Today, you can find various air fresheners on the market. However, despite the abundance of scents, they cannot boast of naturalness. Sharp odors, not entirely natural aromas. AdmiGram.com warns that for people suffering from allergies, such “fragrances” will only bring problems.
So, is it worth being lazy and buying aerosol air fresheners? Maybe it’s worth making an air freshener with your own hands? Especially since making it yourself is quite quick. Moreover, you can easily experiment with aromas and find your own unique and pleasant scent.
DIY air fresheners for home
For the restroom
© two ken / Flickr
You will need:
- inexpensive cosmetic oil;
- a beautiful container to hold the prepared freshener;
- 5-7 wooden sticks;
- 5 young pine cones (still green and soft).
Preparation steps:
In a small container, bring a cup of water to a boil and place the cones in it, boil the decoction for 10 minutes. Then let the mixture cool until it reaches room temperature. The cones can be crushed. Next, pour the cooled decoction into the prepared container and add oil to it in a 1:1 ratio.
Place the wooden sticks in the resulting freshener. Considering that oil is lighter than water, it will float on the surface of our freshener and prevent the evaporation of the pine decoction. To activate the freshener, simply stir it with the sticks. Such a freshener will last for a couple of months.
For the living room
© Michael Goodine / Flickr
You will need:
- beautiful glass cups or jars;
- water;
- one or more types of essential oils with your preferred scent (for example, fir, eucalyptus, or tea tree essential oil);
- gelatin, glycerin, cinnamon;
- for attractive decoration, consider using food coloring and decorative elements (small shells or pebbles, dried flowers, or fruit pieces).
Preparation steps:
Place a metal container over low heat. Pour one cup of hot water into it and add 2 tablespoons of gelatin, stirring until fully dissolved. It’s important that the mixture remains warm during the process, not hot! Add a pinch of cinnamon to the dissolved gelatin and let the mixture steep, but not cool completely. Once the mixture starts to cool, add 1-2 teaspoons of glycerin and stir. Then add 5-10 drops of essential oil to the mixture, and color it using food coloring. You can use vegetable juice, such as beetroot juice, soluble coffee, or mulberry berries.
Pour the mixture into pre-prepared molds, where you’ve already placed decorative elements. Let the air freshener set for approximately 3-4 hours. Over the next two weeks, it will fill your room with a pleasant aroma and serve as an original decoration. If a crust forms on the top of the freshener after a couple of days, apply glycerin to the surface.
For the bathroom
© Danny Molyneux / Flickr
You will need:
- inexpensive cosmetic oil;
- a container with a wide opening to hold the prepared freshener;
- 2 tablespoons of vodka;
- wooden sticks;
- 5-10 drops of essential oil (lavender, rosemary, lemon).
Preparation steps:
Fill the container with oil, then add vodka to allow the mixture to be absorbed by the wooden sticks. Mix well and add drops of essential oil. Place the wooden sticks in the container and leave them for 6 hours to soak.
Then flip the sticks to the other side and let them soak for the same amount of time. After that, flip the sticks every 12 hours, for example, in the morning and evening. The intensity of the aroma in the bathroom will depend on the number of sticks.
For the kitchen
© Kaffeebart / Unsplash
You will need:
- citrus fruits (orange, lime, lemon, mandarin, grapefruit);
- mint leaves;
- water;
- vodka;
- a container for the freshener (a spray bottle).
Preparation steps:
Peel the citrus fruits. Place the peels and mint leaves in a glass jar, pour vodka over them (you’ll need about half a cup of vodka), close the lid, and let it infuse for 2-3 days. Pour the resulting infusion into a spray bottle, adding water three times more than the mixture.
You can enhance the aroma with a few drops of essential oil (3-5 drops). After adding all the ingredients, shake the bottle to mix its contents well, and then you can use the resulting freshener.
image on top: Mindaugas Norvilas / Unsplash
