How to make sheets and upholstery smell like Christmas – 4 fragrant hacks

As the holidays approach and festivities begin, it's the perfect time to make your home feel like Christmas. While diffusers and scented candles are a great way to bring festive fragrances into your living spaces, there's one element that often gets overlooked when it comes to infusing seasonal scents – your sheets and upholstery. 

With these tricks, you can add a personalized scent to upholstery and sheets, using festive fragrances to create an inviting and cozy atmosphere that captures the essence of the season.

Our experts have explained how to infuse upholstery and sheets to make your home smell good for Christmas, ideas that can become your new Christmas traditions. 

How to make sheets and upholstery smell like Christmas

When it comes to making sheets and upholstery smell like Christmas, the key is to use fragrances reminiscent of the season – safe bets include cinnamon, clove, pine, and orange. 

1. Create a Christmas spray

Instead of relying on store-bought air fresheners, why not create your own Christmas-scented spray? This way you can create a scent that is personalized to your preferences to infuse into your sheets and upholstery. 

Asad Shamim, CEO of Furniture in Fashion explains how to make fabric spray: 'Add a few drops of your favorite Christmas-scented essential oils to a spray bottle filled with water. Then, shake the bottle well and spray it on your sheets and upholstery. 

'Be sure to test the essential oil on an inconspicuous area first to make sure it doesn't stain.'

As a general guideline, a good oil-to-water ratio would be 3 oz. of water to 20 drops of essential oils. You can experiment with combinations to find a blend that works for you. We recommend this winter essential oils set, from Walmart. 

Alternatively, you can create a homemade room spray with herb-infused water. 'This method offers a more subtle aroma,' explains Inez Stanway, founder of craft website Monday Mandala. 'These simple sprays can be made by boiling water with rosemary, cloves, or other herbs, then cooling and transferring into a spray bottle.' 

2. Scented sachets

A simple and effective way to make your sheets and upholstery smell like Christmas is by creating scented sachets using natural materials and essential oils. Place these scented sachets in your linen closet to infuse the space with a holiday aroma, or between couch cushions and within bedding to gradually release comforting scents synonymous with Christmas.

Combine a blend of fragrant materials, such as herbs like rosemary and sage, Christmas tree trimmings, cinnamon sticks, dried orange slices, and cloves. Place these into a sachet. 

You can find muslin sachets at Amazon, and if you don't have the ingredients in your home, you can also purchase a pack of holiday potpourri at Amazon. If your store-bought Christmas potpourri needs an aroma boost, add a few drops of essential oils to strengthen the scent.

3. Baking soda freshener

Using baking soda combined with fragrances is always a great way to infuse scents into your fabrics, such as with baking soda lavender rug fresheners. This is because baking soda is a natural deodorizer and can be used with natural fragrances or essential oils to add a pleasant scent to your upholstery and sheets. 

'Mix baking soda with a few drops of your chosen Christmas-themed essential oils. Sprinkle it lightly over the upholstery and sheets, let it sit for an hour, and then vacuum it off,' advises Georgina Ross, interior designer, and founder of Simply Tablecloths. 'This not only adds fragrance but also helps in deodorizing the fabric.' 

4. Add festive scents to laundry

Adding a few drops of essential oils to your fabric softener can significantly impact the way your sheets and upholstery smell. Choose holiday scents every time you wash sheets, blankets or pillow cases. Be sure to only use this trick for non-delicates since the essential oil may damage these.

'Place a dryer sheet with a Christmas scent in your dryer with your sheets and pillowcases,' suggests Asad Shamim. 'This will give your sheets a fresh, festive scent.' 

You can also consider using a Christmas-scented laundry detergent for your sheets and upholstery. You can find those with seasonal scents, including berries, fir trees, or holiday spices.

FAQs

Don't be afraid to mix and match scents and layer fragrances to create a personalized Christmas aroma for your home.

By incorporating these tips into your holiday preparations, you can make your sheets and upholstery smell like Christmas, evoking the warmth and nostalgia of the season, for guests and household members alike. 

Consider purchasing Christmas-themed bedding with designs that reflect the scent you have created, for example, infusing bedding with Christmas tree motifs with pine fragrances.