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I love the smell of fresh, clean laundry. Here’s how to make an all-natural laundry scent booster.

With three sons, I must admit that the laundry doesn’t always smell that great. Sometimes there’s a definite funky smell to them – think of the sports and workout clothes. In their defense I have found that certain fabrics seem to hold that smell harder than others – repeated washings do nothing.

Washing smelly items in a cycle with vinegar helps. It is a natural way to eliminate smell. But what can you do in between loads?

I found the smell of dryer sheets to be really strong and I didn’t particularly care for it. Then I tried those scent-boosting beads in the wash. Those were even stronger smelling, but at least you can control the amount that you use.

But I got to thinking that it can’t be very good or healthy to be using all these artificial scent boosters. I don’t even want to know what’s actually in them – I’m pretty sure it’s all chemicals and something toxic. To be honest, all they did is mask the smell, with a stronger, artificial smell.

So it was time to make my own all-natural laundry scent booster. Since I had been using Essential Oils in my cleaning and sanitizing, I knew there must be a way to use them in my laundry.

What You Need to Make an All-Natural Laundry Scent Booster

Please note that this is NOT laundry detergent – you still need to add your detergent. This is an extra added to the wash so that your laundry smells nicer.

This could not be any easier. There are only 3 ingredients. Keeping it simple is always a good thing.

• kosher or coarse salt: this acts as a natural fabric softener and helps hold the scent so that it can be transferred to your laundry
  Note: do not confuse this with Epsom salt – it is a completely different compound. You cannot substitute Epsom salts for the kosher salt. Epsom salts contain calcium and magnesium which makes your water harder. Adding this to your laundry makes fabric stiffer and scratchy! Epsom salts are best for the bath.
• baking soda: this helps fight odours and is a natural fabric softener.
• essential oils

Essential Oil Suggestions

There are a bunch of possibilities when it comes to essential oils in this laundry scent booster. The beauty of essential oils is that you can make whatever blend you want. Choose scents that you like and work for you and your family. You can even change it up every time.

To help get you started, here are some combinations that I like.

• Purify – this is a blend of lemon, Siberian fir, citronella, lime, tea tree and cilantro.
• Wild Orange and Peppermint
• Lemon
• Lavender

How to Make an All-Natural Laundry Scent Booster

• Add all 3 ingredients into a bowl.
• Mix or whisk together
• Put into an air-tight jar – you can re-purpose a mason jar or get a glass jar from the dollar store.

How to Use the Laundry Scent Booster

Before loading your laundry into the washing machine, add 2-3 tablespoons of the scent booster into the drum of the machine. I use an old coffee spoon that works perfectly. The amount that you use will depend on the size of your washer, as well as the size of your laundry load.

Wash your laundry as usual – remember, this is not a detergent, but something to help your laundry smell fresh and clean.

That’s it. It really is easy and the results are wonderful.

Want to remember how to make this all-natural laundry scent booster? Be sure to save this to your favourite Pinterest board.