http://www.care2.com/greenliving/home-sweeteners-how-to.html
Home Sweeteners: How To
Adapted from Natural Herbal Scents for the Home, by Cait Johnson (Care2 Publishing, 2002).
Nothing makes a house feel better–or more like home–than scent. But with all the recent bad news about toxins in commercial air-fresheners, it makes sense to use pure aromatic herbs, spices, and essential oils to scent our homes. It’s so easy!
Find out how to turn your stove into an incense burner, what vanilla extract is good for besides baking, how to make an antibacterial mist, a simple potpourri (perfect for the pounded-flower potpourri bags in article 2), and more! Here are a few fast, creative ways to make your house smell pleasing and welcoming, n/aturally.
Instant Kitchen Incense
Here’s a delightful magic trick that turns your stove into a natural incense burner, giving you all the pleasures of spirit-soothing scented smoke without the toxic risks associated with many purchased incense products.
Just place a small sprinkling of ground spices on an electric stove burner, then turn on the heat to the very lowest setting possible. Instant incense! Cinnamon and clove work best, but you could experiment with adding a little curry powder to the cinnamon-clove base.
Summery Stovetop Freshener
Mint is a wonderful freshener. It is also very uplifting. You can use either fresh or dried mint in this formula.
Ingredients:
A handful of mint leaves
8 cups of water
Combine all the ingredients in a pan on the stove. Bring to a boil, and then turn down to a simmer. Replace the liquid when needed as it evaporates.
Vanilla Odor Remover
The vanilla bean has properties that reduce odors! Try this super-easy trick for removing odors:
Ingredients:
1 to 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
Just put the vanilla in a small cup anywhere you want air freshening.
Sweet Green Mist Formula
Mists and sprays are an easy way to add wonderful, natural scent to your home and they are proven allies in the fight against germs. Mists and sprays are a simple way of providing aromatherapy by just using essential oils, water and a spray bottle. Nothing could be easier than spritzing a few drops of these antibacterial sprays on doorknobs, bathroom surfaces, telephones–anything you touch–to keep your home smelling sweet. Because essential oils are antibacterial, they also help kill germs. The formulas keep indefinitely and, in a pretty bottle tied with a ribbon, they make great gifts. Your home will smell marvelous, and you won’t need to worry as much when guests bring coughs and sneezes in with them. Look for all-natural pure essential oils at your local natural foods store.
This couldn’t-be-easier recipe makes enough for five cups of mist, enough to share with a friend. Use liberally on non-staining surfaces or simply spray upward in the center of the room, being sure to avoid contact with eyes.
Ingredients:
Use an eyedropper to place the following in a small glass jar with a lid (a baby food jar is ideal)–
20 drops sweet orange essential oil
10 drops lavender essential oil
10 drops eucalyptus essential oil
Mix well. To use, add 4-8 drops of this base to one cup of purified or distilled water in a spray bottle, shaking to mix. Store in a cool, dark place.
Spicy Summer Potpourri
This potpourri looks lovely set out in a bowl, as well as in little potpourri bags.
Base: a combination of any or all of the following, thoroughly dried–orange peel, marigolds, chrysanthemums, lavender, asters, Queen Anne’s lace, star anise seeds, cinnamon powder or sticks, whole or powdered cloves
Oil scents: a few drops each–
Sweet orange essential oil
Lavender essential oil
Clove essential oil
Sprinkle dried base with oils and mix well. Refresh base with a few drops of oil whenever needed.
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6 comments
add your comment »It is so easy to make your own room sprays, you know what is in them, you can make them as strong or mild as you like and there are no synthetic chemicals. One example: Orange Spice, nice for the winter: 7.5 oz Distilled or well filtered water, 1/4 tsp. Sweet Orange ESSENTIAL Oil (not fragrance), 1/4 tsp. Vanilla Extract or Blending Vanilla (based in coconut or other natural oil), 3/4 tsp. glycerin (can be found at the Pharmacy) and 1 oz Polysorbate 20 (an olive oil & sugar product-helps oils blend into water). Mix water and other ingredients in 8 oz bottle with mister or sprayer and shake well. Without preservatives make small amount as needed. There are natural preservatives/anti-fungal and/or anti-microbial and/or antiseptic that are Essential Oils you can use such as, Sandalwood, Star Anise or Tea Tree Oil. Check crafting web-sites that have recipes or Formulary as well as the materials. Good for you, family, home, environment and best plus, it's lots of fun and works out to be less expensive than commercial products. There are many sites so shop around to find the one best for you, with all the information you want and need.
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If you don't find a minute amount of alcohol disagreeable, a few drops of a good witch hazel distillate will keep your sprays fresher for longer. One MAJOR natural company adds this ingredient to its aroma sprays. Jane
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I am responding to the warning for cats, I spoke to my vet and the only one that is toxic to cats is eucalyptus-when ingested. She said all others were safe with the exception of citrus which has the effect of catnip!!
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A great fall potpourri is 1/2 apple sliced, 1/2 orange sliced, 2 stick cinnamons, and 2 tablespoons clove in water enough to cover all the ingredients. Place it in a container on the stove or use a small crock pot and simmer all day. Refresh as needed with new fruit. The spices can be used for a week and it makes your house smell yummy.
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WARNING! All cat staff -- you know who you are. Citrus, pine (all conifers), eucalyptus, tea tree and lavender are toxic to your cat(s). The fragrance for these lovely scents is carried on a chemical called terpene, and cats' livers can't flush terpene out of their systems. Over time it will shut down their livers. All of these fragrances are astringent scents. There are others, but I can't bring them to mind. Just stick with softer scents for your cats' safety.
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I really came to appreciate the goodness of pure essential oils a couple of years ago, when after closing the fireplace damper and going to bed, I woke up with a chocking sensation and discovered that the fireplace was badly smoking. The entire house was filled with thick and toxic smoke that hurt to breathe, so I immediately filled a spray bottle with water and several ounces of pure essential oils and sprayed it into the air. Within ten minutes the smoke had cleared and the pain in my lungs was gone, and a couple of hours later there was no trace of smoke at all. Not only do pure essential oils safely eliminate odors, they make air much cleaner and healthier to breath, which makes them absolutely essential to me!
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I can testify of the oder removing power of vanilla bean. I onced used some really stinky nail polish remover and could not get rid of the smell on my fingers. My mom told me to soak my fingertips in pure vanilla extract for a few minutes. Three minutes was all it took. The horrible smell was gone. My hands smelled like wonderful fresh vanilla. I'm a candy-maker, so I always have pure vanilla on hand and it comes in handy for much more than just sweets for eating!
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