Sachet: Sweet Smelling To Any Home

by Marjorie Dorfman | More from this Blogger

23 Sep 2006 12:25 PM

Sachet has an old and well respected, sweet-smelling past, dating back to the 15th century when the French upper classes lined their trunks containing elaborate garments of silk and velvet that could not be laundered with scented spices and powders. Daily bathing was at the time considered unhealthy, and the sachet as well as perfumes helped to tone down body odor so strong that it would have made any self-respecting herring faint.

Many pieces of valuable clothing were often stained in those days as the essential ils inherent in the raw spices eventually leached out. Sachets came in vogue because they enabled the user to cover the spices in silk or linen bags, which are as popular today as they were five hundred years ago.

The word, sachet, derives from the French, meaning the diminutive of sac, and translates into English as a small bag or wallet. In proper modern English usage, the word refers to a small bundle of scented stuffing (not the kind for your chicken or turkey) or potpourri covered in fabric. Very often, the shape resembles that of a small pillow.

Many women use sachets in their underwear drawer, in closets, jewelry boxes and even their shoes. They tend to use them more than men but that is not to imply that men's clothes smell any worse. Everyone today seems to smell like a strawberry, and the only hope for the future may lie in other fruits: namely, peaches, apricots, oranges, apples, etc. Sachets can usually be purchased in any store that carries home interior goods. Fillings are versatile and can even include a favorite cologne. They usually cost little; somewhere around a few dollars and up, depending on what fabric and filling is used.

They can also be easily made.

Do YOU use sachets? Please share.

"Whimsical Touches for Plain Bedding and Fabrics"

Learn more about Marjorie Dorfman

Marjorie Dorfman is a freelance writer and former teacher originally from Brooklyn, New York.

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