Blog
What is the deal with using essential oils in laundry? Turns out it is the easiest and most natural way to add scent, potential antimicrobial benefits, and aromatherapy benefits to your laundry. It is a more eco-friendly alternative that is gentler on fabrics than synthetic laundry products like dryer sheets and fabric softeners. The most important part is understanding how to use essential oils in your laundry to derive the most benefits.
Why Use Essential Oils in Your Laundry
A high-quality essential oil is a safer and even more effective alternative to harsh laundry products. Essential oils are derived from seeds, flowers, bark, or fruit. You get a lovely, additive-free oil after a bit of distillation or cold pressing. Who would've thought essential oils could jazz up your laundry routine and bring some perks your way?
Customized, natural scent: Essential Oils are the perfect way to add fragrance to your laundry safely. You can decide how much you want with just a few drops. You can finally ditch those harsh dryer sheets without giving up scent.
Therapeutic and health benefits: The sense of smell is closely tied to memories and emotions. Essential oils have been used to help reduce anxiety, stress, and promote relaxation. For example, Bergamot essential oil is particularly effective at improving mood and reducing stress. Its flavonoids stimulate the production of dopamine and serotonin, leading to enhanced feelings of relaxation and happiness.
Potential antimicrobial properties: Many essential oils have antibacterial properties. They contain natural compounds that can inhibit growth and kill bacteria. Although lacking scientific backing in the realm of laundry, essential oils can neutralize odors, leaving that refreshing laundered smell.
Safe for you and the environment: Essential oils are derived from plants, making them a natural alternative to synthetic laundry products, which are made with fillers and harsh chemicals.
Gentler on fabrics: Products made with harsh chemicals, like dryer sheets and fabric softeners, will actually damage fabrics over time. Since essential oils are made from plants, they will not degrade clothes and may even preserve them for longer due to their naturally disinfectant.
How to Use Essential Oils in Laundry
The most important thing to remember with essential oils is that a little goes a long way. They are very concentrated, and it does not require much to get your desired effect.
Our favorite way to use essential oils in laundry is to add a few drops to wool balls during the dryer's cool-down cycle. This is the perfect, natural alternative to harmful dryer sheets and fabric softeners. Here is what you need to know:
1. Add essential oils to dryer balls when the laundry is almost dry.
2. Remove dryer balls, add 2-3 drops to start. If you want more scent, try adding a few more drops next time.
3. Ensure the oils have fully absorbed before placing the balls in the dryer.
4. Return the balls to the dryer for 15 minutes on the tumble dry cycle. Never use high heat with essential oils.
Want to learn more about Wool Dryer Balls? Check out 5 Reasons to Ditch Your Dryer Sheets for Wool Dryer Balls
What Are the Best Essential Oils to Use in Laundry
There are many types of essential oils, and not all of them are meant for the laundry. When it comes to laundry, you only want to use essential oils that are high-quality and not dark liquid.
We wanted to take the stress out of finding the perfect essential oil for laundry, so we created L'AVANT Laundry Oil in both our signature Fresh Linen and Blushed Bergamot scents. These scents were formulated to complement freshly laundered clothes.
Experience the delicate blend of ylang-ylang, bamboo, lavender, geranium, basil, and lemon in Fresh Linen, or the invigorating mix of citrus, amber, and cedar in Blushed Bergamot.
L'AVANT Collective was born out of the near-constant demand for cleaning up after our kids and pets, but wanting the products we used to be non-toxic, highly effective, and conveniently located. Our goal is to merge our modern home interiors and styles with the products we use daily in a sustainable and plant-based way. Our products are created to multitask, including using them to freshen up laundry or even clean cars.
Interested in more Laundry tips? Check out these blog posts: Why Wool Dryer Balls Are Your Best Bet for Softer Clothes and How to Remove Odor From Clothing.
