How to get your laundry detergent scent to last
Kair’s signature scents are inspired by fine fragrance, and will enliven both your wardrobe and your mood. Featuring premium, luxury ingredients, they’re distinguished, comforting and long-lasting, whether you choose uplifting Wild Juniper & Bergamot or rich Cedarwood, Amber & Iris. We want you to experience them on your laundry long after it’s left the drum, so your clothes smell fresh and clean both after and between washing. Read on for our cheat sheet on how to get your laundry detergent scent to last.
1) The power of three
For the optimum experience, and to maximise the scent payoff, we recommend washing your items with both our Signature Clothing Wash and Signature Fabric Conditioner, then finishing off with our Signature Finishing Spray, to lock in the scent and release any lingering wrinkles or creases. Our products work best in combination with each other, with our Signature Bundles making it oh-so-easy to clean, condition and revitalise all in one. In particular, our Signature Finishing Spray is the ideal scent-boosting finishing touch after every wash and between loads. With powerful plant-based ingredients which lift, and neutralise odours, it instantly refreshes and revitalises even the smelliest of clothes!
2) Use the correct dose
Be sure to use the right amount of detergent for your load. When using Kair in soft water areas, or for lightly soiled garments, use 25ml; in hard water areas, or for heavily soiled garments, use 35ml. It’s important to stick to the recommended dose: excess detergent isn't as easily broken down by the water in your washing machine, which will lead to build-up and residue on your clothes. And worse - it could even cause grime to redeposit on your clothes: the very opposite of cleaner clothes! However, occasionally, especially in very hard water areas, the mineral content of the water can sometimes interfere with the fragrance. If that applies to you, always use the upper estimate of the dose (i.e. 35ml).
3) Don’t overload the drum
If you’re machine washing, be sure to avoid overloading the drum. A large load makes it harder for the detergent to distribute evenly among your garments, impacting both the wash quality and scent payoff. So give your clothes enough space to move around in the wash! There’s a simple trick for this: if your palm can fit between the clothes and the machine, then you’ve loaded properly, otherwise you will need to take some items out.
4) Keep your machine clean
There can sometimes be a difference in dosing into the machine drawer vs using a dosing ball directly in the drum, particularly in older machines (which may have accumulated limescale in internal mechanisms over the years). If you want clean, fresh-smelling clothes, it’s important to keep your machine clean too. Simply run a hot service wash (60º C or higher) once a month at a high temperature, with no clothes in the machine, and in place of your usual detergent add a cup of distilled white vinegar or lemon juice together with some baking soda to disinfect the tub. We also recommend leaving the drum door open between washes, to let in air and again reduce mould.
5) Dry in fresh air
Weather permitting, dry your clothes outside for that hard-to-beat natural freshness. There’s actually science behind the scent. Hung outside, the ultraviolet light from the sun kills lingering bacteria, whilst the sun also produces a range of aldehydes and ketones (according to these findings published in Environmental Chemistry). Our noses associate these organic compounds with the scent of plants or perfumes, so it’s no wonder that line-dried clothes have such a distinctive and aromatic fragrance.
There you have our five simple hacks to get your laundry detergent scent to last longer, so your clothes smell clean and fresh both immediately after and between washes.
