Ever get a smell in your house that you just aren’t sure where it is coming from? If you’re like me, with a sensitive nose, then smells make you get on a cleaning rampage trying to clean any possible source. Well, sometimes you just can’t find it, or you don’t have time to clean like a maniac. So in those cases, you need a little something to deal with the smell.
The standard “air freshener spray” that everyone I know uses is febreeze. I did use febreeze a lot in my college dorm days. It can be helpful for getting rid of odors. Unfortunately, it comes with a big downside. Toxicity.
Let’s just start out by mentioning that it has artificial fragrances, meaning that it could contain any number of chemicals that don’t need to be disclosed, but it also has plenty of other non-natural nasties. It has propellants, hydrogenated oils, and lots of other unpronounceable words including Polyacrylate and Cyclodextrin. Febreeze can cause any number of problems ranging from skin irritation to nervous system effects. Better to just avoid it.
It’s even easier to whip up this air freshener than to make a trip to the store. So there’s really no downside to making it yourself. And it only costs $1.92 to make one batch.
(If you want to check out how a product is for your health and the environment, I recommend the Environmental Working Group’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning)
All the ingredients contribute to the deodorizing power:
- Witch hazel: Sanitizes, natural solvent, gentler than other alcohol based cleaners, evaporates easily
- Baking soda: Neutralizes odors/ deodorizes
- Antibacterial essential oils: Essential oils can be great for killing bacteria that cause odors. In my mix I used lavender, lemon, lemongrass, and cinnamon bark oils because they are all antibacterial and they smell nice. Other great anti-bacterial oils include tea tree, geranium, oregano, eucalyptus, and thyme, among others.
And it really couldn’t be any easier to make
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups warm water
- 1/2 cup witch hazel
- 2 tablespoons baking soda
- 10-30 drops of anti-bacterial essential oils
Directions:
- In a clean empty spray bottle, mix all ingredients together. A funnel makes this easier.
- Shake before use, and spray wherever you find an icky smell (without any guilt!)
This stuff is pretty great. No guilt and just lovely smells. The cinnamon is the strongest scent of the oils I used, and so it always smells heavenly cinnamon fresh when I spray it. It’s nice to have around, especially with our hedgehog Falafel. I can imagine with kids there are just some smells that you need a quick fix for.
All the ingredients are beneficial, non-toxic, and easy to find. You can get witch hazel at any drug store and essential oils from health food stores. If you want a high quality witch hazel (which makes a difference) you are probably better off getting it from a health food store, or from a reliable seller online.
So spray- and enjoy the fresh smells, with no fear of damaging your health or the environment.
Leslie says
I go through Febreeze like its chocolate! I love the smells of all the scents. I like this idea too. I can make whatever scent i’d like! Thanks for sharing!
Kaelyn says
I really need to break down and get essential oils! So I can get all of these ingredients from like Whole Foods or Trader Joes?
Susie says
I know Whole Foods has essential oils and they should certainly have Witch Hazel. I don’t know whether or not Trader Joes does, though. You can also get witch hazel from like walgreens or any other drug store, but Whole Foods probably has higher quality.
Emma says
Is there a possible substitute for witch hazel? I don’t know what it is or where I can get it in the country I live in.
Susie says
You can try using rubbing alcohol and tea tree oil, but I might dilute the alcohol a bit for scent. I don’t know if it will work for sure, but that’s the best substitution I can think of.
Tami says
You can also use vodka
Nancy Carney says
How can I tell high-quality witch hazel from low-quality? Are there any product standards or guidelines?
Susie says
You want to look at the percentage of witch hazel. Most product descriptions should have it. The higher the percentage, the better. You also want to look at the ingredients. If it has anything more than witch hazel extract and alcohol, it will have more additives and unnecessary junk. The witch hazel I use from Mountain Rose Herbs is 86% witch hazel and 14% alcohol.
Nancy Carney says
Great info! I’m always interested to know what exactly I’m paying for. That and driving to Whole Foods is a hassle…. :-/
Tavia says
Hi,
I looove the way this smells!! Only is there a way to keep the film from the baking soda from building up around the house? Should I just omit the baking soda?
Thanks So Much!!
Susie says
The baking soda is pretty important for neutralizing odors. I haven’t had any problem with build up from mine. But if you love the smell and you’re spraying it all the time everywhere you could always decrease the amount. Or if you just love the smell like crazy and don’t want to reduce other odors you could just leave it out and use it as a household scent. Lots of options.
Susan Goins says
Is that really 15 cups of water? That would be a pretty big spray bottle to hold that amount.
Susie says
it says one and a half cups of water (1.5) The period is very small!
Nanny says
Febreze is now only with one “e” and always was.
Mandela Effect.
Carla E Behrens says
Cant spell it exactly the same due to copyrights
Jessica Daniels says
Has anyone ever tried using essential oils and some kind of enzyme? I know enzymes break down dead organic matter (like things that leave odors behind). I used to work at a pet store and we sold an enzymatic line of products that “ate” the odor in urine/fecal stains on carpet, and another one that de-skunked dogs. I thought it would work well but was just wondering if anyone had tried it?
Kate says
How do your prevent the baking soda from clogging the spray bottle? I tried 3 different bottles and they only work a day or so.
Susie says
You could reduce the amount of baking soda or find a spray bottle with a larger nozzle
Dorothy says
DO YOU USE ALL THOSE ESSENTIAL OILS AT THE SAME TIME OR JUST ONE
Susie says
I use them all at the same time.
Alecia says
Perfect ides! Can’t wait to try this
MARIA BERNER says
Becareful with tea tree oil, it is toxic to pets.