Clean Sheets
There's very little I like more in the world than slipping between clean sheets. They can't just be clean, though, they have to smell clean: you know, that perfect fresh-from-the-dryer smell that means all is right with the world.
Right now I'm using Tide laundry detergent in Mountain Spring, and Bounce dryer sheets. This combination produces a pretty clean-smelling set of sheets, but I'm wondering if I can do better.
Can I do better? Do you have a favorite laundry detergent or fabric softener you wouldn't mind recommending? Does it smell like the gentle exhalations of a thousand angels? Would you make it into a perfume if you could? That's the kind of clean-smelling laundry I'd like.
(PS: That isn't my bed, it's a bed I sort of liked at Crate and Barrel a few months ago. I thought it might be a little creepy to put a picture of my bed on the Internet, you see. Until I remembered that oh yeah, wait, a picture of my bed is already on the Internet).
Jul 07, 2008
I was about to say, gosh, you have a grown-up bed! And then you clarified.
No favorite detergent here. SVV makes me get the boring, unscented kind. Blah.
Jul 08, 2008
I get as little in my detergent as possible, and then I line dry (everything because we don't have a dryer). But really it is all in the sheets, and we use Thomas Lee, which are just ridiculously fantastic. Their price is ridiculous, too. However, every night when I get into bed, I think they are worth every cent.
Jul 08, 2008
Detergent = All Clear Free Small & Mighty 3x Concentrate. Nice small bottle, cleans well, leaves no scent and uses no dyes.
Fabric Softener = Cannot abide by dryer sheets for my sheets. They leave a film that I feel when I climb in, particularly if I'm in flannel sheets mode. So, I've found one that tore me away from my years of use of Downy in Mountain Spring. But before I tell you which I use now, please let me spare you the "Simple Pleasures" line. I always smell a new scent before purchase, and one day I made the fateful mistake of twisting off the lid of the vanilla & lavendar Simple Pleasures. They market it as "a familiar, rich, soft & relaxing scent experience." Bull. I got some on my hands, and I spent the next few hours switching between hand washing, and catching a wisp of the scent which made me want to toss my cookies. Not good.
So, I have to say, I'm on the extreme in particulars about scents, but while I was care for my brother in another city, and doing laundry for him while he was in the hospital, I discovered the "Ultra Downey Pure Essentials" in aloe & white lilac. I figured if I didn't like it as much as the scent test at the store, he'd keep it & go back to whatever he'd been using.
I'm totally sold, though. It is the softest, cleanest scent they've had yet. I love to wrap my should length hair in a towel on top of my head, just to smell the scent.
And on the bed linens? Pure Heaven. Try it in the wash, rather than on a dryer sheet, though, just for one bottle. If you hate it, go back to the other, but I'm going to bet you notice a difference in the way your clothes feel.
(Plus, with the downey ball, you don't have to hand out waiting for the rinse cycel to hit if there isn't a dispenser.
(WOW, who know how passionately i feel about laundry!)
Jul 08, 2008
Method in the fresh mountain scent. Way better for the earth. You might want to switch to a Method fabric softener and skip the dryer sheet. A lot of conventional dryer sheets soften with beef fat as the secret ingredient.
Jul 08, 2008
I was going to say that you had awesome taste in beds. . . but I guess you still do since that IS one that you like.
This is probably not helpful, because I use Tide. But nothing really smells cleaner to me than Tide. . .
Jul 08, 2008
Have you seen the lavender sachet things at Trader Joe's? They come 3 or 4 to a pack, and you can re-use them a couple of times before they explode in your dryer, depositing lavender seeds everywhere. They're pure lavender and smell so good. The perfect scent for lulling you to sleep.
Jul 08, 2008
haha, well at the risk of being berated by the above poster, I LOVE the Lavender and Vanilla Simple Pleasures by Downy. It has a really mellow smell after it goes through the wash, I'm sure its different if you just splash it undiluted on your hands.
