One Small Step: Ditch the Air Fresheners
November 12, 2007 by Jennifer
Most commercial spray, plug-in, and other type air fresheners contain numerous toxic ingredients. From aerosols, ammonia, and bad synthetic fragrances to those tiny plastic plug-in holders that need to go somewhere and it’s unlikely they get recycled. Add to that the massive packaging and there’s not much to be said for the green qualities of the common room freshener. Chemical air fresheners are dangerous for your family’s health as well.
Ditch commercial air fresheners and try this instead:
- A home that’s cleaned on a regular basis won’t smell icky. Prevention is worth the most in this situation.
Air out your home. There’s a balance of how often to air out your home with energy costs. Obviously you won’t want to leave your window open all day in the dead of winter or blaze of summer. But at least once a day open your windows for a bit.
- Look for natural incense — i.e. derived from natural resins, gums, essential oils, flowers, woods, powders and other botanicals. Try Mountain Rose Herbs or my favorite, New Mexico Cedar-Pinon Incense; it reminds me of Santa Fe or Red Lodge Montana.
- Get an inexpensive and reusable oil burner and boil organic essential oils around the house. Alternatively you can boil some water and add bulk cinnamon sticks, cloves, and orange peels. This is a good holiday scent but I burn it year round.
- Place cedar blocks or dried lavender in your closets and drawers.
There are more ways to naturally freshen your house that don’t rely on chemicals — but this should get you going.
What can you think of?
I like a bowl of lemons and lines on the table, or fresh apples, or to throw some popcorn in the microwave just before someone comes in OR bread or pie baking in the oven is always good.
When my oldest son is home on leave the house smells like him no matter what we do..he wears a heavy after shave.blech.
Great tips Jennifer! I love lavender. Not only does it smell good, it works as a natural disinfectant – I use in a spray to clean countertops. The other natural scent is I like is eucalyptus, I hang it in the shower and just let the scent drift. Great post, there’s so many alternatives to the chemical laden choices.
Wow, I didn’t know air fresheners were bad for our health. That’s a bummer. I’ll have to try some of your ideas because I am so weird when it comes to how my house smells.
Your readers may be interested in knowing, In a major longitudinal study, frequent use of air fresheners during pregnancy and early childhood was associated with higher levels of diarrhea, earache in infants, and headaches, depression in mothers. Read more here… http://aromatherapy4u.wordpress.com/2007/02/05/are-your-air-fresheners-killing-you-2/
If you’re going to go to the expense of buying organic essential oils, please – do NOT heat them. That is the worst thing you could possibly do, especially if it’s a therapeutic grade essential oil. Here’s a post explaining more… http://aromatherapy4u.wordpress.com/2007/03/11/spring-cleaning-indoor-air/
What would you recommend for a couple’a guys who know how to turn a windowless bathroom toxic in under 20 minutes?
I’ve thought about stuffing potpourri made from cocklebur’s up their butts but mom said I should be nice…
Any tips?
Evelyn ~ Thanks for pointing to the study. As to the second point; I have worked with plenty of aromatherapists who do warm their oils so I would need to do more research before I emphatically could say NEVER heat oils. In this case though we aren’t talking about therapeutic methods for essential oils simply better ways to make your house smell better without chemicals. I don’t think that saying, “Go to the trouble of buying organic” is completely correct. Currently it’s not much more trouble to buy organic oils than not and on many there’s not a large price difference — I used to see that years ago but not lately. Thanks for stopping by and sharing.
Gayla ~ Too much info! Yikes. That was very um, visual. However, I get that issue having lived with guys so I’ll just do a post on it.
I place a box of baking soda in every room. Sucks up oders quickly and efficiently.
For a natrual air freshener – I make my own! Add 2 cups water, 1 T baking soda, and a few drops of scented oil into a spray bottle. (My favorite is lavander&vanilla) Shake then Spray wherever needed!
@brittanynon I do that too, but I don’t use baking soda, just essential oil in h2O. Maybe I’ll try adding the baking soda and see what I think.