Make a Giant Fabric Softener Sheet

The pretty lavender towel is really a giant fabric softener sheet I made , and it makes the diapers smell nice :)

I make most of my own cleaners. I make a new batch of laundry detergent every couple of months, dishwasher detergent every month or so and some oven cleaner on occasion. I plan to felt some wool balls for my dryer but I haven't gotten around to it yet. In the meantime, I'm left with an assortment of laundry "accessory products" such as fabric softener and scented tablets that I don't use. Our laundry shares the front hall closet with our coats so minimizing items that need to be stored is at the top of my list as I reorganize that space.


I had seen posts flying around in cyberspace saying that you could create your own fabric softener sheets so I decided to give it a whirl. I was skeptical, I mean how long could it possibly last? Since I had extra fabric softener and was almost out of dryer sheets I decided I had nothing to lose.

You will need:
One spare hand towel or several washcloths (I chose to do a large hand towel as we have a dog and frequently wash large items like comforters and blankets)
Fabric Softener of your choice
A tupperware container that is missing it's lid (It's a good way to use up those lonely containers- I used my laundry detergent mixing container.)
A chopstick, or a poking tool of some kind
Plastic Gloves
Something large, plastic and flat to lay the towel on to dry (I used the lid to a rubbermaid storage tote)

1. Pour about 2-3 inches of fabric softener into your plastic container. I used a Target brand lavender scented one. I love lavender. Fold up your towel and shove it in on top of the softener.

Pour another inch or so on top.

Using a chopstick (we always seem to have some laying around) or another poking object push the towel down into the softener until the entire thing is saturated. Let it sit for about an hour occasionally poking it down into the softer to cover it.

Ok, at this point I stopped taking pictures. I was home by myself with the toddler and hadn't really thought through the fact that I would need two hands and not want to get my phone covered in lavender goo.

Put on gloves if you want, fabric softener can be really hard to fully rinse off your hands. Bring the tupperware container over to wherever your flat plastic drying surface is. Make sure that surface is out of the reach of little hands. Now you want to squeeze out the excess liquid without wringing it out. The idea is to leave some liquid to dry into the towel but not have it sitting in a puddle. The towel will take 1-2 days to fully dry depending on what kind of climate you live in. Mine ended up a pale shade of purple which is great. My husband knows we don't own any purple towels so he always puts it back in the dryer if he's the one to take the laundry out. One month later it is super soft and still smells fabulous, so the verdict is that it was worth it! Not only did I eliminate a bottle that I had been storing but my laundry smells awesome.