Natural Laundry Hacks That Actually Work

Whether it’s thrifted clothes, sports uniforms, or cloth baby diapers, sometimes our laundry has a stubborn fragrance or stain on it. If you’ve ever pulled “clean” clothes out of the dryer only to notice a lingering odor or buildup, you know what we’re talking about. Here’s how to naturally get them out.

Below are some of our favorite ways of getting most scents and spots out of laundry.

1. Easy (Breezy) Laundry Days

On a breezy day, hang up your clothing! You can use a laundry line, or the back of a chair. The slight breeze on the fibers is similar to opening windows to fresh up your living spaces. Sometimes stubborn fragrances or must can linger by becoming “trapped” in the clothing fibers. A subtle breeze in your backyard or balcony can help release these odor molecules.

If you don’t have a backyard or a balcony, you can also place your clothing by a fully opened window, on the back of a chair or on top of the coffee table.

2. Harness the Power of the Sun

Most fibers and fabrics can be laid outside on a bright sunny day without damaging them, including delicate items! Lay your clothing outside in direct sunlight for about an hour. You can also hang it up on a laundry line for the same results. The UV rays are a powerful disinfectant, and sometimes that scent that’s lingering could just be residual body odor and bacteria. This also works on stains, old or new.

Note: If it’s made of a delicate fiber like silk or wool, lay it out somewhere that doesn’t get direct sunlight. It can still benefit from the UV rays, this is just to prevent any shrinkage or damage. These should also be laid out flat to prevent permanently stretching or breaking the fibers.

3. Check Your Pantry

This tip sounds a little odd, but we’re using the science of fragrances to our advantage here! Check your pantry for one of the following: rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or vodka. Pour these into a spray bottle, and spray down your clothing. There’s no need to dilute them with water, but if the smell of rubbing alcohol or vodka is too strong for you, you can water them down to 50% water and 50% rubbing alcohol or vodka.

Note: 70% isopropyl alcohol is preferable but 90% works too. And you do not need expensive vodka, the cheapest bottle you can find is perfect.

Both rubbing alcohol and vodka contain ethanol, which is an important substance in perfumery. It’s responsible for making volatile fragrance molecules project into the air, allowing you to smell them. But too much ethanol will actually remove the scents by completely lifting them out to be carried away. So be sure to do this outside if you don’t want anything to linger indoors, or leave the windows wide open for a while.

Hydrogen peroxide will help remove stubborn smells by acting as a disinfectant on body odors, similar to disinfecting outdoors using the sun. For stains, hydrogen peroxide is one of the main ingredients in non-chlorinated color-safe bleaches. Spray the stain directly with hydrogen peroxide, let it sit for up to 30 minutes, and launder like usual. This works especially well for kitchen towels, bath towels, bath mats, or anything that’s in contact with water and your body frequently.

4. Laundry Detergent: The More the Better…Right?

You would think that using more laundry detergent is a good thing. Afterall, more detergent makes more bubbles, which makes laundry cleaner…right?

Not necessarily. In fact, you could actually be doing the opposite. Although soaps and detergents work by washing away bacteria, too much will actually trap them! Surfactants (cleaning agents) wash away dirt, oils, and bacteria by making them more soluble in water. Think of your laundry detergent as a bridge between oil and water, it allows them to meet in the middle, before washing away completely.

Those measurement lines on your detergent cup is there for a reason. Too much detergent creates a thick and sticky film that’s difficult to rinse out completely without multiple rinses. So this leaves behind all those nasty molecules of grime in your laundry! So if your washing machine doesn’t seem to use a lot of water, consider using less detergent on the next load, or consider running an additional rinse cycle.

Preventing musty clothing and towels doesn’t have to be a chore.

With the right care, the proper laundry routines, and a clean washing machine, you can keep every piece of laundry smelling fresh and feeling like new. Small steps like these make a huge difference, and help you and your family enjoy a cleaner and healthier home. Sometimes, laundry days really are a breeze!

Need an easy-to-read Laundry Care Symbols Guide? Print it out here, and display it in your home.