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sshrivastava

Essential Oils - Your Laundry's Best Friend!

sshrivastava
13 years ago

I have recently discovered essential oils and have experimented with using them in my laundry to great effect! It's practically useless to put essential oils in the wash or even in the rinse - the scent left behind after drying is almost non-existent. Other tips I've found online are to put a few drops on a wash cloth and throw it into the dryer. That doesn't work either, as the heat of the dryer kills any scent the oils may have imparted.

Here's the key to maximizing the scent from essential oils - and it works very well. Wash and dry your laundry as usual. Once the laundry is dry, drizzle about 1/4 teaspoon of essential oil on a wash cloth, throw it into the dryer, and run the dryer on NO HEAT setting for about 10-15 mins. You will have naturally and heavenly scented laundry like never before. Adjust the amount of essential oil up or down depending on how much scent you want.

This is the perfect solution for those of us who can't stand the fakey smells in fabric softeners and detergents. I prefer a light scent to my laundry, as it has aromatherapeutic effects and I enjoy it. However, I hate the fakey gross artificial smells in detergents and fabric softeners. I use Persil for the main wash - the scent is gone by the time the laundry is rinsed - and Downy Free & Sensitive fabric softener. Perfectly soft, fluffy, and unscented laundry. After adding my makeshift lavender oil "sheet", my laundry smells wonderful!

Give it a shot - it truly works!

Comments (12)

  • livebetter
    13 years ago

    Thanks for this tip! I have tried all the other methods and (you are quite right) they don't work very well.

    I will try this tip of yours and see what happens :)

  • sshrivastava
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Good luck and let us know how it goes! The key is taking heat out of the equation. Once you do that, the oils can impart a wonderful fragrance to your fabrics. My clothes still smell good 3 days after putting them away. I used a little more oil - 1/2 teaspoon. Don't be afraid to use more.

    I bought one bottle each of lemon and lavender oils from The Chemistry Store. The price seemed good, although I don't know if it's of very high quality.

  • beanwabr
    11 years ago

    I will go tomorrow and pick up some essential oil and give this a try! I am guessing it is just a matter of preference as to which scent to try?

  • rococogurl
    11 years ago

    Great tip -- will give it a try. I have some freesia oil in the house.

    I've found I can get a similar effect using Caldrea laundry liquid. It isn't super concentrated, a small amount does a good job of washing, and it both deodorizes and leaves a slight fragrance. They have lavender. I also like their Sweet Pea (though they market it for nursery) and Sea Salt Neroli. Currently I'm using the Palmarosa and Wild Mint. Their linen spray with the same fragrance makes bed sheets smell heavenly, too. Mrs. Meyer's is the sister brand.

  • sandy1616
    11 years ago

    I use dryer bags as sshrivastava does with the dryer cloth. A cloth bag with a drawstring, a cotton ball soaked in essential oil and fill the rest with flax seed. Using just a cloth I occassionally had oil marks on my clothes. The bag seems to diffuse better and I am able to get more mileage out of the oils.

  • sandy1616
    11 years ago

    The same essential oils can also be used for linen sprays and air freshners. Purified water and EO sprayed from a spray bottle with a fine mist. It's so much nicer than the commercial stuff. It does need to sit for awhile before using and shaken before each use.

  • eleena
    11 years ago

    Yes, I have been doing for several months! No more detergent or vinegar smell on my clothes.

  • jane__ny
    11 years ago

    Not exactly the same, but I do this with perfumes I don't wear. I spray some on a clean wash cloth and throw it in with my towels and sheets.

    Surprisingly, the perfume I don't like to wear, leaves a lovely scent on my towels.

    Have men in the family, so I wouldn't do that with clothes.

    Jane

  • Andrea
    7 years ago

    Thank you for posting this - why do other "experts" tell you a drop or 2 in the dry cycle will work when it doesn't! I will try this method using the 1/4 to 1/2 tsp because I've tried it with less and not been successful - and I'm longing for some nicely scented towels and sheets.

  • mamapinky0
    7 years ago

    That's WAY too much essential oil...I didn't read the above posts yet..but the trick is a cool fluff....after the clothes are dry turn the dryer to cool air fluff..wait for the clothes to cool down, you dont want heat..add some drops to a old washcloth toss in and dry on air cool fluff 10 minutes or so...store the washcloth you put the drops on in with your unmentionables, towels, sheets or wherever. Remember heat will kill the scent.

  • Tiana Lofgreen
    6 years ago

    This is a game changer. I've tried adding EO to my washer's (vinegar) rinse cycle, and/or using EO on the wool dryer balls. It was a waste. This method works like a charm.