Question from Margaret
Being chemically sensitive, I have never used fabric softener dryer sheets. Now 7th Generation has come out with a natural fabric softener sheet that uses “plant-derived ester quaternary amine”. Is this a safe ingredient? I need a fabric softener for our aging towels that are getting rough.
I can’t afford to just replace the towels. I’ve tried the plastic dryer balls and they do absolutely nothing. I don’t put anything in the rinse cycle for softening because it would be too hard to catch the start of the rinse cycle, since I do other things when the washing machine is running or may not even be home.
I use 7th Generation’s unscented liquid laundry soap and tolerate that OK. I know some people say to hang laundry outside instead of using a dryer but that is not practical for me because it is too cold and snowy in the winter, esp. in our north-facing backyard, and in the summer, we have thunderstorms almost every afternoon because of the mountains (and I am often not home to bring in the laundry if it storms).
Debra’s Answer
Your towels may be getting rough because they are holding on to soap residues or minerals. Try washing them with baking soda and water only–about a cup of baking soda per washload.
I couldn’t find “Ester quaternary amine” anywhere I looked, but here is a breakdown of the words. An “ester” is an organic compound similar in structure to a salt. So that word just tells you the form. An “amine” is derived from ammonia, with one or more hydrogen atoms replaced by other atoms. “Quaternary” simply means a atom is attached to four other atoms. So this would be a salt-like substance derived from ammonia with four atoms attached.
So I can’t tell you the health effects, but I can tell you that there were no reports of health effects that I could find.
