Does it feel like an endless task making your home smell fresh? On the one hand households seem to generate bad smells. While on the other candles and air fresheners can pollute your home with toxic chemicals.
People will remember
A lovely home fragrance adds a sense of homeliness that people will remember. But it’s not easy to keep it smelling that way!
Here are 20 ways to get a great-smelling home without resorting to synthetic scents. The key is to pick a few and make them part of your routine so your home will always smell fresh… or almost always.
How to make your home smell fresh
-
By far the most important thing you can do is open a window. Sunlight itself also helps neutralise smells so throw back the curtains as soon as the sun rises. It’s easy to remember when the sun is shining but don’t forget you need fresh air all year.
-
Add a vase full of flowers to bring fragrance into your room and cheery colour too.
Make your home smell fresh with essential oils
-
There are many ways of using essential oils. The most popular is to diffuse them into the air as a fine vapour using an essential oil diffuser.
Essential oil Aroma Diffuser with soothing sounds and remote control
Choose single oils or combine to create a custom aroma. Relax with lavender or chamomile; relieve colds and flu with thyme or eucalyptus; clear your head with lemon or peppermint. There are so many subtle fragrances that can clear the air and affect your mood.
An oil diffuser can deliver a beautiful fragrance and can clear the air throughout your home. Cold air diffusers provide better therapeutic effects as heat can cause essential oils to evaporate.
-
Put a dab of essential oil on light bulbs (after you’ve turned off the lights). When you turn on the lights the bulb will heat up the oil, filling the room with a beautiful scent.
-
A good way to use essential oils without a diffuser is to make your own room spray. Fill a small spray bottle with 150ml of water and 10-15 drops of an essential oil.
Here’s another easy recipe to neutralise smells. Mix equal parts lime juice and water, add a tablespoon or two of baking soda then shake.
You may have an old perfume bottle that holds special memories – that would be ideal for a room spray.
-
Use essential oils on a cotton bud to freshen the bathroom. Lemon and rosemary have antibacterial properties too. Dip each end of a cotton bud in an essential oil. Fasten it inside your roll of toilet paper (or anywhere else out of sight, such as behind the toilet bowl).
-
For sweet dreams add lavender or chamomile essential oil to your bedtime routine. Dip the end of a cotton bud in essential oil. Always use the same oil to reinforce the sleep-inducing effect. Slip the cotton bud inside your pillow case. The subtle fragrance will carry you into the land of nod.
-
Make your own reed diffuser. Add a few drops of essential oil to a carrier oil such as almond oil. Then place it in a narrow vase or bottle and add reeds – you could use bamboo skewers or reed diffuser sticks.
Burn beeswax candles to purify the air and create a light honey scent.
Beeswax candles actually clean the air by giving off negative ions. These neutralise the bad guys such as dust and airborne toxins.
Make your home smell fresh without harming the environment
-
To get rid of smells trapped in carpets make your own deodorising carpet powder. Sprinkle on the carpet, wait a few minutes and then just vacuum as usual. The powder picks up dirt and pet hair and leaves behind a lovely fresh smell.
-
Make your own DIY gel air fresheners with essential oils.
-
Use natural cleaning products with lemon juice to make your home smell fresh as citrus.
-
If you take a look round this blog you’ll see that science has proven that houseplants purify the air. Be sure to include plants in each room for this air-freshening ability. You should also introduce plants as they are an easy way to introduce natural elements to give your room a relaxed feeling. Some plants with the strongest scent are geraniums, jasmine, eucalyptus and too many herbs to mention.
-
If your cat litter tray is a source of bad smells mix some tea leaves in with the grains to neutralise the odour.
Get stubborn with stubborn smells
-
For stubborn smells boil up a pan of water with a few tablespoons of baking soda and leave to simmer on a low heat. This isn’t just for kitchen smells – if you have a slow cooker plug it in and leave it in the room you want to target. The baking soda pulls the odour from the air to make your home smell fresh.
-
For a fruitier fragrance try the above method with a selection of sliced citrus fruits and herbs. Use lavender or mint for freshness. Rosemary and vanilla for a scent of summer. Or boil up some cinnamon in a pan and carry it into the room where it’s most needed for the heat to permeate the sweet scent.
Bake a cake! We all know that brewing coffee sells a house but so does the smell of baking.
-
Make your own herb sachets. Fill some small muslin or cotton bags with dried herbs, flowers and spices. Place them in drawers to add a fresh smell.
-
If your fridge smells less than fresh place a small jar of baking soda in the back of the fridge to absorb any odour. Add a small drop of essential oil (such as citrus) for extra freshness but only a tiny amount or you risk affecting the taste of the food.
-
Make fruit rind air fresheners which use salt to get rid of smells rather than just mask them. Fill half of an orange or grapefruit with sea salt and place it where it can soak up bad odours. It keeps the room odour-free for several days. And my amazing maths ability tells me that you’ll be able to make two air fresheners with each orange 🙂
