Gettin’ Fresh

by kenz on January 4, 2013 in Inspiration, Tips & Tricks with 50 Comments

Downy Unstopables Melted in a Wax Burner

I saw this pin on Pinterest and thought, “Wow. The smell of fresh laundry gives me a buzz. So I’m going to give it a whirl, twirl and a swirl.”

At first I was a little skeptical about melting soap chips. BUT holy laundry balls! These little beads of scent-boosting awesomeness made my house smell like a dream. It authentically smells like every day is laundry day… minus the work of actually doing laundry.

When it heats up, it turns to a goo-like liquid. And when it cools down, it turns back to a solid. In my opinion, it works better than wax, and the smell lasts much longer. The one, and only one, con is: it looks like Pepto. I can get over that though.

The scent isn’t overpowering. I’d call it a subtle delightfulness of clean smelling air.

It’s Friday. Do you know how happy I am that I survived this week? It was hell’s next door neighbor. But I have a saving grace, and that is my big DIY plans for this weekend. I’m excited to share them with you on Monday. It does involve an element of spray painting. I’m going to make sure I don’t seal myself in a gas chamber this time. That will be an immediate improvement. There are other risks involved though. So send your DIY thoughts my way that I don’t end up drop kicking Mystery-Project out the garage window.

What are your weekend plans? Melting soap in a wax warmer? Or wielding power tools like a Amazonian?

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kenz

Tagged:

http://www.facebook.com/rebecca.cantwell Rebecca Crowder Cantwell

Thanks for planning my weekend… I think that I will try that… melting soap in my sentscy….Thanks for the tip!!! We need it at our house!!
- http://www.facebook.com/mekenzie.crowder Mekenzie Burton Crowder
  
  It really works. You’ll love it!
http://twitter.com/MiddleClassMod Tracie

I’m very happy to hear that you won’t be gassing yourself this time out. Heh. LOVE this tip. I’m pinning it.
- http://www.facebook.com/mekenzie.crowder Mekenzie Burton Crowder
  
  Thanks Trace! You’re the best. And thanks for being as concerned for my lungs and brain cells as I am Have a great weekend!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Vanessa-Lund/100002729840071 Vanessa Lund

How cool is this trick! Awesome. I’m going to give this a try.
- http://www.facebook.com/mekenzie.crowder Mekenzie Burton Crowder
  
  Let me know how you like it!
Emma (Broke Ass Home)

UHHHH that sounds AWESOME.
- http://www.facebook.com/mekenzie.crowder Mekenzie Burton Crowder
  
  no one doesn’t like the smell of laundry
Lauren

It doesn’t catch on fire? I want to try it, but I am a little unsure!
- http://www.facebook.com/mekenzie.crowder Mekenzie Burton Crowder
  
  I promise that it doesn’t catch on fire! We’ve been doing it every day for about 2 weeks.
Jodie

LOVE!! Thanks for trying it first. I was worried about wasting my unstopables and destroying my warmer! These pink gems are my current favorite smell in the whole world!
- Kenz
  
  I love it too I promise there was no destruction, and no wasted unstopables! Have fun smelling heaven in your home, lol
Leann

I was so glad to find this life changer on Pinterest! Unlike others, my favorite scents are absolutely not “warm vanilla cookie” or anything that sounds like a baked good. I love love love the smell of laundry detergent, freshly mowed grass, books, and other things that hold memories without trying to. And besides, every time I see the bottle of Downy Unstoppables in the supermarket, the eye catching wrapper beckons me to buy (but every time I stop myself because It’s much cheaper to get a big bottle of Tide when its on sale & a girl who has to wash her clothes at a laundromat needs to be cutting corners at every place possible) and now I can finally give in to my temptations without feeling too guilty (hey its much cheaper than those stupid Yankee Candle “peanut butter cup” candle wax)!!!! So thanks for the late Christmas gift! I only found your blog tonight, but I’m pretty sure after reading about thirty of your posts and feeling comforted at the fact that I’m not the only one that is really indecisive about my room, that I will be a forever reader. I literally freaked out when I saw that you were inhaling spray paint, but I had to laugh when I read that you went out to get gyros with paint all over your face. & I love that you aren’t moving in to your dream home, you’re working for it.
- Kenz
  
