I did a living stint in Belgium for a year and then in Dubai. Although both places are exactly the opposite in terms of weather conditions - either way a cold sweat of a hot sweat can ruin your clothes. It was when I was discussing this with my host mother - she gave me the receipe of her clothes always smelling fresh and amazing always.. ! Today I'm going to share her secret recipe for it. Yes Yes... I have added this to my list of stuff to be organised - yesterday was kitchen , today is my clothes closet !
The full how-to continues after the jump . . .
These sachets couldn’t be easier to make. They’re as simple as obtaining the ingredients, mixing them together and securing them in a piece of fabric. Ofcourse like all other things - the internet threw me upon D*S's sachet-ting skills --Images and styling by Jen Altman For the sachet shown here, she used the cloth cover from a set of Thomas O’Brien sheets that she had on hand, as she knew she’d never use it to store the sheets in and loved the design. she highly recommends using a scrap of something lying around that could be repurposed, such as a kitchen cloth or worn garment, use that. Otherwise, seek out gently used fabric at thrift stores or natural fabrics from a fabric store.
Herbal Sachets
The Goods
- fir needles (upcycle that holiday tree, friends!)
- rosemary needles (fresh or dried)
- lavender buds (fresh or dried)
- cinnamon sticks
- dried orange peel
- cedar shavings*
- fabric squares**
- twine or ribbon
*She keep chickens, and use cedar as their bedding matter, so she always have a bag of fresh cedar on hand. You can find large quantities at pet supply stores, farm supply stores and even some grocery stores. For smaller amounts, look to the bulk sections of some natural foods stores, or substitute with cedar essential oil or cedar blocks or balls, typically available at home supply stores.
**Your fabric square can be cut to whatever size you prefer. Mine was around 4 square inches. Large, small or in-between, cut the fabric in an even square to whatever size you’d like.
The Deal
1. Place an equal amount of fir needles, rosemary needles, lavender buds, cinnamon sticks, orange peel and cedar shavings in a mixing bowl. The quantity of each ingredient will be based on the total number of sachets you intend to make. So, if you only want one small sachet, use several teaspoons of each ingredient. If you’d like a large sachet, such as the one pictured here, use 2 to 3 tablespoons of each ingredient, and if you’d like to make several sachets, use around 1/4-cup of each ingredient.
2. Mound a bit of the blend (or all of it if you’re only making one sachet) into the center of your fabric square.
3. Twist the sides of the fabric up and secure with twine or ribbon.
4. Place on a hanger in a closet, in a drawer with lingerie or socks, in a chest with off-season garments or anywhere you’d like to offer a bit of fragrance and olfactory protection from pests.
What about you? Got any go-to natural means of keeping clothes fresh and pest-free? I’d love to hear about them. Living in hot and sweaty Mumbai, one is always looking at ways of protecting the fresh-ness of their clothes. Especially girls like me who are newly married and have a closet full of Sari's Dresses and Lehengas that are not going to be used till the wedding season arrives another time in Nov-Dec. If you have any home improvement tips that you want me to cover ? Or have a secret ingredient you like to share.. do email me ! and we would love to get your feedback.
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