Is there truly anything better than the smell of fresh linen? Light, airy, and comforting, it effortlessly evokes nostalgic memories and a sense of serenity.
The only problem is how fleeting that fresh scent is. But, what if you could make your home smell like freshly laundered linen all year round?
Here, home fragrance experts share their tips on making clean linen your home's signature scent. They say 'it's easier than folding a fitted sheet'!
How to make your home smell like fresh linen 365 days a year
1. Add a diffuser
The best thing about investing in one of the best diffusers or best essential oil diffusers is how undemanding they are, requiring little to no maintenance, no worries about fire hazards, and no upkeep costs until it's time for a replacement. And, Kristen Knight, chief product officer and co-founder of Atmos Fragrances, recommends them for making a home smell like linen, too.
She says, 'Home fragrance is more than just a nice touch – it’s a powerful tool for shifting moods and deepening memories. Using a diffuser instead of a candle is such an easy way to make your home smell amazing while getting more out of your fragrance.
'With the Atmos Diffuser, you can personalize everything from: scheduling when scent is released, adjusting the scent intensity, and rotating the scents – which helps extend the life of your favorite linen scent.'
As Knight points out, whether you use a reed or electronic diffuser, where you place it matters. For instance, placing it at waist height, in your living room ideas or entryway ideas, for example, will mean the scent spreads faster, whereas placing it near a vent acts more like a natural scent booster to make your home smell nice.
'When creating the Model Home Collection at Atmos,' continues Knight, we partnered with a fine fragrance perfumer to design Linen (also available at Atmos), a scent that captures the feeling of comfort and care.
'Rather than focusing on notes like lavender or lemon, we aimed to bottle an emotion: the simple pleasure of crisp, cool sheets or warm, sun-dried laundry. Linen opens with bergamot and cedar for a crisp, clean freshness, followed by a bright floral heart of geranium and a warm, sweet finish of Tonka bean.'
The result of this a fresh laundry fragrant reminiscent of a summer's day, 'transforming your home into a place of calm, comfort and connection – where every scent helps create deeper, lasting memories for family and guests.'
Similarly, Mark Crames, CEO and chief perfumer at Demeter Fragrance has created diffuser fragrances to evoke warm, breezy days, with a twist. He says, 'For a unique and nostalgic fresh linen experience, I recommend Demeter Fragrance's Laundromat Diffuser.
'This fragrance captures the essence of a busy laundromat, with crisp notes of detergent, freshly laundered towels, and the comforting aroma of drying linens. The diffuser provides consistent fragrance, ensuring your home stays fresh all day long.'
And who doesn't want that?
All prices were correct at the time of publication.
With essential oils combined with fragrance oils, and real preserved baby's breath flowers, this diffuser smells as good as it looks, and will look sleek and stylish in any bedroom ideas and bathroom ideas.
I honestly can't recommend this diffuser enough. I have used it in my home for years and love it. It has two adjustable LED-light settings and four sets of timers, with a maximum mist setting of three hours and auto shut-off.
This diffuser uses high-quality, alcohol-free fragrance oils, combining a fresh, clean linen accord with white orchid and apple blossom to lift spaces and provide a luxury sense of relaxation.
2. Try candles for scent layering
Head of solved, Punteha van Terheyden worked in a perfume shop for five years. She explains, 'Scent layering is using different types of the same fragrance, or a group of complimentary notes to build the aroma in your home (or on your body) to make the end fragrance last longer. It's the reason perfume gift sets often come with a shower gel, body lotion and perfume. Using them in tandem layers scents on top of each other to help it all last longer.'
She also explains that's why the same brands trio in a gift set might smell slightly different but when used together, they smell like the intended perfume.
You can use the same concept in your home, building layers of scents with different elements carrying the covered linen aroma.
And in fact, among the very best candles lie the linen scents, and Sahina Ibrahim, founder of Nuhr, a home fragrance brand inspired by beautiful scents from the East, loves them for that 'I just cleaned' smell.
She says, 'Making your home smell like fresh linen all year round is easier than folding a fitted sheet. When guests are on their way, light up a Yankee Candle Large Jar Scented Candle in Clean Cotton, available at Amazon. It's notes of sun-dried cotton, lemon, and white flowers will have everyone convinced you've been scrubbing floors and fluffing pillows all day.
'I work with luxurious scents daily, but this brings me back to that simple joy of freshly washed sheets. Plus, it fills the room faster than I can hide the unfolded laundry!'
And, if you want to really supercharge your scenting, Darryl Do, senior perfumer at Delbia Do Fragrances, suggests fragrance layering.
He says, 'The trick to this is having different scent sources in the home. Having too much, or only a single source will lead to anosmia, where you become desensitized to scent, or noseblind.
'I like using reed diffusers for setting the mood for entertaining, while candles are always a hit. Either multiple single wick candles, or, for an impression, three wick candles that make a statement.'
For the best results, choose complimentary scents, which, when it comes to linens, might be floral or fruity scents, or offset the clean airiness with an earthy, smokey scent like my personal favorite Le Labo Santal 26 Candle available at Saks Fifth Avenue.
With notes of linen, apple and musk, this candle smells as fresh as a summer's day, with a high concentration of rich fragrance oils for a room-filling fragrance and 25-45 hour burn.
Hand-poured in the USA, this candle looks much more expensive than it is, with 100% cotton wicks for a clean and even burn. Soy is a great candle wax type to opt for as it's natural and non-toxic.
This candle features a patented Pluswick® Innovation wick, to recreate the sound of a crackling fire and bring a sense of cozy comfort to your home.
3. Use room sprays
To make a house smell nice without candles, room sprays are a brilliant option, says fragrance expert Ibrahim.
She recommends, 'Grab a bottle of Febreze Fabric Refresher in Linen & Sky available at Amazon. A quick spritz on curtain ideas and cushion ideas instantly brings that clean laundry vibe.
'It's the ultimate lazy hack. No candles, no mixing ingredients – just a few sprays, and it's like your home got a scent makeover.'
If you prefer, you can also make your own homemade room spray which is a nice way to add a personal flair to your space, particularly when paired with a linen-scented essential oil, such as the P&J Fragrance Fresh Cotton Oil available at Amazon.
One of the best things about the scent of linen is that it effectively neutralizes odors, and this room spray is infused with essential oils to eliminate bad smells.
This room spray can be used all around the house to bring the scent of fresh linen year round. It's VOC-compliant and cruelty-free, with notes of cedar wood, lavender, grapefruit and amber.
If you would prefer to make your own room spray, these refillable glass amber bottles have UV protection, to keep your DIY solution potent, effective, and smelling great.
4. Hang linen sachets
Finally, hang linen sachets, or tuck them in drawers, to scent your wardrobe, too, recommends fragrance expert Ibrahim.
She says, 'Pop some lavender sachets in drawers or closets and refresh them with a drop of essential oil (such as the Fresh Linen Scented Home Fragrance Essential Oil by Expressive Scent available at Amazon) when needed. It's like having secret scent ninjas in your wardrobe,' and is one of the things people with a nice smelling closet always do.
Freshen and deodorize closets with these fragrance sachets, inspired by the 'beauty of pure cotton bathed in sunlight,' with notes of florals and musks.
Customers rate these sachets for their strong scent and long-lasting fragrance, which can be used to freshen every room in your home, from garages to nursery room ideas.
These fragrance sachets instantly release their fresh aroma, and can be used for linens, towels, kitchen ideas, and even in your car.
If you're on a cleaning streak, we love this cult disinfectant that makes a home smell like fresh linen.
