Natural Air Fresheners: Part Two

Yesterday I posted about natural air fresheners. Then a reader asked, “What would you recommend for a couple’ a guys who know how to turn a windowless bathroom toxic in under 20 minutes?”

Some of the air fresheners I mentioned before would work for this but the problem is getting a bunch of people who don’t care to light up some incense or warm up some oil. The majority of men I’ve lived with want a quicker solution or they won’t bother.

The following are natural air fresheners like yesterday’s but more commercial and in my opinion have worse packaging. However, they are non-toxic and are a huge improvement over your basic plug-in or spray type deal.

Orange Mate makes a biodegradable and nontoxic line of supplies for cleaning and freshening. I’ve never used any of their cleaning items but I have used their 100% Pure Citrus Air Fresheners. They’re available online or at stores like Wild Oats and other natural food shops like your local co-op. Some benefits from the Orange Mate website include:

• “Freshens the air without any artificial chemicals
• Destroys odors – Does not just mask them
• Made from the highest quality biodegradable citrus ingredients
• Non-aerosol container carries no fluorocarbons, hydrocarbons or propellants
• Unique spray system delivers a finer mist than most products to spread and circulate more efficiently
• Works faster and lasts longer than perfumed chemical air fresheners”

I wouldn’t buy these regularly because of the containers but if a spray is what would work best for your family you can go with Orange Mate and at least avoid chemicals which are both bad for the planet and your family. I think that the scents last way longer than ANY commercial air freshener I’ve ever smelled as well.

The scents available are orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, and the new cinnamon. I’ve used orange which I’d recommend because it really does just smell like oranges and I’ve used lime which I didn’t like. The lime scent seemed way more overpowering to me. The grapefruit sounds good to me too.

Other Options:

To see some other natural air freshener spray options; some with containers that seem more recyclable than Orange Mate’s check out Kokopelli’s Green Market.

Homemade spray:

This is the best spray option. Buy a small mist spray water bottle — like one you’d use for hair care. Fill it with water and add some drops of essential oils. For air freshening purposes I usually use about five drops of oil per cup of water. However, I like my scents strong — you can make it however you like and adjust it to your nose. This is the perfect option for various reasons:

• Low cost: One bottle of oil used over time is cheaper than multiple bottles of air freshener.
• Reusable: The bottle you buy is obviously not a throw-away item.
• Custom: You can choose any mixture of scents you like and not have to pick what’s on the local store shelf.

One note about essential oils; not everyone can handle them. While they are not toxic in the same way chemicals in commercial fresheners are; some people can be allergic to essential oils. If you only want to freshen your house label the bottle you use as such. Don’t allow family members to spray it on their skin.

Essential oils 101 is a much longer topic for another day. Just know that oils like anything else can cause an allergy. If anyone seems sick after using this type of air freshener talk to your health care provider or a certified aromatherapist to see if it could be the oil.