  Hi Leann! Welcome!! I agree with the ridiculous baked goods scents. It’s just mean, because my mind is always like “mmm girl, you’re baking cookies! when do I get to eat one?” And then I have to tell my mind “Oh never, it’s just the trickery of the smell!” But I am THE SAME WAY with smells tied to memories. If only there was a way to bottle the smell of books. I also felt less guilty buying the unstopables when I knew I’d be warming it. It lasts waaaaaay longer than a load of laundry. I’m glad you are just as indecisive as me. It takes me several attempts to finally figure out what direction I’m going in. I don’t like the term “follower” because I don’t think I’m worth of being “followed” I prefer to use the term “friend” because we’re like minded people. So i’m glad I have you as a new friend
Alexandra

My concern is the health of my family. I really want to try this. I love my unstoppables, but is it safe to melt them? Using them in the laundry is totally different than melting and allowing my family to ingest something harmful. Worried Momma
- Kenz
  
  Hi Alexandra! In my experience, it has been completely safe to melt them. I don’t have small children in my home though. From my opinion, it wasn’t any different than melting wax and smelling those scents throughout your home. But if you are worried, I probably wouldn’t do it. It’s safer to err on the side of caution. I have heard of people putting essential oils in their warmers. that might be an option for you to try. Good luck!
- Kenz
  
  Thanks for the heads up It’s not for everyone.
Suzy

I live in New Zealand what is this stuff would we have anything similar
- Kenz
  
  Hi Suzy! Wow! New Zealand Welcome. This stuff is like little wax-like laundry chips you add to your normal wash to boost the scent. You can actually buy it online on Amazon. There is a link up in the post. The wax warmer is a scenty pot, but there are TONS of brands like it. You could also find one on Amazon by searching “wax warmer.” Have a great day!
Samantha

You all do know that scentsy carry scents that smell like laundry and that doing this voids you’re warranty try “you go girl” it smells amazing and is almost close to the downy
- Kenz
  
  Great to know! Thanks Samantha
Jules2573

I love this!! Got the stuff today. I wanted pink but I have blue because the store was at did not have pink. I will have some pink too though! I looove this!! I am not the baked goods, apple/cinnamon, vanilla, smell person eithr and this is AWESOME! So worth it and the warmer was $3 at the dollar store
- Kenz
  
  That’s such a good idea to buy an inexpensive warmer from the dollar store. It’s a very inexpensive way to get that wonderful smell floating through your home. The blue scent smells way good too!
Concerned Mother:)

This is ridiculously unsafe. The PG Product Safety page states “Prolonged or repeated exposures to perfume oils may cause respiratory tract irritation.”
- Rashida
  
  It also says that beads shouldn’t present a health hazard. If you’re super worried about it, don’t do it. Easy Peasy. The rest of us will enjoy our laundry yummy house.
Sara C

http://www.pgproductsafety.com/productsafety/msds/fabric_and_homecare/fabric_conditioner/Downy_Unstopables_MSDS_02-25-11.pdf

Just a heads up!
- Kenz
  
  Thanks! I’ll be sure to turn it off if my respiratory tract starts to become inflamed.
MISTY

Just a little FYI. It will void your Scentsy warranty. I am a consultant and you can not use anything but Scentsy bars. If it gets messed up Scentsy will not replace it.
- Kenz
  
  Hi Misty, thanks for the heads up Luckily Scentsy makes a GREAT product! I have never had one ounce of problems with any of my pots for the few years I’ve owned them.
kandy white

i tried it and all it does is gunk up the burner!!! can barely smell it!
- Kenz
  
  Bummer it didn’t work for you. It didn’t gunk up my burner one bit. What kind of burner did you use? I have a scentsy pot, and it was great! When I wanted to take it out and put my regular wax back in it was hassle-free. I’m sorry it didn’t smell great for you. It makes my whole house smell like heaven. Better luck next time!
http://itsalittlebitofrain.blogspot.com/ Audra

After seeing this pin, I decided to give it a try because we just put our house on the market. Let me tell you, EVERY comment we get says something about how clean the house looks and smells. This has worked SO well, and for the record has never come close to overheating.
- Kenz
  