Seriously, I LOVE it! And I use the liquid, not the dryer sheets. I also use the tide detergent in the same sent, or just another tide detergent. I agree that you can't beat tide.
Jul 08, 2008
Yeah, I've tried the Lavender and Vanilla Simple Pleasures by Downy, but I found that while I LOVED the smell in the bottle and the dryer sheets, it NEVER smelled like that on my laundry. In fact, it never smelled like ANYTHING! So I was basically spending $4.99 on nothing. I haven't tried the detergent with the same scent, though...
Jul 08, 2008
i'm a tide and bounce girl...so i'm of little help to you ;) i don't think it gets better...
Jul 08, 2008
My absolute fav:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5760585
Smells awesome AND it's good for the earth!
Jul 08, 2008
I use Seventh Generation products. Unscented laundry powder, Blue Eucalyptus and Lavender fabric softener. Planet-friendly, works great, and smells good to boot.
Jul 08, 2008
I was raised a Downy girl (I prefer the "fresh linen"ish kind of smells, and not he dryer sheets, but the liquid stuff. (The Downy Ball is the greatest thing since slice bread, you know.) I usually buy whatever's on sale as far as the detergent goes, but the smelly good is ALL ABOUT THE SOFTENER.
Also, if any rep from Downy is reading this... I'm totally willing to endorse your product for the low, low price of a lifetime's worth of your softener.
Jul 08, 2008
We use Gain ... mostly because it's cheaper than Tide at Target (I also really like Tide), but it does smell lovely!! Try the original scent. Yum. We also use Bounce dryer sheets, which I think are key. No substitutions!!
Jul 08, 2008
Okay, this is a really stupid question, but the liquid fabric softener.........it goes in the washer, right? Um, not the dryer? Because if it went in the dryer, it would be stupid because it's liquid and you're trying to get your clothes DRY? Right? I'm just checking, because I've never used the liquid stuff and knowing me, I'd do it totally wrong. Please don't laugh. I promise I actually AM an adult.
Jul 08, 2008
Yes, liquid fabric softener goes in the washer. I have an old stacked washer/dryer that is top loading, and the fabric softener goes right in the center.
I'm a Tide and Bounce girl, too. It's what I grew up knowing and it's totally ingrained. And as nice a finish as liquid fabric softener will give (it's a slight difference, imho), it will not make your 160-thread count sheets feel like 500-tc. It's not a miracle in a bottle.
Jul 08, 2008
Ok, so I know this won't help you right this second probably, but the absolute best way to get your sheets to smell heavenly is to dry them on the line. I don't add anything smelly to the wash or the dryer (allergies) and so nothing interferes with the to die for fresh outside smell, and nothing that I have found in a bottle can duplicate it. I will hang the sheets out in the winter to get that smell.
Jul 10, 2008
Not everyone will love the smell the same way I do, but I LOVE All Small & Mighty original scent. Like, I'll smell it straight out of the bottle. And when I was pregnant, I would do that multiple times each day, to the point where Andres was afraid I might drink the stuff.
Jul 11, 2008
I was a big Tide girl (no fabric softener - skin rashes developed - ugh), but have recently started using All. Initially because I have children, and the commercials said All had "stain lifters" - and it did. I found that I like all of the All fragrances I have used so far. I feel like my laundry has a true "fresh aroma" as things came out of the dryer. I don't know if this is because I got used to Tide and wasn't smelling it anymore, or if there really is that much of a difference.
And All Small and Mighty rules because you're not using as much.
Jul 11, 2008
I use the Simple Pleasures Lavender and Vanilla too: detergent and dryer sheet. The key is to use the detergent and the softener/sheets. Falling asleep on the lightly scented sheets is lovely and the smell lasts for at least 2-3 nights. I do agree that smelling the actual liquid is pretty pungent and the other scents just don't do it for me.
I don't use the liquid softener as I find it breaks down fabrics faster and makes towels less absorbant. I had one beach towel that would float on top of the water because it took forever to soak up any water!