Smell My Backpack
it's outdoorable
In addition to my enjoyment of the everyday sights and sounds, I appreciate a good smell. I have tried and failed year after year to keep enough space free in my suitcase to bring back laundry detergent from the UK. In 2022, I had secured space for a delightful bottle of watermelon-scented Surf liquid laundry detergent that, unlike liquid bottles of detergent here in the States, was reasonably sized - about twice the size of a bottle of dish soap. It made it all the way to Edinburgh and my final night before flight departure - until the suitcase repacking ritual. I could no longer fit it in, so I left it behind with a pair of sneakers. The next year, the watermelon scent was discontinued.
The advertising execs in the UK are on a different and more elevated level than those here in the US. Therefore, I find it worth a bit of discussion. For example, they call fabric softener fabric conditioner. Evidently, a few of them at the Lenor company (the maker of the product) were sitting in a room one day, and someone looking like Darren Stevens from Bewitched said, “How can we create a new fabric softener (conditioner) marketing angle? I know, let’s target indoor drying-rack clothes that often end up smelling musty due to the dampness and the resulting mildew. We could call the product Outdoorable.” They then named the scents Spring Awakening, Golden Sunset, Northern Solstice, Dreamy Jasmine, Pink Blossom, and “Floral Fresh Musty Odour Defense 50.” I’d say, job well done.
Before leaving the UK, I washed my backpack and a travel bag with regular “non-bio” laundry detergent and then used a sample of the Spring Awakening version of the fabric softener/conditioner. (Someone should come up with a formula for hair conditioner and call it hair softener.) “Non-bio” is a thing in the UK and means there are no active enzymes in the detergent, which can trigger allergies in some people. Three weeks later, my backpack still smells fragrantly floral, and I keep asking my friends to smell it. It’s the little things in life that make me happy.
While searching online for this product, I saw this question: “What do the Amish use for laundry detergent?” That just seemed so random, but nope - there is an Amish soap company in Millersburg Ohio called Amish Country Soap Company.
About three years ago during the (my) obsession with the Surf-line of laundry detergent, my friend Christina was so horrified (like Tide and Purex, it’s full of chemicals), she got me a sample kit of Tallow & Ash laundry shampoo and conditioner for Christmas. (Laundry shampoo!!)
Now, let’s go do the laundry.
Blessings & Hugs,
