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Spring–fresh scent is the holy grail of laundry, as witnessed by the number of bottles and boxes of detergents, softeners, and dryer sheets promising this result; however, all these products do is drain your budget while giving you a chemically-enhanced version of your desired result.  This spring, why not make a few simple changes that will give you sweet-smelling laundry for a fraction of the price and environmental impact?

Make your own laundry detergent: Cut your detergent expenses by making your own laundry detergent.  My favorite recipe requires equal parts baking soda, borax, and grated bar soap; I use Zote, an inexpensive laundry bar soap, but you might choose the traditional Fels-Naptha or even use the slivers of your bathing soap bars.  Grate the soap with a cheese grater and then mix with the other ingredients and store.  Because you control the soap you use, you can tailor this mixture to the needs of family members with detergent or fragrance sensitivity, and, since you only need about half a tablespoon of your mixture per load, a batch lasts a long time.  I use this mixture to wash nearly all of our clothing, and it works in both warm and cold water.  This way you can save some heating energy by washing in cold.

Line dry outside: All of those bottles of “spring-fresh” products seek to capture the laundry experience you can have for free by line-drying your clothing.  Sunshine is a natural bleach and disinfectant, and it helps kill dust mites, meaning line-drying is a great option for sheets and other household linens as well as for clothing.   If you live in a housing complex that does not allow line-drying, consider investing in some collapsible drying racks that you can put up and take down as needed – and contact your HOA to protest their policy!  Otherwise, all you really need is a couple of hooks and some cord, although a retractable clothes line is a nice luxury.

Reduce dryer usage and avoid the dryer sheets: For days that you simply must use the clothes dryer, reduce the amount of time you use this appliance.  Dryer balls, which are wool or plastic balls that bounce around with the clothes, help keep your clothes separate so they dry faster; they also reduce static cling somewhat.  Be sure that your clothes have spun dry as much as possible before putting them in the dryer, and think about drying the clothing to nearly-dry and then completing the process on an indoor rack.  If you must use a dryer sheet, cut it in half to reduce the number used.