DIY For Fabulously Scented Laundry!

No, this is NOT in praise of home made laundry detergents. Though it is a fabulous feeling to know exactly WHAT your detergent contains and that you are only spending about twelve dollars on ingredients that make enough detergent for about nine months (for our household anyway)! There are many rewards to making your own detergent other than saving money. You can find the recipe I use and more info on it on the DIY page of our blog.

Make your own detergent!

The only drawback to making your own detergent is getting your laundry scented without having to use liquid fabric softener or dryer sheets (mfg. have to use chemicals to keep that scent hanging in there, ya know). I like my laundry to smell fresh - not fake or  perfumey. I tried adding essential oils, EO's, to the detergent. That made the laundry room lovely smelling but the EO's were literally washed away. I tried other DIY ideas and since none really worked for me I will skip the details.

My current favorite EO is lavender and sage.

Two things finally worked for me. I made wool dryer balls that keep the static down and Harry uses these in the dryer with his clothes. He prefers his clothes with no scent.  The way I get my laundry scented and the whole area smelling great is using all cotton dish washing sponges and EO's. You can start out experimenting with inexpensive EO's but with the better grades and brands of oils you tend to get by with fewer drops.

Grab a damp sponge...

...add amount needed.

Wet the sponge very well then squeeze out excess. Pick your favorite scent and add some drops to the damp sponge. This is where you have to play around with the amount of EO drops added,  depending on how strong you want the scent to be (and remember that you are getting aromatherapy while working)!  I have used as much as twenty drops on each side of the sponge to get a big dose of lavender when doing linens. Maybe ten drops of ginger tea for lingerie or smaller loads. Citrus is great to add to a load of kitchen dish towels….  I go wild with scents for almost everything except - my husbands clothes!

Throw in dryer and run load

Toss the sponge in the dryer with your laundry and the load. No special settings. I've used this with all different colors a fabric types with no problems.


Try this and enjoy!
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* Like with anything else though, be aware that EO's, even though natural, can set off allergies, sneezing etc.

Liz-