How To: Make Your Own Linen Spray

Linen spray is a bit of an indulgence, but we love it. We especially like lavender scented sprays for sheets and laundry, so we tried our hand at making some ourselves.

Ingredients:

1 tsp. lavender essential oil

1/4 cup unflavored vodka

3 1/2 cups filtered water

More tips below the jump..

Use an empty spray bottle or rinse out an old bottle with hot water. In a small bowl, mix lavender oil and vodka together. The alcohol works as an emulsifier, allowing the oil and water to mix evenly. Pour the lavender-vodka mix into the spray bottle, add the 3 1/2 cups filtered water, and shake. Make sure to shake well before each use.

More Tips:

For an alcohol-free mixture omit the vodka, but make sure to shake rigorously before spraying, since the oil and water will separate.

Put a few drops of lavender into ironing water to make clothes smell great.

For more recipes using essential oils, check out aromaweb.

Images: Spray Bottle from the Container Store, Sheets from Anthropologie.

(Re-Edited from 2007-7-5 - CB)

Comments (12)

If the vodka were substituted with dry vermouth you could spray this on top of a martini. Since vermouth is distilled with herbs it may be a nice linen spray as well. Not sure if vermouth would stain though.

posted by art on July 5th 2007 at 9:44am
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Thanks for this! No more paying ridiculous amounts of money for lavender linen spray for me!

posted by Kristina on July 5th 2007 at 11:33am
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You spray vodka on your....sheets? Why? What a waste of good alcohol!

posted by Monkeyme on July 5th 2007 at 11:40am
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Hmmmm yes. Sometimes vodka gets on my pillow but only if I dribble.

posted by Kah on July 5th 2007 at 12:49pm
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...or you could buy lavender hydrosol. It's an all natural by-product of essential oil distillery. Here's where I get mine...
http://www.oshadhiusa.com/products.php?cat=skin_and_body_care

posted by chartreuse on July 5th 2007 at 3:26pm
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or you could just use ethanol. here's how: make friends with someone who works in a lab. you know, i think isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) would work and you wouldn't have to make any friends.

posted by sciencegeek on July 5th 2007 at 3:40pm
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Is there any reason why you couldn't use rubbing alcohol as sciencegeek suggests? I like the idea, so maybe I'll try it out and let folks know.

I do saturate a cotton ball with lavender oil and vacuum it up sometimes...or throw it in the dryer inside a sachet bag. It's nice and it's one of the few scents I really like.

posted by Charlotte on July 6th 2007 at 1:42am
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To those confused by the vodka:
The alcohol makes the solution dry more quickly, as opposed to just dousing the fabric with water. Less water spots, less chance for it to sour. Vodka also naturally absorbs odors, although I don't really know the why on it.
Costume shops are always stocked with spray bottles of cheap vodka and water as a natural, scentless Febreze. We usually just spray the armpits of our costumes when they can't be laundered daily.
Thanks for the recipe, AT! I'm definitely trying this out!

posted by Llllacy on July 6th 2007 at 7:18am
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My sister makes this and I love it, not only for linens, but also as a general air freshener. She adds a few drops of peppermint or grapefruit essential oil which seems to add a little freshness to the lavender.

posted by judy in TO on June 23rd 2008 at 5:12am
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Isopropanol would STINK and completely defeat the purpose of freshening the linens. Instead they would smell like a hospital. Stick with the vodka.

posted by crazy_betty on August 14th 2008 at 10:14am
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thanks sarah!! i'm going to write this down :)

posted by animalhouze on August 14th 2008 at 10:35am
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Here is another recipes:

Take 200 ml mineral water and add 10 drops of lavender essential oils. Put it in a sprayer bottle. Shake well before use.

source
http://www.aromatherapy-at-home.com/lavender-flower-water.html

posted by bluefairy on January 10th 2009 at 10:52am
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