THE soaring cost-of-living crisis means many are not washing their laundry as of often to help slashing the bills.
But if you’re choosing to simply drown the dirty garments in gallons of perfume to mask the lingering smells of sweat, best keep on reading, as one cleaning fan’s warned people to steer clear of this method.
The whizz explained why using a perfume to mask the lingering odours is not the best of ideasTiktok/@alexis___leanne
The TikTok user Alexis Leanne (@alexis___leanne), believed to be from the US, took to the popular social media platform to explain why this cleaning hack is such a bad idea – and what to do instead.
”Don’t do that. Because perfume smell mixed with dirty laundry smell, that’s just going to smell gross regardless.
”What you need to do if you have any type of freshener spray, like Febreze, anything like that – use that,” the 25-year-old said in the video.
Alexis’ personal favourites for this tip are the brand’s Gain and Downy scents, which she reckoned work the best for the purpose.
”I used to use that all the time when I worked at Walmart, and I’m a very sweaty person, so it was wonderful.”
The young woman continued: ”If you have a fabric softener already in your house, mix equal parts of fabric softener and water in a spray bottle and that works wonders.”
Alexis is not the first person to share the hack – recently another woman claimed the DIY spray works like a miracle and it can be used around the house too.
Emily May (@emilymay_interior), from Leicestershire, took to Instagram to share the simple – and inexpensive trick – with her 87k followers.
”It’s basically free and keeps your home smelling incredible for days,” the mum-of-two claimed in her video.
Demonstrating the step-by-step tutorial, Emily first started by filling up a spray bottle with lukewarm water.
FABULOUS BINGO: Get a £20 bonus & 30 free spins when you spend £10 today
Once the bottle’s halfway full, chuck in your favourite fabric softener – this will add that lovely scent.
Then Emily proceeded to add the star of the show – a shot of vodka.
This boozy beverage, she explained, will keep the DIY concoction fresh and will also minimise any residue.
To complete the mixture, the savvy mum poured in a tablespoon of baking soda.
Sharing the hack, Emily said this kitchen staple does wonders when it comes to absorbing any nasty odours lingering around.
Give the scented spray a ”really, really good shake” and you’re ready to go – spray it on the sofa, carpets, faux plants and faux flowers or any old throws.
The inexpensive spray can also be used on rugs, bedding, in the car, on the curtains and – the best part – even on cuddly Pooh Bears, the mum chuckled.
Impressed social media users flocked to the comments to share their thoughts, with one joking and finding another bonus: ”Ooh, I bet it smells beaut.
”You could have a cheeky vodka shot whilst making it too.”
However, whilst many tagged their pals and thanked Emily for the hack, others pointed out to the potential dangers of this trick.
”The fabric softener is making absolutely everything you’re spraying it on a fire hazard,”a viewer said.
”I used to do this until I found that out, ur [your] house would go up in no time!”
Another agreed, warning: ”Fabric softener is flammable so if you were unfortunate enough to have a fire it would be uncontrollable.”