There’s nothing like brightening up your laundry by using essential oils!  Essential oils add a fragrance to your clothes without the harmful side effects that synthetic fragrances have.  From adding fragrance, to killing bacteria and dust mites, essential oils are very useful for this mundane, never-ending task!  You can add 3-5 drops of your chosen oil in the softener compartment of the washer.  Some of the heavier oils are not good to use in the washer due to their tendency to cling to the clothes when they are washed, but are fine to use in the dryer.
For the wash, some delicious fragrances are: lemon, lavender and orange.  For a more exotic scent, use ylang-ylang or neroli.  Adding marjoram, chamomile or orange blossom to a load of sleep clothes help aid in insomnia.

Or, try these:


For a fresh scent:     For a floral scent:         For a romantic scent:
Lavender                               Geramium                                 Ylang-Ylang
Rosemary                             Palma Rosa                                        Rose
Bergamont                                Neroli                                           Jasmine
Pettigraine                          Bois de Rose                                     Vervaine 


To kill bacteria, dust mites and sick germs, add about 5 drops of tea tree oil or eucalyptus oil to the wash.  I use these oils in my sheets and towels, and any other load I think needs it.

I like to buy my essential oils from Beeyoutiful.  The quality and price cannot be beat!

Hope you enjoy using pure essential oils in your laundry!  They are not expensive and last a long time!  They sure beat the synthetic fragrances that are in the average product.  Now synthetic fragrances are another story…I’ll have to cover that in the future!
All this talk about using lovely oils for the laundry makes me want to jump up and do several loads myself…well maybe not! 😉

My friend, Angela, from Hidden Treasures, inspired me with this recipe! Thanks, Angela!!! 🙂

For a few years I’ve considered making my own laundry detergent, but have hesitated because I am SO happy with the kind I use now, and it seemed a little intimidating and complicated to make my own.  The MelaPower detergent I’ve used for the past 6+ years is free of harsh chemicals, cleans my clothes so well and I love the SMELL.

So why would I choose to go to the trouble of making my own when I’ve been so happy with the kind I’ve been using? ~ the savings!  When I figured up how little it would cost to make and use my own detergent, I simply had to give it a shot.

I have to say that I’m really satisfied with the way it cleans my clothes and the cost is only about $2 a month for our family of 6 ~ and it’s really simple to do!  I will share in the next few days how to add essential oils to your laundry for added smell and to kill dust mites and bacteria.

There are different recipes available, but this is the only one I’ve used.  I may experiment with others someday. This recipe yields 5 gallons.  Some recipes make a much smaller amount, but I like making a lot at a time as a time saver.  It keeps very well.

*I used a cheese grater to grate my soap.  At first I thought I should buy a separate grater for my cheese, but realized that soap is clean 🙂 and I only need to wash it off with hot water when I’m done.
*I bought a 5-gallon bucket at my local hardware store for about $7.50, but you can also get one free from a deli – it would just need cleaned out really good.
*I filled my old detergent bottle with the detergent, which makes it convenient to use rather than dipping it out of the bucket everyday.  Shake before each use.

Click below to view my powdered laundry soap version:
Homemade Powdered Laundry Detergent