  Hi Audra! I’m so glad this worked well for you!!
SaraBeachler.scentsy.us

Just a quick FYI. I know this is a Scentsy and putting anything in it rather than Scentsy wax will completely void the warranty. If you want a laundry smell, clean breeze is the best scent to use! Smells just like downy.
- Kenz
  
  Hi Sara! I am aware it voids the warranty. When I was ready for a new smell, the downy unstopables popped out as easy as scentsy wax, with no damage to my warmer. Scentsy makes a great warmer, and I’ve had no problems. I’ve never needed to call on the warranty. Which is awesome! Thanks for the heads up. Have a great day!
Katie

DONT DO IT! do you have any idea how bad this is for you? Laundry detergents contain extremely hazardous toxins/ air pollutants (called VOC’s – volatile organic compounds) Although you do not feel any effects physically (except maybe nausea if you smell it too much), VOC’s are known to cause cancer in the long run– i.e you are inhaling one of the types of carcinogens out there! Look, anyone can do this if they want, but I would personally advise against this and reach for a natural oil for fragrance. I agree that I love the smell of my laundry room after I hang up clothes to air dry, but making your house smell like fresh laundry is not only very toxic, but has long-term side effects.
- Katie
  
  And I will retract my statement if anyone can find out if these beads don’t contain chemicals related to cancer/other health problems.
  - Shinae
    
    Honestly Katie, I think heating up a few laundry beads is the LAST way anyone is going to get cancer. If we all walked around worried about every little thing we did that MIGHT cause cancer we wouldn’t be living life. You go in the sun, you get cancer, you stay in the dark you get a vitamin D deficiency which causes bone cancer- I mean I think that this is really not as big of a crisis as you make it sound. Anyone who lives long enough is going to get SOME kind of cancer. Having my house smell like laundry will make my shitty trip to death slightly less irritating.
- Kenz
  
  You’re acting like I huff laundry detergent all hours of the day. I don’t. I don’t even turn my warmer on everyday. I live with 3 men and 2 dogs, and it can get pretty musty from time to time, so a quick warming of the laundry beads does the trick. So does Fabreeze. So does aerosol lysol spray. All of which have manufactured chemicals. I believe that in moderation these things are fine. I appreciate your concern. Do you post comments like this on blog posts regarding spray painting? Because spray paint has VOC’s also. We do our best to keep our home as low VOC as possible, but a VOC-free life just isn’t a possibility for us. We walk the dogs outside, and we breathe in pollution. I get my hair dyed. We paint lots of walls. VOCs are just a part of life. I am glad that you have such a strong opinion and beliefs and that you stick to them. More power to you. I stick to a gluten-free sugar-free lifestyle and it’s hard. I imagine a VOC-free lifestyle is the same way. Best of luck.
- Kristen Williams
  
  First, unstopables aren’t detergent. They’re just perfumed beads. Second, this is no different than scented wax or air fresheners…
  - Kenz
http://www.facebook.com/pisimopsu Pam Clarke

Here is the MSDS sheet for Downy Unstoppables. Definitely not safe to be inhaling http://news.downy.com/sites/downy.newshq.businesswire.com/files/research/file/MSDS_-_Downy_Unstopables.pdf

Hazardous Combustion Products: Oxides of carbon and nitrogen.
Flashpoint: 212 degrees (so yes, it can catch fire if it gets too hot)
- Kenz
  
  Hi Pam. Thanks for your concern. I know you are a Scentsy consultant, so I’ll be sure to let you know if I need to place an order.
Katie

I have these melting in my Scentsy warmer right now! My house smells wonderful! All of these “safe” people are really missing out on awesomeness!
- Kenz
  
  GO KATIE! You rock Enjoy the smell of awesome!
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Ccr

I can’t even buy food from grocery stores because toxic products like this contaminating the food. Severe asthma trigger. Not safe for people pets or kids. Just look up MCS or chemical injuries causing sensitivity
NOLA Lady

I have my “Fresh” scented beads in my zebra Scentsy right now! It’s awesome for my studio apartment because I only need it for about an hour and the whole place smells heavenly.
- Kenz
  
  That’s awesome! I’m glad it worked for you
Caitlin Frederick

Trying this now. I could smell it about 5 minutes after turning it on! I may have used too much, but I like a STRONG smell. Im Interested to see how long this lasts. I hate changing the wax constantly