Doing Laundry Just Got Cooler at This Laundromat: New Tocca Laundry Delicate Fine Fiber Wash

It seems so obvious now, but I think I just figured out the real reason why Tabs has always preferred to sleep on the floor instead of the bed. The second I put fresh sheets down washed with the new Tocca Laundry Delicate Fine Fiber Wash, he was like, “Wow, this bed is AWESOME!” He couldn’t wait to roll around on the duvet cover and brush his cheeks on the pillows. Apparently, he has a taste for the finer things, and drugstore laundry detergents just won’t do.

I should have known. I love Tocca, too. The brand is known for their Italian-styled perfumes and candles, but maybe that’s about to change. I started collecting their scents about a year ago, and now I’m hopelessly addicted to a few (I’m in love, love, LOVE with Bianca, in particular).

I can say with 100% certainty that I’ve never been this excited to do laundry in my life. 🙂

The new Laundry Washes are based on four fragrances from Tocca’s collection of perfumes — Stella, Cleopatra, Florence and Touch. They’re sold either individually, as 8-oz. bottles for $15 apiece, or together in the $22 Delicato da Viaggio Laundry Travel Set, which includes smaller 2-oz. bottles of all four scents.

The perfume versions of Stella, Cleopatra and Florence have been in my rotation for a while, and compared to those perfumes, I find the Laundry Washes to have crisper scents. Tocca turned down the warm base notes and turned up the fruity florals at the middle and top. To me, the resulting washes seem brighter and more citrusy.

Stella, my favorite of the four, reminds me of blood oranges (strong citrus notes, as well as lily and freesia). I also really like Florence, with its gardenia, violet and Italian bergamot; and Touch, which reminds me of Hawaiian tiare flowers. My least favorite of the bunch, Cleopatra, which Tocca describes as a grapefruit and cucumber scent, smells more like gum balls to me (odd)!

Tocca designed these detergents for delicates, either washed by hand or using the delicate cycle on a washing machine. The directions call for using five cap-fulls per machine load, or the equivalent of about a quarter of each of the smaller 2-oz. bottles (YIKES!). If you plan to hand wash a small number of items in the sink, however, one or two cap-fulls should suffice.

So far, I’ve used these to wash the bedding, a couple of sweaters, my pajamas and some random underthings in the machine. No really serious stains like grass, dirt or oil to test them against, but I did wash a couple of sweaty, funky-smelling sports bras and socks, and the Washes also took care of those.

Everything I’ve thrown at these comes out of the wash looking and smelling clean, and I haven’t seen any spots from the detergents or noticed any loss of color (don’t you hate it when that happens?). Once items have dried and been tucked away in a drawer, the scents linger on the fabrics for a few days.

TIP: To prevent other scents from interfering with a Tocca Laundry fragrance, use with a fragrance-free fabric softener and/or dryer sheet.

Seriously, I haven’t been this psyched about laundry in, like, ever. Even though these bottles cost much more than something like Gain (I usually get a HUGE jug at Target for $8), I like the idea of these a lot. I plan to wash my pajamas, bras and underwear, and maybe even some scarves — basically, the pieces I’m in close contact with for extended amounts of time — with it from time to time. The scents are sure to pick me up.

I won’t be getting rid of the Gain any time soon, but I like anything that brightens a mundane task. And let’s face it — laundry’s pretty lame.

PRICE: $22 for all four 2-oz. bottles in the Delicato da Viaggio Laundry Travel Set; $15 for single 8-oz. bottles of each of the scents
AVAILABILITY: Available now at Sephora and also online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A (an expensive, yet practical and enjoyable splurge)

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen