That Scented Laundry Soap Is Toxic. Use This Instead.

Do you smell that? It’s not the crisp autumn air, a low-burning cinnamon candle, or even a waft of the season’s baked goods. No, it’s the overpowering scent of laundry soaked in layers of scented detergent, fabric softener, and dryer sheets. And it’s consuming clothing everywhere.

In fact, 68% of Americans who do laundry at home are spending their hard-earned money on fabric softener or dryer sheets, and 36% are throwing in scent beads or boosters. If the smells drifting off of Americans and their clothing in my neck of the woods are any indication, the affinity for these products is only growing stronger. But the secret behind these scents is a wash of endocrine-disrupting chemicals that actually don’t make your clothes any cleaner. 

The “fragrance” or “parfum” that scents these products is a mystery cocktail that can include phthalates, petrochemical derivatives that interfere with hormone production and receptors in our bodies, dysregulating our endocrine system. When hormone levels control everything from reproductive functions to mood, anything that upsets the system can have widespread health effects. That fragrance doesn’t add to the dirt-removing power of the product, however, since it’s just a scent. 

If you’ve been subject to as many scent booster and scented detergent commercials as I have, then you know that part of the selling point is the fragrance being so strong that it lasts long after the wash — sometimes up to weeks. That scent might overwhelm any sweat or grime odor that accumulates through a wear or two, but it doesn’t make the clothes any cleaner. It just hides the gathering odor. As any thrifter or garage saler could tell you, the chemical fragrance can even survive multiple sanitizing cycles. This is because the products rely on fragrance encapsulation to protect the oil fragrance molecules through cleaning and drying. The encapsulation technology uses polymers (aka plastics) to make microcapsules that encase those fragrance molecules, keep the fragrance on the clothes, and release the scent over time. But those same chemicals build up and can leave a residue on clothes and inside your washing machine. 

Despite not making our laundry any cleaner, that wash of chemicals is infiltrating our daily lives. While we might reserve a strong perfume or cologne for special occasions, we spend nearly 24 hours in our clothes, pajamas, towels, sheets, and blankets. Over time, it’s also possible to become immune to noticing the scent consuming our laundry. I’m convinced this is why so many Americans are loading up their washer with layers of fragrance. This phenomenon, called olfactory fatigue, happens when repeated exposure reduces our sensitivity to an odor. It’s the same reason why the heavy haze of cigarette smoke doesn’t perturb longtime smokers. In other words, a scented detergent might seem pleasant at first; then it won’t seem to impart the same “fresh” fragrance on clothes, so for the same effect you need a stronger detergent and then scented dryer sheets, fabric softeners, scent beads, and more. To anyone not accustomed to this avalanche, the combination is overpowering, but to the daily wearer, it becomes less and less noticeable. But just because the scent seems gone doesn’t mean the wearer’s endocrine system fails to notice the mix of chemicals.

Fortunately, escaping the hormone-disrupting and nasally offensive mix of fumes is easy. Try a fragrance-free, nontoxic laundry detergent such as Seventh Generation or Branch Basics. Or ditch the detergent aisle completely by switching to soap nuts, dried berries from the Sapindus tree that naturally contain saponins (the key “cleaning” agent in soap). Just throw them into a cotton bag in a hot-water cycle with your laundry or pre-soak the berries in hot water before a regular cold cycle. Because these options tend to be safe for sensitive skin, they’re also a great choice for the whole family, down to even the littlest members. 

For most fabrics, consider skipping the dryer sheets, and for the static-prone fabrics, throw in wool dryer balls that will last for hundreds of loads or switch to a fragrance-free dryer sheet. If a waft of fragrance is truly what you’re after with fresh laundry out of the dryer, then add a few drops of an essential oil to dryer balls before tossing the load in. 

And if your laundry really does need that extra softening touch once in a while, add ½ cup of white vinegar to the load just as you would with conventional fabric softener. Not only is it affordable and nontoxic, but it will leave your washer cleaner and help disinfect it rather than leaving behind a coating of chemicals. 

In the end, your clothes will be just as clean, and your health (and wallet) will thank you. Speaking for everyone who can still smell the overpowering fragrances, I’ll say that you’ll never look back once you reclaim your nose from the laundry scent industrial complex.

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Jordan Jantz is the assistant editor at IW Features as well as a freelance writer, editor, and website designer.

This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

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