How to make homemade fabric softener for two pennies per load

I was inspired by my discovery last week on how to make liquid hand soap, and today decided to do some research on how to make homemade fabric softener.  When you think about it, fabric softener is basically conditioner for your clothes -- so why spend big bucks on a bottle of softener each month when you can make your own for literally just pennies?
The recipe for homemade fabric softener is pretty simple -- it's just combining 6 cups hot water with 3 cups white vinegar and 2 cups hair conditioner.  Mix the conditioner into the hot water, until the conditioner completely breaks down, then stir the vinegar in.  Voila -- homemade fabric softener!

But of course, if I'm going to be doing any sort of manual labor, I want to know that I'm saving some cold hard cash.  So here's how the math breaks down, assuming that you would need to buy all new ingredients.  I took all these prices from my local SuperTarget today:

• Buy a 16oz. bottle of Suave conditioner for 99 cents.
• Buy two bottles of white distilled vinegar for around 72 cents each for generic, or $1.22 each for name-brand Heinz vinegar.
• Assuming you already have a large bottle somewhere to store your homemade fabric softener, your total ingredient cost is as low as $2.07 for about 12 cups worth of softener.

What's amazing is how far this $2.07 will take you -- you'll only need 2 tablespoons of fabric softener per load, and there are 16 tablespoons per cup of softener.  So you have roughly 96 uses in your homemade fabric softener -- which works out to about two cents per serving.

Now, the best deal I was able to find on pre-made fabric softener was a 51oz. bottle of Downy on sale for $4 at Target.  There's a 50 cents off coupon from the 7/31 P&G that would take your costs down to $3.50. 

According to Downy, a 51-oz. bottle should last you 60 loads -- or just under six pennies per use.  In other words, you're spending about $1.43 more for about a third less product.  That doesn't sound like a lot of money to save, but I know families who go through a bottle or more of liquid fabric softener a month, which could really add up over the course of a year. 

Plus, I know lots of ways to get conditioner free through couponing, which means that the costs of making my own could really be even lower than the $2.07 per bottle I calculated.

What do you think?  Would you be willing to make your own homemade fabric softener to save a few extra dollars each month?  Share your thoughts in the comments section below or over on the San Antonio Budget Grocery Facebook page.

And don't forget to check out the linky party happening at Imparting Grace right now!