How do I get my washing to smell amazing?

[NeedingASafeSpace]

When you walk past people and think ooo their clothes smell lovely… I want that! How do I do this please? I’m wanting fresh lovely smelling clothes. They’re clean and fresh now but I feel they don’t have a lasting softener smell to them.

I like Lenor Outdoorable fabric softener in Amalfi/Portofino/Capri but only really use it on towels and bedding. Otherwise I prefer the faint clean smell of Smol non-bio.

Mumsnet will hate my laundry routine.
I use bio pods (any brand)
Fairy conditioner.
Scent boosters or liquid.
Dettol sanitiser if needed, so if the baby had a leaky nappy or something.

I try and hang outside as much as possible, if I can’t I have a couple of airers that I use next to radiators.

Finally I regularly clean my washing machine and leave the door open when it’s not being used.

Try Wilton. It has natural fragrances.

I’d be cautious about artificial smells because fragrance is under regulated, and often companies don’t have to reveal their ingredients because it’s proprietary information.

So we don’t know what effects we are being exposed to. In the food industry, we are starting to identify specific additives and preservatives that disrupt hormones, and the effects on cancers, Alzheimer’s etc.

Our bodies are well adapted to cope with small exposures of almost anything. But dousing all your clothes in chemical fragrances, is going to overload any defense.

Some people are particularly sensitive and I think we’d do well to listen to them because they’re like canaries in mines.

I've never smelt anyone's clothes....

AHH, using, scent boosters, you're a marketing team's dream 😁

I find it fascinating how these never existed until a few years ago, but now they're "normal" part of washing clothes.

I’m sure at some point washing powder/liquid never existed but here we are, using it daily 😂

Dry it outside.

When I walk past people and smell their clothes I'm not thinking it's smelling lovely/amazing, I'm thinking it smells artificial and overpowering. Our clothes are not supposed to smell anything other than clean. Clean does not equal chemically treated with scent boosters, fabric conditioner, spray, etc etc.

I can't wait until it is dry enough to hang out my washing.

It has been damp and soggy here for weeks.

I just use Persil or Ariel and dry my washing quickly using a dehumidifier or tumble dryer.

I also remove the powder drawer after every wash to allow it to dry (I don't use it, I put the powder in the drum), leave the door open and do a regular drum clean. I never use laundry liquid as it doesn't contain bleach and can lead to a smelly washing machine.

I use ecover delicate. I wash a lot of wool and silk and have an auto dosing machine so couldn’t be bothered switching the liquid over so just use that for everything. I buy it in bulk and it smells lovely.

I hang it outside in between the rain. It's amazing how much of it gets dried. It then just needs an hour in the house near a dehumidifier.
The smell of fabric conditioner makes me gag a bit.

I detest walking past people on country walks and having their overly smelly washing scents polluting the fresh air. Just wash your clothes normally. I actually like Waitrose basic pods as they don't really smell of anything and are cheap. I don't use conditioner, or smellables, or any of the other shite that manufacturers make you believe you need.

Ugh a woman stood next to me at the checkout at M&S yesterday and all I could smell was overpowering fabric conditioner. It made me want to vomit.

Why people think this is nice or what ‘clean’ smells like baffles me. If you’ve smelt hot-washed sheets fresh off a summer washing line, they smell of nothing. That’s what actual clean laundry smells of - nothing. Putrid smelling liquids that do nothing for the environment are so far removed from ‘clean and nice.’ I would ban them.

We use the cherry blossom Fairy fabric conditioner.

There hasn’t been any “between the rain” here for months 🤣

I always think this, but it’s because I use the most gentle products and with that they don’t have a smell! You could try fairy scent boosters! Instead invest in an expensive perfume 🤭

Is this an advert?!

1), your clothes should be clean and not filled with chemicals.

2. who, honestly who, has ever walked past somebody and thought that?!!!!! About perfume, yes, but not clothes.

The marketing people have a lot to answer for as they have convinced people that they need their clothes to smell of products to be "clean".

And don't get me started on all the other bollocks like carpet anti-bacterial sprays and the rest of it. Pointless stuff people are spending money on then complaining they are hard up. And ALL the plastic.

Persil bio power smells really nice to me. I sometimes use the fairy scent boosters
or wonder wash

I passed on a bag of kid's clothes to a friend and she asked what I used as she said it smelled like it had been washed by fairies. Ironically it is not fairy! I use smol capsules for darks/colours and ecover powder (lavender and eucalyptus) for whites. I don't tend to use fabric softener on clothes as it is a skin irritant, but occasionally use it for blankets and if I'm washing anything woollen or silk. The nicest one I've found is tallow and ash - you can buy a selection box to test out different scents. My favourite is Date Night.

It all just makes you smell like a cheap taxi

Hang washing outside to dry when you can.

Buy a perfume you like and wear that!

Even when it is cold and the clothes will not dry outside, I will pop them out for an hour or two before bringing them in. We live rurally and they do smell great if you do this.

I don't use scents boosters or conditioner, but some of the hysterical over reactions on here are a little melodramatic. The washing powder smell making someone want to vomit? Really?

I hang out washing on a cold day, but it really has been so damp here with humidity close to 100% that putting washing outside would be pointless. Heavy rain again today

I used to love Daz but it smells of nothing now so not worth spending the extra. I like fairy or fairy outdoorable conditioner. I don't wear perfume