I tried dry shampoo for my clothes—here's what happened

The day I learned what dry shampoo was, my life changed. Goodbye daily washes! Goodbye hours of hair drying! Goodbye greasy roots! So when I heard that now dry shampoo for clothes exists, my inner lazy girl was ecstatic.

After all, doing laundry (or worse, folding laundry) ranks right up there with cleaning the bathroom as things I hate wasting precious weekend afternoons on. But as someone who, according to my mom, accumulates dirty clothes faster than the average person, laundry is a weekly necessity—or so I thought.

The Dry Wash Spray from Love Home and Planet promised to change that for a reasonable $7 at Target. According to the product description, it's supposed to refresh, revive, and de-wrinkle clothes to their freshly-washed state. I was equal parts skeptical and hopeful. Could this be the answer to my laundry-hating prayers? I put the spray to the test to find out.

How I tested the Love Home and Planet dry shampoo for clothes

As a yoga teacher and someone who works from home, I go through an astonishing number of black yoga pants. So I decided to use one of my favorite pairs as my guinea pig for the dry wash spray. I wore them all day on Wednesday, doing my usual things like sitting at my desk, running errands, and going for a walk outside (a.k.a yes, I sweat in them, too). When I took them off, I balled them up on my closet floor overnight and then wore them all day on Thursday.

On Friday morning, they were a wrinkly, somewhat smelly mess. Enter the dry wash spray. I followed the instructions on the bottle to a T. I laid my pants flat on my bed, liberally sprayed the product all over them, and smoothed out the biggest wrinkles with my hand. I then hung them to dry on the back of my closet door.

Half an hour later (the bottle says you only need to wait 15 minutes, FYI), I went to put on my newly "washed" pants. And while I admittedly have a tendency to be dramatic, I'm not kidding when I say they looked, smelled, and felt like I had just pulled them out of the dryer. I was shocked. Honestly, I had thought the spray would basically be a glorified Febreze but it really delivered what it promised—and I was happily able to wear the same pair of pants for another day.

What I liked about the Dry Wash Spray

The scent, first of all. (I used Lavender and Argan Oil but you can also choose Rose Petal and Murumuru or Tea Tree and Vetiver.) It didn't have that artificial, cloying smell that so many odor eliminators have. Instead, the spray left my pants smelling more like my favorite essential oils—or like some really quality dryer sheets. That being said, the fragrance wasn't overpowering and didn't leave any residue which was a big win in my book.

I also loved that it smoothed out wrinkles and creases. Since I often want to re-wear things that have either been tossed on the floor or crumpled up on my chair, the ability to de-wrinkle clothes is a must. And this spray did that, at least on the pants that I tested.

One more bonus is that it uses ethically-sourced ingredients and is free of artificial dyes or parabens. Plus, it's cruelty-free which is really important to me as a vegan.

What I didn't like about the Dry Wash Spray

While I love almost everything about the spray, at the end of the day, it doesn't actually clean your clothes (which hello, is the point of washing them). So while it's effective at getting rid of not-so-great smells and wrinkles, it's all surface-level stuff. That means that despite the fact that my pants looked and felt just-washed, who knows how much bacteria was on them...

Is it worth buying?

If you're someone who hates doing laundry or if you're guilty of re-wearing the same clothes one too many times between washes, then yes, the dry wash spray is definitely a great buy. I think it would also be worthwhile for someone who travels a lot (and doesn't want to pack more clothes than necessary) or people who live very on-the-go lifestyles (throw it in your car or gym bag!).

Get the Love Home and Planet Dry Wash Spray (pack of 3) on Amazon for $24