What’s that smell?
September 7, 2019 1:18 PM   Subscribe

I love the smell of Method “Fresh Air” laundry detergent. I’d describe it as powdery? And laundry-y? Without being perfume-y or fake, though it is definitely a soapy smell rather than a nature-y one. Are there other detergents/soaps/oils that have the same scent? Bonus: I also like there lavender and cedar scent, are there other duplicates out there? I have tried Ecover lavender and sandalwood but it smells like Nag Champa to me.
posted by stillmoving to Grab Bag (6 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
The smell of baby powder is largely rose and vanilla*, see eg here.

*at least for the USA, other parts of the world do it differently.
posted by SaltySalticid at 1:22 PM on September 7, 2019 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Hmm, I’d definitely say it’s not rose or vanilla. I should clarify I don’t think it’s a baby powder smell, but more of a...dusty smell? Or like the smell of a freshly opened box of Kleenex?
posted by stillmoving at 1:38 PM on September 7, 2019


Is it cotton-y? I had a bar of "cotton-scented" soap that smelled like clean laundry fresh off the clothesline.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:42 PM on September 7, 2019 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Yes, maybe “cotton”? What is that, and can I reproduce it?
posted by stillmoving at 7:47 PM on September 7, 2019


Well, you can buy cotton scented essential oil.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:28 AM on September 8, 2019


“cotton” is a perfume accord (a blend of essential and synthetic scents) which usually includes a floral like lavender, freesia, jasmine with white musk and a light green or woodsy scent (sandlewood, or thyme, etc). If you poke around in the google results for “cotton fabric perfume accord” you’ll find both perfumes for sale with these notes as well as amateur perfumers trying to reproduce that “laundry” smell, which might give you a baseline for recreating it using notes you prefer.
But yes, cotton accord oil is also available if you have a shop nearby with a good selection of perfume oils, or barring that, searching for terms like “clean” or “fresh” on websites which sell essential oils.
posted by zinful at 11:21 PM on September 8, 2019 [2 favorites]


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