7 Tips for Fresh-Smelling Laundry
Who doesn’t remember the smell of fresh sheets and linens from their childhood? One of life’s little pleasures is to slip into sweet-smelling clothes and distill the scent to the whole family. Here are some tips for naturally sweet-smelling laundry.
1. Lay out the laundry immediately
A wet or balled-up laundry will quickly smell bad. It is, therefore, essential to never leave a finished wash in the closed drum for more than a few hours.
At the end of the wash cycle:
Prefer the dryer to soak up more of the smell of the added fabric softener (but the dryer can damage fabrics a bit).
Lay your laundry out immediately, in the open, or on a hanger.
2. Essential oils
Essential oils (EO) are volatile and therefore perfume the surrounding fabrics. You will undoubtedly find one that suits you among the many existing scents.
Some suggestions to enjoy the scent of EO:
Add a washcloth soaked with 10 to 15 drops of essential oil of your choice in the full drum of your washing machine.
Dilute these drops with a little vinegar in the fabric softener tank of your washing machine.
Good to know: be careful, as not all EO are suitable for laundry. Some EO, such as cinnamon, frankincense, or mandarin, are too aggressive and may stain fabrics.
3. The traditional lavender sachets
Our grandmothers knew well the virtues of lavender: soothing and calming, ideal in the rooms. It can be enjoyed in herbal teas or impregnated on a cloth to decongest the respiratory tract during a cold.
To perfume your linen with lavender:
- Under the piles of clothing or at the bottom of the cupboards, the flowers scent your linen.
- Slipped under the bed’s fitted sheet, the sachets help you fall asleep.
- At the bottom of the dirty laundry bin, they mask odors.
4. Scented fabric softeners
Not everyone is convinced of the effectiveness of fabric softeners. Some people find that they clog fabrics, and in excess, they can stain clothes.
However, it is a simple and practical way to scent clothes and sheets.
Some brands partner with perfumers.
The fragrances are studied for the linen, and you do not risk the bad surprise of the homemade essential oil.
Attention: choose preferably eco-friendly fabric softeners because the others contain ammoniums responsible for water pollution.
5. Scented laundry detergent
If you are wary of fabric softeners, you can rely on many scented detergents on the market.
For those who also want an eco-friendly detergent with a delicate scent, try the following recipe:
Grated Marseille soap (100% natural product, preferably choose green because with olive oil and not white with palm oil);
bicarbonate of soda;
white vinegar;
essential oil.
6. White vinegar neutralizes odors
White vinegar is used to purify laundry. It eliminates many stains, removes scale in the washing machine tank, and makes terrible odors disappear.
Pour a teacup of white vinegar into the fabric softener tub and add a few drops of essential oil for the smell.
For white laundry, you can also add the juice of one or two lemons (depending on the amount of laundry).
Note: in the trade, white vinegar is also called crystal or spirit vinegar.
7. Banish cigarettes
Cigarette odor stays with clothes and linens for a long time. Once it sets in, it becomes difficult to remove.
To get rid of cigarette smell:
Don’t smoke next to damp laundry that is drying!
Do not leave an ashtray in the same room.
Hang the laundry in a separate, closed (but ventilated) room where you don’t smoke.
Wash your hands before hanging, ironing, or folding clothes.
Quit smoking (brilliant!).
And that’s it; the whole house is fresh and healthy with simple and inexpensive ingredients! Hope you like this post. Remember to leave a few words in the comments below.
