Friday, June 22, 2012

Real Crunchy Step: Freshener

It seems my house always smells like something:  dog, dirty diapers, food, salmon that fell behind some blankets by the freezer and couldn't be found for weeks (what?  Doesn't that happen to everyone?).  The whole smelly house thing really bugs me.  I've used my share of chemical products to dissipate the smells in the air and on the couch, curtains, carpets, and canine beds (I love when alliteration just happens like that!).  Those products though are so chemically laden that I had to stop using them.  I could not justify spraying chemicals in the air for the purpose of my family breathing them in.  YUCK!!  Living in a smelly house, however, is also a little yuck.  So when I found this home recipe for a freshener on Keeper of the Home  I decided to give it a try.



Here's what you'll need:
1/2 Cup vinegar
1 1/2 cups water (I used distilled)
15-30 drops essential oils.  (I used 20 lavender and 10 lemon)
1 spray bottle

Happily I had all these items on hand.  If you don't have them the spray bottles can be found at most dollar stores, the vinegar and distilled water at a grocery or big box store, and the essential oils in a health store or online.  You can choose any scents that you like and even be creative mixing and matching.  If you've never used essential oils before don't be intimidated!  I would start with a small thing of lavender (unless of course you hate lavender then pick something you like).  You can use the oils in various cleaning mixtures or even face-wash (I'll cover that one later!)  Sometimes if one of us is having a hard time sleeping I put a drop on the pillow.

What you need to do:
Mix it all in a spray bottle.
Spray it on things and enjoy the fresh scent!  There is a bit of a vinegar scent that liners at first but I found it disappeared after a few minutes and only left the lavender and lemon scent behind.  You want the vinegar because it is what actually absorbs the stinky smells.
No chemicals means:  Sure spray it on your pillow pet!

How long will it take you:
5 minutes.  If you measure slow.  I turned around and my four year old had done half of it.  Seriously, it's super easy people.

What you'll spend:
vinegar $.06 ($3.60 for 2 gallons at Sams)
distilled water $.09 ($1 for 1 gallon at Shoprite)
essential oils $.50 ($7-$10 for each 1oz bottle)
spray bottle $1

Total: $1.65 or $.10 an ounce:  A bottle of Febreeze costs $.21 to $.33 and ounce.  That's twice as much!!!


I'll definitely be doing this from now on!  Cheap, quick, and easy!


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