Laundry detergent is becoming an extension of your fragrance of choice

As far as home products go, laundry detergent is pretty unsexy. It’s something people traditionally grab at a grocery store or drugstore without much thought, since it’s basically just a soap for your clothes. Now, the category is getting a glow up, because the coolest fragrance brands are making delightfully scented laundry detergent that functions as an extension of your personal scent.

“Everyone has to clean their clothes. Laundry detergent as a category hasn’t been touched for decades, though,” says Carina Chaz, founder of fragrance brand Dedcool. Her customers started asking for her to concoct linen sprays so that they could smell her signature fragrances at the home. “I started testing detergent formulas, and wanted it to work as an extension of your fragrance so that you like what you wear,” she says.

And so, Dedcool just introduced two laundry detergents called Dedtergent ($32) in Fragrance 01 “Taunt” and Fragrance 05 “Spring,” which are the same beloved scents in the brand’s perfume line. “It’s very cool to use your favorite fragrance to clean your clothes with,” says Chaz. Rather than an in-your-face scent that you can get with a fragrance that you wear, these are meant to lightly kiss your clothing so that you want to cuddle into your favorite sweatshirt rather than be soaked in scent.

Dedcool isn’t the only brand making your laundry products cooler, either. The Laundress, a line of chic home cleaning essentials, collaborated with fragrance brand Le Labo to concoct laundry detergents in both cult-fave scents Santal 33 and Rose 31 (both $45). “Turning everyday chores into a luxurious experience through elegant formulas and fine scents is at the core of The Laundress,” says Gwen Whiting, co-founder of The Laundress. “We found a natural synergy with fragrance house Le Labo, so we united to blend two of their fine fragrances with our best-selling signature detergent. Our detergent scents are meant to complement and not overpower your personal fragrance.”

Then there’s The Frey, a line of home care and personal care products formulated as an upgrade to traditional options. The Detergent Concentrate ($18) comes in a warm, enticing sandalwood and bergamot scent, as well as an earthy cedarwood fragrance.

Does this all mean that laundry detergent is the next frontier in shelfie-worthy products? Unclear. But here’s hoping we’ll continue to have delicious scents to rock via our clothing, too, as a way of extending our own personal scent. It makes laundry day more enticing, at the very least.

These are the best rollerball perfumes to also incorporate for your signature scent. And this is how to apply perfume like an actual perfumer (because there is a right way).