow excruciatingly painful destruction via cancer, and all the other degenerative diseases.
How fantastic is it to find something your great-grandmother used on a daily basis with no bells and whistles. That was just how she did things. It can make you feel kind of foolish to know what you have looked all over creation for was right under your nose from the time you were a child. I have the marketing and advertising people to thank for that, along with the forces in society which made me turn to my peers rather than my family to learn these kinds of lessons. Now I understand why Martha Stewart became such a phenom. All the lessons we didn’t learn and when we turned around to try to back track to learn them we could not break through the veil. The silence from our families could not be bridged.
I used to think my grandmother and great-grandmother were really out of touch with today’s society and here I find if I turn back to try to remember what they did, it is safer, purer and better for all of us. Now, not everything they did is so relevant, but I will be going over their lifestyle as I remember it to see what else I can salvage. I am sure many of you have or are experiencing the same thing. Give your mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers credit, gratitude and thanks.
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