http://www.care2.com/greenliving/diy-air-fresheners-7-ways-to-make-your-living-space-smell-nice.html
7 Ways to Make Your Living Space Smell Nice
By Yumi Sakugawa, Intent.com
Rather than spraying chemical-laden air fresheners, choose one of these seven natural ways to make your living space smell a little nicer.
1. Invest in houseplants. Have your favorite plants and herbs growing in your kitchen, living room and bathroom in small pots. The presence of green plants will help reduce indoor air pollution and keep clean air circulating in your space.
2. Save your citrus fruit skins. Save the peels of oranges, lemons, limes and other citrus- fruits. You can place them in boiling water to have a fresh scent in the kitchen, or run them in your garbage disposal with boiling water. Lastly, put some citrus skins in your vacuum bag the next time you vacuum your carpet.
3. Dilute essential oil with water in a spray bottle. You can spray your furniture and carpet to make the whole room smell a specific scent. To diversify, you can have different scents for different areas of your home. For example: lavender for the living room, sandalwood for your bedroom and peppermint for the bathroom.
4. Place bowls of white vinegar in corners of the room. The vinegar will neutralize and absorb any offending odors.
5. Place fabric softener in your shoes and closet. It will take away any stale clothing smells. For another closet air freshener, place a cedar block at the bottom of your closet. Use sandpaper for a new layer once a year.
6. Light soy candles instead of regular candles. Soy candles are longer-lasting, better for the environment and have a more robust smell. (They are also safer than carcinogen-emitting candles.)
7. Bake bread or cook your own meals. Few things are as welcoming as the smell of freshly baked bread or the herbs of a home-cooked dinner.
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49 comments
add your comment »Thank you for the great info!
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useful info on the soy candles thanks
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Sweet! Thanks!
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You're very welcome,Crow and Dee. I'm glad I could help. The recipe was in a Christmas activity book given away by Dillon's grocery several years ago. I made these with my students (with varying degrees of success) so lack of glue was important! I think you could use ground cloves, too, there just wasn't any on sale when I bought the ingredients.
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Thank you Jade so much for this recipe! These would be fun homemade gifts. I really appreciate a reply to my query; I've searched for years to no avail.
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Thank you Jade, they sound fun to make and i am sure they will smell so nice, dont think i will use the glue, thank you so much for a great idea....
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DO NOT make the mistake of replacing the parraffin wax and mineral oil, or baby oil, in a salon hand spa with beeswax. Beeswax melts at a much higher temperature than the paraffin, and can cause severe BURNS.
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Here's a recipe for cinnamon ornaments.
*1 can or jar of applesauce,
*up to 6 ounces of cinnamon or nutmeg (a couple jars-cheap is okay) You might need more if it's a big jar of applesauce.
*glue if you want-it makes them a little sturdier but not so good if someone nibbles
Mix it all together to make a stiff dough,
Roll out about 1/4 inch thick (use lathe or a couple rulers to make an even thickness)
Use cookie cutters or a knife to make shapes. Peel excess dough from around shapes and re-roll
Use a drinking straw to make hole for hanging. They shrink and hole will be too small otherwise.
Set aside for a day to dry. then turn over and let other side dry.
Can decorate with a little paint when dry but leave plenty of dough showing so the aroma can escape.
Be sure to wash hands well after doing this, you don't want cinnamon in your eyes!
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Wonderful article and thanks for all the tips in your comments.
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I use a mixture of 3/4 cup of baking soda, 1/4 cup of cornstarch, 25 drops lavender essential oil and 10 drops of lemon essential oil mixed well as a carpet freshener. I got the idea from a show on Veria TV. I also have a teapot on my wood stove which I keep filled with cinnamon sticks and clove.
I have 2 cats and no one notices or are extremely polite whenever they visit.
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