this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2025
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How expensive do people think fabric softener is lol. I don't use it because I don't care for it, but not buying it because you're too poor sounds wild.
Just glancing through my grocery app, it's anywhere from $5 to $15 per bottle, depending on size and brand. For the same amount of money, you could buy enough food for one person for 2 or 3 days. That's not insignificant since you can get a pack of dryer balls for around the same price, which have pretty much the same effect, and last way longer than a bottle of softener.
And how long does that $5 last? Consider how much money it is per wash, especially if you use less than the quite generous recommendation.
I'm standing in a store right now and they go from 1,5€ to 6€. The expensive brand option with big bottle is 6,26€ and lasts for 110 washes with the recommended amount. The expensive one is 5,7 cents per wash.
6€ isn't nothing but as an expense over time, considering how long it lasts, even that expensive one is quite literally pennies.
Looking at price-per-use is only helpful if you have it in your budget right then to spend the full amount. For some, they can't spare that $5 on a frivolity because it's allocated to a necessity like food.
In my store there was an 1,5€ one, the store brand. And we're not a cheap country. I'm sure there's situations where someone couldn't even save up 1,5-5€ for fabric softener every what, six months or more, because it all goes to necessities, but I doubt that's at all typical. At least in the sense that the cost of it would be a serious reason people don't use it.
A much more likely reason is that it's not at all necessary. It can make clothes smell and feel nicer, but that's just extra. I personally don't use it, I actually prefer the "fresh" smell of no-fragrance laundry detergent.
I think you might be more privileged than you think in this case. Making the choice between feeding oneself and buying a frivolity like fabric softener isn't that uncommon in the US, where a huge chunk of people live paycheck to paycheck.
Not a huge privilege to have 1,5€ to spare.
For you.
No I mean not a huge privilege overall. We're talking about 1,5€. Some people are in really, really dire situation and truly can't afford that but yeah not very many, let's be honest.