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I love using essential oils for my laundry needs! I always feel like they leave clothes smelling so much better than store-bought fabric softener and make them smell amazing. Plus, it’s something that I know is safe to use around kids and pets – which means a lot to me as someone with 9 cats running around the house!
Since there are so many different oils out there, we wanted to compile the top 10 best essential oils and blends for laundry in one place
Table of Contents
Best essential oils for laundry
Let’s start with looking at what oils you need on your list to get started with using them for laundry. The key things to look for in any essential oil for laundry is that they are anti-microbial, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial or having cleaning or deodorising properties.
Citrus oils
Citrus essential oils include lemon, orange, mandarin, bergamot and grapefruit. All of these have great cleaning properties due to the citric acid in them. They also help to add a clean and uplifting scent while deodorizing the clothes.
Tea tree oil
Tea tree essential oil is best known for its immune-boosting properties but some of those also make it good for laundry. Plus you can combine the two powers by using it on laundry after someone has been suck. It has anti-fungal properties to fight mould and mildew.
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus oil is also best known to boost your system when you have a bug and for clearing the sinuses. It combines well with things like lavender or spearmint to make a great cleaning product for laundry that leaves clothes smelling and fresh.
Lavender
Use lavender essential oil in the laundry with bedding in it to help with a good night’s sleep. Lavender is calming and relaxing so it is great on your pillow or sheets.
Chamomile
Chamomile is also known for its calming properties and therefore is ideal for bedding and towels. You can add it to blends with citrus oils to get that uplifting deodorising effect.
Mint oils
Mint oils such as peppermint and spearmint are good because they have that crisp and refreshing scent but also have anti-microbial, anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties.
Herbal oils
From the herbals oils, rosemary is good for its disinfectant properties as well as being anti-fungal and antibacterial. Basil has a fresh and clean smell that works particularly well with lemon oil. And lemongrass has a comforting scent that blends well.
Blends that work well
Perhaps the best way to use essential oils for laundry si to blend to them to get the best of the different oils into a single product. A few of the most popular blends include:
- Lavender + lemon
- Lavender + lime + spearmint
- Lemon + basil + spearmint
- Lemongrass + lavender + eucalyptus
- Rosemary + peppermint + lemon
- Chamomile + lavender + orange
How to use them
Once you have some ideas about what oils you might want to use, then you need to look at how to use them. There are lots of ideas and here are a few of my favourites.
Create a liquid laundry detergent
If you have a front loading or top loading washing machine, you can make a liquid laundry detergent that gets clothes clean and smells amazing. A single batch will be enough for more than 60 loads of washing so that’s two months worth if you wash once a day.
Make a powder laundry soap
If you can get your hands on soap flakes, then you can make your own powder laundry soap to add to your washing machine. You can get ones that are free from artificial products and are good for sensitive skin then you can add your favourite essential oil blends.
Use lemon for grease spot remover
Lemon essential oil works great as a non-chemical grease spot remover. Add a couple of drops of lemon oil to the stain and rub gently, add a little water if the stain is dry. Then add to the wash as normal and the stain should be gone. If it is particularly stubborn, repeat the process.
Boost laundry fragrance
Grab some rock salt and add it into a jar with a lid. Add about 30 drops of essential oil or a mixture of favourites and when you go to wash clothes, add around ¼ cup for small loads of laundry and ½ cup for larger ones.
Freshen stale clothes
Sometimes clothes have been sitting a little too long and have a stale smell to them. You can use 2-3 drops of lemon or a couple of drops of tea tree oil in the laundry and this will refresh the clothes as well as cleaning them.
Getting the most from your laundry
Essential oils are made from natural ingredients and can be used in your laundry. You get the health benefits of anti-bacterial, anti-fungal properties as well as a variety of smells that you might not have been able to achieve with traditional detergents or fabric softeners. There is a lot of potential for using essential oils in this way including making homemade laundry detergent or grease spot remover but there are lots more ways to use them!
Let us know how you’ve used them in your laundry below so we can learn together about possible applications.
I have used Lemongrass essential oils in my laundry. It is my first attempt and won’t be my last.
I added drops of Lemomgrass oil onto the detergent powder in the dispenser tray of my front loading washing machine.
I will be attempting merging other essential oils in the future.
Just a tip from a long time massage therapist – lavender and lemongrass can end up smelling like key lime pie one the right proportions.
How many drops of essential oil per load of laundry?
Generally, for most laundry loads, 10 to 20 drops of essential oils total are enough. You can split this between your detergent, scent boosters, or dryer balls. Going much higher typically doesn’t increase fragrance retention because the oils evaporate quickly, especially under heat. Using fewer drops strategically—like adding them near the end of drying or as a linen spray afterward—is usually more effective than just increasing the amount.
I need help. I make laundry detergent and scent boosters, but my laundry comes out of the machine scentless. And I use way more essential oils than the recipe calls for. I have seen the recommendation of adding a few drops of eos to dryer balls. I use 8 balls applying a full dropperfull of oil to each ball. That’s roughly 400 drops per load. The air outside by the dryer vent smells lovely. My clothes, nothing. What can I do? Thank you.
Hi there, I totally get the frustration! If you’re already adding such a large amount of essential oils and still not noticing a scent, it’s probably due to heat evaporation. Essential oils are volatile, meaning the fragrance often disappears quickly under heat and airflow, especially in a dryer.
One effective trick is to reduce the dryer heat setting—using medium or low heat helps preserve the scent. Also, instead of loading up all 8 dryer balls with so much oil, try adding fewer drops (3-5 per ball) toward the end of the drying cycle. Pause drying when your clothes are mostly dry, add freshly oiled dryer balls, then finish on a gentle cycle.
Alternatively, spritz your freshly dried laundry lightly with an essential oil linen spray once it’s out of the dryer. This locks the fragrance onto your clothes without losing it to heat.
Let me know if this helps—good luck!
I’m looking for a recipe of essential oils that make your clothes smell like they have been dried out on a clothesline. Like fresh air and sunshine. I saw it posted once and thought I had saved it but can’t find it. Hoping someone has it and can share.