Can I use vinegar instead of fabric softener?

Not in the way most blogs suggest, if you go by the washer makers. Whirlpool and Maytag both tell owners to keep vinegar out of the washer drum because its acidity can weaken rubber seals and hoses over time, and neither endorses vinegar in the rinse as a softener. No extension publication found gives a vinegar rinse dose or tests what it does to fabric. If stiffness is your problem, hard water is the more likely cause and the better fix. If you use vinegar anyway, never in a load with chlorine bleach. This page sets out what the sources say about vinegar, softeners, sheets and the other options.

What the washer makers say about vinegar

Whirlpool and Maytag are brands of the same company, and both articles recommend its own washer cleaner, so read them as a maker's care advice with a product attached. Their point about seals and hoses is still the only manufacturer statement on vinegar found for this page, and it points one way.

Maytag's allowance for "diluted white vinegar" on clothing is about treating stains and odors, and it gives no dilution. That fits the stain charts, which use white vinegar for specific jobs: Mississippi State lists it among stain removal supplies and uses it for color change from perspiration [4].

What a vinegar rinse would do, and what is not known

Vinegar is an acid, about 5 percent acetic acid in distilled white vinegar (vinegar gives the source). Detergents and soaps are alkaline, so an acid rinse would neutralize some of what is left in the fabric. That is the chemistry. What no source read for this page shows is whether doing so makes clothes measurably softer, at what dose, or how it compares with a commercial softener. This page gives no vinegar rinse amount because none was found from a source that tested one.

The one rule that is not optional

Never put vinegar in the softener compartment of a load that has chlorine bleach in the bleach compartment, or pour it into a wash where bleach is still in the water. Whirlpool: "do not mix vinegar (or any acid, for that matter) with bleach," because the combination "creates chlorine gas, which can be toxic" [1]. A front loader with separate bleach and softener compartments, as LG's manual shows [3], makes this easy to do by accident. Bleach and vinegar explains what the gas does and what to do if it happens.

The other options, one by one

Liquid fabric softener

Use the compartment your washer provides and the dose on the bottle. A stain source credited to Utah State University Extension treats fabric softener spots by rubbing them with bar soap, and prevents them by diluting the softener before it goes in [5].

Dryer sheets

The same source suggests tearing dryer sheets in half to prevent softener spots on clothes [5]. No source read for this page compares sheets with liquid softener for softness or static.

Wool or rubber dryer balls

No extension or manufacturer source read for this page tests dryer balls for softness, drying time or static. They go in the dryer and add no chemical, so they raise no mixing or seal concern, but any benefit is unmeasured here.

Static

None of the extension or manufacturer sources read for this page addresses static cling, so this page offers no tested advice on it. Softener products that claim to reduce static carry their own directions; follow those.

Fixing the water instead

USGS: "When using hard water, more soap or detergent is needed to get things clean," and "Hard water can even shorten the life of fabrics and clothes" [6]. If towels come out stiff, find your water hardness before buying a softener or reaching for vinegar. Hard water and laundry shows how.

Cleaning the softener drawer

Here vinegar does have manufacturer approval. Whirlpool and Maytag both say to remove the detergent and softener drawers and soak them in equal parts white vinegar and water, then scrub, rinse and dry [1][2]. Whirlpool suggests doing this monthly [1]. Do it at the sink, away from any bleach, and put the drawers back dry.

If stiff laundry is the reason you are asking

If you are thinking about vinegar because a soap-based homemade detergent leaves clothes stiff, the cause and the fix are probably the same: hard water. Read homemade detergent in HE washers for the residue side and hard water and laundry for the minerals.

References

1. Whirlpool Corporation, *Should You Clean Your Washing Machine with Vinegar?*, undated (page copyright 2026), read October 2026. https://www.whirlpool.com/blog/washers-and-dryers/should-you-clean-washing-machine-with-vinegar.html
2. Maytag (Whirlpool Corporation), *Stop Using Vinegar to Clean Your Washing Machine, Here's Why*, undated (page copyright 2026), read October 2026. https://www.maytag.com/blog/washers-and-dryers/stop-cleaning-washing-machine-with-vinegar.html
3. LG Electronics, *Owner's Manual, WM3997HWA Washing Machine*, "Using Detergent/Fabric Softener" (page 20), read October 2026 in the copy reproduced by ManualsLib (no LG-hosted copy of this manual was found). https://www.manualslib.mx/manual/785300/Lg-Wm3997Hwa.html?page=20
4. Mississippi State University Extension (revised by Everlyn S. Johnson), *Stain Removal Guide*, Publication 1400, undated, read October 2026. https://extension.msstate.edu/sites/default/files/publications/publications/p1400.pdf
5. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Foster Youth in Transition, *Tips for Getting Stains Out of Your Laundry* (credits Utah State University Extension), undated, read October 2026. https://www.michigan.gov/fyit/housing/tips-for-getting-stains-out-of-your-laundry
6. U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School, *Hardness of Water*, page dated August 24, 2026. https://www.usgs.gov/water-science-school/science/hardness-water