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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40 comments
add your comment »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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" A Big Thank You " to you all.
We learn from each other through posts and comments.
How nice to share !!!
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Very good ideas...I bake chocolate chip cookies...only problem is I eat them too,,,
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Dose anyone have a recipe for cinnamon "gingerbread cookie" shaped holiday air freshener ornaments? I made these back in grade school. They lasted for years and smelled wonderful. I'm pretty sure they were mostly cinnamon and flour, but not sure of the ratio or other ingredients.
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Homemade bread and ginger cookies are the best! Hmmm - and then there's apple pie with lots of cinnamon. And fruit cake at Christmas...
Excuse me - I need a snack. : )
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Great advice and comments..Thank you!
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I'd recommend bamboo socks/t-shirts over even cotton ones.
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I also wanted to add that soy or beeswax candles are indeed much better for you and the environment. Paraffin wax candles are petroleum-based and release carcinogens (the black soot that you see) that are known to cause cancer and other health problems. Soy and beeswax candles do not produce these carcinogens. Beeswax is actually best, since it is known to actually improve the air quality as it burns.
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A babysitter I used to have taught me this great trick: take a saucepan (preferrably non-stick, but doesn't have to be), and fill with a few inches of water. Sprinkle in whole cloves and a couple of cinnamon sticks. Turn the range heat on low and simmer uncovered. In my experience, it never actually bubbles, just steams. You can do it this way for hours, though you will have to add more water every so often.
I do this to get rid of unpleasant smells from things like cooking broccoli and cauliflower and it works like a charm! Not only that, but then your place will have this wonderful warm lingering holiday-y smell that will linger for days. I just did this on Saturday and I can still smell it when I come home! And you can even save the cloves and cinnamon to do this again later on.
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Interesting comments...
While many people are taught that artificial fragrances (ie the ones that irritate my nose and make me sneeze) are better than "natural" smells, I'm no fan of body stink and HATE the smell of perfume attempting to mask body odour (one compounding the offense of the other). I was 30 before realising that patchouli had a leather/chocolate/caramel nut smell instead of a BO/"herbal"/incense. Bathing is a very good thing.
We actually keep a small bottle of EO Grapefruit in the car, inspired by a friend's dryer sheet in the car for when passing through malodorous areas.
For stinky shoes--get 2 pairs and alternate. It may cost more initially, but the pairs will last longer and offend less if you allow the shoes to air out every other day. And wear cotton socks.
NOT using fabric softener will also keep your clothes from retaining odours. It may sound counter-intuitive, but the non-stick coating (to prevent static cling?) actually retains BO, and if you're me, will make you sweat more while irritating your skin. This will help address stinky shoes too.
Pets/carpets: air rugs regularly outdoors. Also--sprinkle baking soda & let sit for 20 minutes (or overnight if possible) prior to vacuuming. Certain pets are stinky and need a brushing and bath. Their stinkiness may also be due to some health problem which may need to be checked out by the vet (or they're nervous from being left for the weekend without their regular pack, and need a bath
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