Did someone microwave fish again? Or perhaps you opened up a guest room that has been closed off for winter and are treated to a musty waft of air.
You might be tempted to just grab an aerosol can of air freshener, but afterward, you end up overpowered by the smell of chemicals. Doing the following can help you eliminate bad odors and create welcoming scents that are certain to please everyone.
Eliminate the Source
When possible, the best solution is to find out what is causing the smell and clean it up. If the source isn’t immediately obvious, look under furniture or inside drawers or closets. Your best tool for finding the source of bad smells is your own nose, so take a minute to walk around and figure out where the smell is the strongest.
If the culprit is a solid item like a piece of food, throw it out and wipe down anything it touched with disinfectant. If it’s a liquid spilled on carpet or fabric, soak up as much as you can with a rag before attacking the area with the appropriate cleaner.
Sometimes fabrics can hold scents long after the source is gone, so laundering sheets and curtains might be all you need to freshen up a room. If your wall-to-wall carpet is what’s musty, sprinkling baking soda before vacuuming may help neutralize old smells.
If the source of the smell is gone but you still have a lingering funk, you can move on to one of the following.
Diffuse Essential Oil
While you should make sure your blends are pet-friendly if you have a furry friend, essential oils are a versatile air freshener. Unlike incense and scented candles, there is no fire risk with using an oil diffuser. Their ingredients are also all-natural. Due to their potency, some essential oils can pull double duty and be used as a bug-repellent or disinfectant.
Citrus scents and lavender are popular selections for both odor elimination and creating a peaceful atmosphere. For tough smells, you might want to break out the big guns such as pine, tea tree, eucalyptus, or clove. However, they should be used in moderation as too much can quickly become overpowering.
If you’re unsure where to start on your scent journey, Young Living Essential Oils offers a variety of curated collections such as Feelings, a mood-enhancing aromatherapy kit, and Everyday which contains samples of their most popular blends. They’re dedicated to making the most earth-friendly product possible, so you’re not just pampering yourself but the environment!
Raid Your Pantry
Fruits and baking ingredients you have sitting around can be used as improvisational air fresheners. Simmer pots have gone viral on social media, but the concept is far older than the internet.
You have to monitor a simmer pot while it, you guessed it, simmers, but it can bring a burst of freshness to your home rather inexpensively. All you have to do is pick complementary ingredients, such as oranges and cinnamon, throw them in some water to simmer, and you’re done!
If you want something quick and easy, brewing coffee can freshen the air with zero effort. If you’re not in the mood for caffeine, set out a bowl of fresh, unused grounds. It’s like chemical-free potpourri and by placing it somewhere with enough airflow, you can revitalize an entire room.
An alternative to fill your bowl with is baking soda. It’s not only a great cleaner, but its alkaline nature means that it will neutralize anything acidic, which a lot of odors tend to be. You can sprinkle a layer over your cat’s litter to keep it fresher longer, leave a bowl in the fridge to keep it smelling just cleaned, or even sprinkle it in the garbage bin to reduce a particularly pungent trash day.
If you feel like getting a little crafty, you can make a pomander ball. It can be as simple as hanging an orange on a piece of twine and pushing whole cloves into the peel, or you can add other spices. These work great in small spaces like bathrooms or closets.
These options don’t only smell great, but they are without harsh chemicals. You can breathe easy knowing you picked the best option for you and your home.