When buying vinegar to use in the laundry, choose distilled white vinegar with 5 percent acidity. It’s is a great addition to laundry for lots of reasons: It’s Cheap Plain distilled white 5 percent vinegar runs around 2.5 cents per ounce in the typical supermarket when purchased by the gallon. Name-brand liquid fabric softeners come in at about 8 cents per ounce—around three times the cost. If you don’t use liquid softener, dryer sheets are a cheaper way to ruin your clothes and linens: On average, they are about 4 cents per sheet. It Softens This type of vinegar is a natural fabric softener. The acid helps remove detergent and soil that’s left clinging to fabric fibers, which is what allows clothes and linens to come out feeling soft and clean. Commercial softeners work just the opposite. They are designed to coat fibers, leaving behind their scented residue. The residue …