How can I make my tumble dried washing smell of something nice?

[SweetApril]

Now it's getting towards winter I'm missing the lovely smell of my line-dried washing. When I dry it in the tumble drier it comes out smelling of nothing at all. I use Ecover as I don't like the lingering perfume of strongly-scented washing liquids but the smell of that is so delicate that the drier kills it stone dead. Do Bounce sheets have a strong lingering smell or might they do the job? I thought of using a few drops of essential oil on a flannel or something but then wondered if it might stain the clothes. Any tips gratefully received!

MIL uses bounce sheets they smell lovely.

What about lavender oil - Ive got some I never use

I might try it

I use the dryer sheets from Sainsburys and they seem to work well.

What sort of tumbledrier do you have? If it is a condenser one, I think the clothes take on the smell from your washing machine, so perhaps cleaning and airing the machine might be a way to avoid using the sheets - but I stand to be corrected ...

If you use an old nanny or a towel to accelerate the drying then you can add a few drops of your lavender to that.

Er, nappy not nanny

LOL at using an old nanny to accelerate drying

Poor nannny

Thanks, everyone.

OK, well, I didn't have a spare nanny so I tried the lavendar oil on a damp flannel and the flannel smelt lovely when it came out but the washing still smelt of nothing!! Let me know if you have more success LauraIngallsWilder.

I've got a vented drier so that shouldn't be a problem. Might have to use the sheets then but I'm still open to suggestions especially with a different way of getting the essential oil to work. I've got some lemon oil and I reckon that would be lovely if I could get the smell to "stick" to the clothes.

I wonder what Kim and Aggie of how clean is your house would suggest - they seem to like traditional methods

There is a good book by them in our library - I will try to remember to have a look

Ooh, great, LauraIngallsW, I'd love to hear what Kim and Aggie have to say on the subject if and when you get around to visiting the libray. Have now also tried lemon oil on a flannel but that was a complete failure, even the flannel didn't smell of anything when it came out.

I wash everything in aerial and if tumble dried it smells lovely. Everyone comments on the smell when they come round on washing day.

I also squirt fabric conditioner on my radiators and wipe down, when they're warm and the smell permeates around the house.

I mix a little Comfort Pure with the Ecover fabric softener - mine smells lovely after tumble drying (well, I think so anyway