I’ll admit that, as the laundry man of the house, my schedule is based solely on my hockey schedule.  Since I have to wash my hockey clothes anyway, I figure it’s a perfect time to toss in my work clothes, and anything my wife needs, as well, without having to exert any extra energy.  But especially now that I have cut back to playing only once a week (down from as often as four nights), I definitely don’t wash clothes as often as I should, meaning that having a fabric refresher is a necessity.

Like many people, I found the national brand to be pretty expensive, and knew there had to be a cheaper option, especially considering it’s essentially just air freshener for fabric.  I mean, seriously, it’s not like it kills odors, or fights bacteria…it simply sits on top of your clothes to fool people into thinking that you’re not too lazy to do laundry.  I figured developing a private-label brand that does something similar would not be rocket science.  Not surprisingly, Dollar Tree came to the rescue, offering 33 oz. of off-brand Fabric Refresher for $1.  After previously being made available under the “PowerHouse” label, it has now been rebranded under Dollar Tree’s new “The Home Store” label.  But how does it stack up to the national brand?

It’s the exact same damn thing.  I mean, how can it suck?  It’s just a liquid that makes fabric not smell like shit…that’s kind of impossible to mess up.  Just like the national brand, you simply spray it all over your clothes, dry them, and they come out smelling like you actually washed them.  Only, Dollar Tree doesn’t have the gall to charge upwards of $5 a bottle for something that no doubt costs less than a dollar to manufacture.  If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s when companies tack on a little more profit by essentially charging extra simply for the “brand name” on the label.  But then again, I guess if people are stupid enough to buy it, why not?

Overall: 10/10.  The Home Store’s Fabric Refresher does the exact same thing as the one-trick-pony national brand, and all for a fraction of the cost (not to mention six extra ounces).  Why wouldn’t you buy it?  You’d technically be an idiot not to, unless of course you want to encourage the one-trick pony national brand to come out with another line of smelly-good things that essentially is just their original product in a different container and with a slightly different scent.  It’s your call.