I have no preference in laundry that anyone would likely categorize as a scent, other than “clean.” I use regular Tide detergent when I do laundry and I notice that whatever it was afflicting my clothes to make them smell “off” is gone and has been replaced by a glowing warmth that my nostrils choose to interpret as a smell. I describe these scents as I do because my olfactory sense has, much to my chagrin, been notoriously dull for most of my life. It picked up in sensitivity once I started eating meat again, but I don’t suspect I’m half as good at smelling as a normal human being.
That’s only part of the story, though. Do you want to know why I think I tolerated (note the past tense) any hint of offense or reek in my clothes for as long as I did? When I was a child, I was taught how to do laundry and then got paid to do it when I got the hang of it. At first it was a simple transaction: I would do the laundry and then my parents would pay me. After a few weeks of this, I did the laundry and I got an IOU once or twice. That was still fine by me. Time passed and the payments got more infrequent until finally I had done it enough times to rack up a rather substantial bill and I inquired about it. Upon being informed that no payment was coming, I stopped. I don’t remember doing laundry again until I was much older and I still think of it as a nuisance of a chore and I get no pleasure out of doing it. I think everyone feels that way, but I think I might feel it just 5-10% more.
It’s a good thing I’m interested in maintaining my good hygiene.
With care,
~ Grigori