How to Make Homemade Laundry Scent Booster + Recipe

Updated: Dec 1

Everyone loves clean and fresh-smelling laundry, especially me. When I walk down the laundry aisle I frequently notice a huge variety of scents and options to make my laundry ‘smell clean’. The scent boosters don’t really do anything other than add scent, so why not make them myself? This DIY recipe for homemade laundry scent booster may be one of the easiest laundry products I have ever made. This laundry scent booster will keep your clothes smelling fresh and clean with a signature natural fragrance from essential oils. No Downy Unstopables required.

All-Natural / Sustainable / Non-Toxic / Low Waste

Not only is this recipe all-natural, but it is also far less expensive than traditional scent boosters and you can add your own personal scent to your laundry routine. As Marie and I have been showing you, I use a more sustainable, non-toxic, low waste natural laundry care routine. My routine includes homemade laundry detergent, scent booster, dryer sheets, and an all-natural laundry whitening solution.

Many detergents, softeners, and scent boosters are filled with chemicals that leave residue on your clothing. This residue can then be absorbed by our skin. Many of the chemicals are harsh, causing harm to our bodies and being an irritation to the skin. When it comes to ingredients in my laundry care routine, I want ingredients to be free of dyes, natural, and safe for my family to use.

As you get to know me more you will learn I am passionate about my family’s health. When my children were young their skin was sensitive to the various cleaning chemicals and I wanted everything in my home to be safe. Even though my kids are older and their skin has toughened up I am still careful to purchase products that are safe for our skin and if I can, I prefer to make my own; like this homemade laundry scent booster.

Epsom Salt

The salt in this recipe is the “driver” to get the scent into the fabrics. The essential oils soak into the salt creating the scent to make the laundry smell fresh and natural. The salt also works as a natural fabric softener.

In the past I have used Epson Salt, Rock Salt, and Table Salt. Epsom Salt and Rock Salt work in this recipe whereas Table Salt does not.

Baking Soda

Have you ever looked on the back of a baking soda box? It has multiple uses for laundry. Just a few benefits include, fighting laundry odors, acts as a natural fabric softener and improves the performance of the detergent. All of these benefits make my clean laundry heart happy.

Essentials Oils

The essential oils you choose dictates the scent of your scent booster. Essential oils are very concentrated and fragrant, so use a single blend or a combination of blends that you enjoy. For our laundry, I love the fresh scent of rosemary, especially when added with citrus-like orange or lemon. Go to the bottom of this post for some essential oil blend combinations.

Homemade Laundry Scent Booster Recipe

INGREDIENTS & EQUIPMENT

2 cups Epsom Salt
1/2 cup Baking Soda
30 Drops Essential Oils of choice

How to Make Homemade Laundry Scent Booster

Instructions:

Step 1: Mix Salt and Oils

Mix together 2 Cups Epsom Salt and 30+ drops of Essential oils and combine well so the salts absorb the moisture from the oils before we add the baking soda.

Step 2: Mix Baking Soda

Add 1/2 cup Baking Soda and mix again.

Step 3: Store

Store in an air tight container. I love to recycle glass jars from store bought items that I cannot can in. I try not to use my canning jars for things like this.

How to Use Laundry Scent Booster

Add one Tablespoon of the scent booster into the washer before adding any laundry. Add laundry, and the normal amount of laundry detergent. (Let's be honest … I add a little more. Perhaps more like 1/4 cup per load of wash, but that's entirely personal choice).

Notes

Laundry scent booster doesn’t need to be added to every load. It can be used for those extra stinky, dirty loads. I personally choose to use it for each and every load.
Make a double or triple batch to prevent you from having to make it too often.
The shelf life is one year, but it never lasts that long. I know about how many loads I do each week and multiply that by the number of weeks in a month and make sure that I make enough to last about 3 months. I like to make mine seasonally.
To keep your laundry smelling especially great, use in conjunction with homemade dryer sheets made with a matching scent.

I hope that this recipe inspires you to start thinking about low-waste, non-toxic, ways of doing laundry. Do you have tips or ideas for natural laundry care? I, Emmaline, would love to hear your ideas.