Looking for a cheap and chemical-free way to soften your clothing?

Me, too. You know how I like cheap. But cheap doesn’t count if it doesn’t work.

First I tried Nellie’s dryer balls – I like these spiky little gadgets that you throw into your dryer with your clothes, but I thought the clothes still seemed a bit stiff and static-y if I didn’t use any other type of softener.

Enter: vinegar in a downy ball.

I use a vinegar rinse on my diapers since I had read it will help soften fabrics, so I started using it with my regular loads. Tada! The combination of the dryer balls and the vinegar rinse works wonders – our clothes feel like I used a chemical softener!

If you’ve never used vinegar in the wash, don’t worry – your clothes really will not smell like vinegar when you’re done. I promise. Put about 1/2 cup of vinegar in the downy ball (I eyeball it – 1/2″ or so above the fill line), drop it on top of your clothes when you put them in to wash like you would with liquid softener. Finish off the clothes with some dryer balls in the dryer (I found “nellie’s” at Aldi a while back, but you can find dryer balls pretty much anywhere in the laundry/ironing section, it seems) – you’ll never miss the softener!

For more “works for me Wednesday” tips, head over to WeAreThatFamily.