Air fresheners are vigorously marketed all over the world. However, some of these fresheners contain volatile organic compounds. These compounds are airborne and could affect one’s health.
Here are some ways to make your home smell great without using an air freshener.
1. Clean the Room
Every day’s activity in your room could lead to a foul smell. Talk of the unwashed dishes you’re piling in your sink, the smelly shoes, the dirty laundry, food particles blocking your sink, or the particles on your floor mat.
Before going too far, it is imperative first to clean your room regularly. Dust the room from top to bottom to ensure no dust is trapped on the surfaces. Mop your floor because the floor is a territory for dust and particles. Wash the dishes and remove the leftovers, cover the unwashed laundry or wash it, and remove the cobwebs. Dust your seats, take out the trash cans, and clean the garbage disposal of your sink by running lemon ice cubes and hot water in them. For the smelly shoes, spray dry shampoo on them.
This is the initial and basic step to take before all the others.
2. Open your Windows and Doors
When your room’s ventilation areas are closed, there is a high chance of air stagnating in one place, making the room stuffy and damp. Stagnant air traps airborne particles such as mold spores, dust, and maybe tobacco smoke or alcohol scent from your clothes, leading to stuffiness that would be very uncomfortable.
Therefore, always open your doors and windows so that there is an easy circulation of air in and out of your room. If allowed into your room, the cool breeze carries away the bad odor and lets the fresh air in.
Also, opening windows, for instance, allows entry to sun rays that will help dry out the damp areas in your house.
3. Install a Dehumidifier
Moisture is one of the contributors to a smelly room. Damp areas are a habitat for mildew and mold.
Humid air traps pollutants and foul smells. Depending on the climate of where you come from, you could be having trouble on how to prevent your home from becoming too humid.
A dehumidifier helps dry out the moist air in your room, reducing the stuffiness and dampness and making it smell great.
4. Boil Cinnamon
This is an easy, cheap and effective way of making your room smell good without needing an air freshener.
Add some cinnamon sticks or sprinkle the powder into a saucepan filled with water and allow it to boil. Allow it to boil for a while until the smell spreads all over your room.
If your room is big, you can carry the pan around to different points and let the air evaporate at each point for a bit.
5. Use Scented Candles
Scented candles are an obvious option for filling your room with a smell you love. However, it requires a strategic placement to increase its effectiveness. Place the candles on the sensitive areas you want the scent to work on.
6. Flowers
Buy flowers or pluck them from the garden and place them on the coffee table, counter, dining room table, etc.
Live flowers not only make the room smell good but also make the room look beautiful.
You can also decorate your room with eucalyptus leaves that emit a pleasant smell that will make your room smell good.
7. Grind Coffee
Purchase organic coffee and grind them yourself. After grinding, place them in the places, you want to eliminate the odor. The coffee soaks up the bad smell, thus making your room smell well, and they also smell fantastic.
8. Make a Gel Room Scent
Add one cup of water into a medium pot and let it boil. Add four packets of unflavored gelatin and whisk until they dissolve. Add one teaspoon of any natural essential oil, such as peppermint or orange.
You can also add a drop of food coloring if you want to put a hint of color. Next, combine one cup of water and one tablespoon of salt and stir. Pour the mixture into small glass jars and allow them to cool until the gel is solid.
Set the jars on a countertop or table without a lid. The mixture will release the scent slowly as it dries.
9. Use White Vinegar
Fill a spray bottle with distilled white vinegar. Spray the surfaces that still smell, especially if you see mold or mildew spots on them. The vinegar kills the mold and deodorizes. As it evaporates, the smell fades, making your room smell good.
10. Clean with Fruit
Some fruits like lemon are suitable for cleaning. You can use lemon to clean the bathroom to remove limescale and soap scum. You can also combine lemon with baking soda to clean your toilet, leaving your room smelling fruity and fresh.
11. Make Herb Sachets
Get small cotton or muslin bags, fill them with your favorite dried spices, herbs, and flowers (lavender and rose petals), and place them on the surfaces of your preference.
12. Boiling Potpourri
Boiling potpourri on a stove is an excellent way of making your room smell good.
There are a variety of recipes for making stove potpourri. For example, try lemon with vanilla and rosemary for a clean smell or cinnamon with orange and apples for fall comfort.
13. Deodorizing Carpet Powders
You can make your carpet deodorizer a natural way to eliminate bad smells in your room.
Mix 1 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup cornstarch in a medium-sized bowl. Add five drops of your favorite essential oil and stir to mix.
Use a funnel to put the mixture in a mason jar. Create small perforations on the lid using a hammer and nail, then attach the lid to the jar.
Finally, lightly sprinkle the mixture onto the carpet as required and let it dissolve for 30 minutes before vacuuming.
14. Air Purifying Plants
Planting flowers or plants in pots is not for aesthetic value; they are also natural air purifiers.
Some examples are palm trees, orchids, peace lilies, and roses.
15. Use an Air Conditioning Unit
Running an air conditioning unit helps the air to circulate, moving out the old smelly one and letting in the new, fresh air.
16. Bake
Baking spreads a sweet scent all over a room. You can bake cookies, cakes, or brownies.
17. Make your Sprays, Candles, and Diffusers at Home
To make them, you will be required to buy some ingredients. To make reed diffuser oils, carefully add a few drops of your favorite scent of essential oil (don’t the oil touch your skin) to a carrier oil, for example, almond oil, and pour it into a narrow-necked glass bottle with reeds.
Make your Home Smell Great
In conclusion, you will not need to use all of the above methods in most smelly rooms. Pick those that are easy and best for you. However, no matter the option selected, clean your room regularly and always ventilate your room.