Feeling down in these uncertain times? I suggest pushing an old washing machine off a cliff. It’s an exhilarating experience watching it tumble, crash and come apart, much like everything

A fabric softener (American English) or fabric conditioner (British English) is a conditioner that is applied to laundry during the rinse cycle in a washing machine to reduce harshness in clothes that are dried in air after machine washing. In contrast to laundry detergents, fabric softeners may be regarded as a kind of after-treatment laundry aid.A wrinkle releaser is a similar, more dilute preparation meant to be sprayed onto fabric directly. Mechanism of action Machine washing puts great mechanical stress on textiles, particularly natural fibers such as cotton and wool. The fibers at the fabric surface are squashed and frayed, and this condition hardens while drying the laundry in air, giving the laundry a harsh feel. Adding a liquid fabric softener to the final rinse (rinse-cycle softener) results in laundry that feels softer.In the US, laundry is mostly dried in mechanical dryers, and the tumbling of the laundry in the dryer has its own softening effect. Therefore, fabric softeners in the US are used rather to impart antistatic properties and a pleasant smell to the laundry. Fabric softeners...