Fabric softening composition comprising a) as component A at least one tertiary or quaternary ammonium salt, selected from compounds of the formulae and: R 1 R 2 R 3 N + CH 2 CHR 4 OC(=O) R 5 X - R 1 R 2 R 3 N + (CH 2) 3 NHC(=O)R 5 X- in which R 1 is hydrogen, methyl or ethyl, R 2 and R 3, independently of one another, are C 1-4 alkyl or C 2-4 hydroxyalkyl, R 4 is hydrogen or methyl, R 5 is a linear C 15-21 alkyl or alkenyl radical and X - is a monovalent anion, and b) as component B at least one nonionic softener which has only one long-chain hydrocarbon radical having 15 to 21 carbon atoms bonded to a polar radical, where the polar radical comprises at most 9 carbon atoms and carries at least one free hydroxy group, comprising alcoholic hydroxy groups bonded to a saturated carbon atom and carboxylic hydroxy groups bonded to a carbonyl carbon atom, and where the nonionic softener is not a fatty alcohol alkoxylate or fatty acid alkoxylate, where i) the molar ratio of the total amount of component A to the total amount of component B is in the range from 2:1 to 1:3, ii) the difference between the average chain length of the long-chain hydrocarbon radicals of components A and B is at most 2 carbon atoms, iii) the hydrocarbon radicals of components A and B have on average in each case at most 0.5 double bonds per hydrocarbon radical, iv) the total amount of tertiary and quaternary ammonium salts, carrying two long-chain hydrocarbon radicals of 15 to 21 carbon atoms, in the composition is at most 80 mol% and preferably at most 50 mol% of the total amount of components A and v) the total fraction of components A and components B in the composition is at least 50% by weight. a) as component A at least one tertiary or quaternary ammonium salt, selected from compounds of the formulae and: R 1 R 2 R 3 N + CH 2 CHR 4 OC(=O) R 5 X - R 1 R 2 R 3 N + (CH 2) 3 NHC(=O)R 5 X- in which R 1 is hydrogen, methyl or ethyl, R 2 and R 3, independently of one another, are C 1-4 alkyl or C 2-4 hydroxyalkyl, R 4 is hydrogen or methyl, R 5 is a linear C 15-21 alkyl or alkenyl radical and X - is a monovalent anion, and R 1 is hydrogen, methyl or ethyl, R 2 and R 3, independently of one another, are C 1-4 alkyl or C 2-4 hydroxyalkyl, R 4 is hydrogen or methyl, R 5 is a linear C 15-21 alkyl or alkenyl radical and X - is a monovalent anion, b) as component B at least one nonionic softener which has only one long-chain hydrocarbon radical having 15 to 21 carbon atoms bonded to a polar radical, where the polar radical comprises at most 9 carbon atoms and carries at least one free hydroxy group, comprising alcoholic hydroxy groups bonded to a saturated carbon atom and carboxylic hydroxy groups bonded to a carbonyl carbon atom, and where the nonionic softener is not a fatty alcohol alkoxylate or fatty acid alkoxylate, i) the molar ratio of the total amount of component A to the total amount of component B is in the range from 2:1 to 1:3, ii) the difference between the average chain length of the long-chain hydrocarbon radicals of components A and B is at most 2 carbon atoms, iii) the hydrocarbon radicals of components A and B have on average in each case at most 0.5 double bonds per hydrocarbon radical, iv) the total amount of tertiary and quaternary ammonium salts, carrying two long-chain hydrocarbon radicals of 15 to 21 carbon atoms, in the composition is at most 80 mol% and preferably at most 50 mol% of the total amount of components A and v) the total fraction of components A and components B in the composition is at least 50% by weight.