Cheltenham entrepreneur launches French-inspired laundry soap

"La Lessive began as a way to honour the women who shaped my idea of care – the everyday kind passed down through family, home and habit," Besnard said. "This first collection is especially for my grandmother, Mamie Lou, and the memory of late-summer sheets drying outside in her garden."

He described the perfume as an attempt to "bottle that memory – and bring a little of it into every wash." The metal tins are sourced locally in Tewkesbury and the labels printed in Kent.

Each first-batch order arrives wrapped by hand, with a complimentary embroidered natural cotton Lavoir tea towel. Orders are available at www.lavoir.co.uk.