Your house doesn't need to have a foul stench hanging over it for you to start thinking about making it smell nicer. In most cases just using an air freshener would get the job done quickly but if you want to save money . . . Are their natural ways to make your house smell nice? Any home-made air fresheners you know of?
I know if you have stinky smells in your fridge or your trash can that you need to use vinegar. For the fridge I put a little bit of water and vinegar in a cup and I sit it in the fridge and after the day the smell goes away. For the trash can soak a piece of bread with vinegar and put it in the bottom and the next day the smell will be gone. But other than that, you can pick flowers and put them places. You can use oil infusers (That you can make). I know you can boil water with herbs or oils and the smell will travel throughout your home. Perhaps make some candles.
Like Verity mentioned, getting rid of the stinky smells by using vinegar, etc, will help. If you want to add an actual scent, we used to toss a couple cinnamon sticks in a pot of water and let it simmer. Makes the house smell yummy!
Well, there's always cleaning your house...which presumably you've already done. Your best bet however is potpourri. You can make it yourself if you want, or you can buy different kinds of it yourself, and each has a different smell. You can make some really delicious smelling potpourri, and it's so cheap as well!
Baking soda is also a great way to make the refrigerator smell clean. I buy a small box of baking soda, open it and put it on the shelf in the door of the fridge, and it does a great job of eliminating odors there. I used to have a friend that was an Indian, and he showed me the Native American technique for making the house smell fresh. We picked the needles from a cedar tree, and put them in a heave frying pan on the stove, and then turned the burner on low. It didn't catch the needles on fire, but they kind of smolder, and the fresh scent of cedar permeates through the house. You can do this with any kind of tree that has needles rather than leaves; such as pine, spruce, fir, or balsam, as well as any type of cedar.
God, having the house smell of pine trees all year round would be lovely. I'm going to have to try this soon!
This is a great idea I will have to try. Some times when the house has an odor I don't like it is a hit the kitchen floor needs to be scrubbed. As soon as I clean the floor the smell is gone. I also do the cinnamon in a pot of water on the stove, add some orange peels and you have a great smelling home.
I second the baking soda idea. It is so versatile. I also use baking soda on my carpets. I just sprinkle it down about 15 minutes before vacuuming and then when I do vacuum, it helps to lift up dirt and helps the carpet smell fresh. One of my favorite tricks for a good smelling house is to put a few drops of vanilla extract in a coffee cup. Then, I put the coffee cup in the oven for 2 hours. It works like a charm and also causes my husband to ask where I stashed the cookies that I must have just baked!
This may sound obvious but I like to open the windows. Sometimes just getting some fresh air circulating can work wonders. Whenever I am away for an extended period of time when I return my place smells a little off and stale, I open the windows and within a few short hours the house smells great again!
Some ways to make the house smell fresh are these. Warm in a pot some apple juice with cinnamon sticks or powder, let it simmer on the stove, watching it for sure. This makes the house smell nice. You can cut fresh lilaics. Put them in a vase and they will make the house smell nice. Any kind of cut flowers help make the house smell nice. You can also get an orange or apple and put cloves all over it. Make sure to cover the fruit. It will take some time to stick the long cloves in but its worth it. Then you can set it in the kitchen or anywhere and it will give off a nice scent. It will last for years.
I found out the hard way that lemon ammonia in a dish, (dishes) set around your house will absorb the stench from spilled fuel oil, or if you have had a chimney fire that smoked your house up and left a smoke smell. The ammonia will absorb the smells and leave your home smelling fresh and clean. Several years back I lived in a mobile home that had a propane cooking stove. The propane ran out, so I put the tank in the trunk of my car, took it to town to get filled. I got it filled, put it back in my trunk, then went to where I worked. I left the car sitting out in the sun. A few hours later I went back to my car it reeked of propane. Because of the sun beating on the car all afternoon, the pop off (saftey valve) had released its pressure on the tank. That time instead of putting bowls of lemon ammonia around, I soaked a few rags in ammonia and put them in my car. It took a couple days, but finally the ammonia did its job.
I agree! The smell of the Christmas tree is my favorite part of Christmas. There are some great methods in this thread. I usually light a scented candle. The Dollar Tree or the 99 Cent Only stores have them for cheap. But I am going to try the cinnamon stick and the pine needle methods.
Before lighting candles, using potpourri, etc. a good start is to get rid of things that can cause bad smells. Take out the trash from all the trash cans, wash the dirty laundry in the hamper, change the towels in the bathroom, throw out any expired food in the fridge. After that I usually mop the floors with a cleaner that has scent like Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle with Gain. Once you've gotten rid of the root of any bad smells, then you can simmer some good smelling natural items in a pot of water on the stove top for scent, like lemon slices, rosemary and vanilla or orange, ginger and almond extract.
