Sustainability, Lifestyle

The Line-Dried Laundry Smell: Origin and Ingredients

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have studied the phenomena that take place on a wet fabric and they discovered how line-dried laundry gets that unique scent.

Venice, Italy. Photo by Mali Maeder on Pexel

In our daily life we encounter several fragrances and a sense of smell plays an important role in the physiological effects of mood, stress, and working capacity.
The smell of coffee inebriates our mornings, the scent of jasmine marks the arrival of summer and the fresh sea breeze makes us reminisce vacation time. In Marcel Proust’s novel Remembrance of Things Past, the nostalgic flavor and fragrance of a madeleine recalled childhood.

The perception of smell consists not only of the sensation of the odors themselves but also of the associated experiences and emotions.

“Every word has its scent” said Nietzsche.

The fresh, pleasant scent of laundry dried outside in sunlight is one of those smells imprinted in our olfactory memory. It evokes warm memories and a unique sensation of cleanliness.

Thus, many detergent companies have tried to optimize their soaps to reproduce the well-known…