Do you have the habit of airing your flat and refreshing the air in your home for visitors, but you don’t want to breathe in sprays full of chemicals or to buy an air diffuser? How about making a natural air freshener with your favourite scent?

We live at home with pets and deal with this issue often. Mostly because of our tomcat. We looked for an odourless litter for a long time. Despite the fact we don’t smell it, the odour of our animal flat mates can be more noticeable, especially in winter, when we don’t air our flat as much. That’s why we like to make our flat smell nice, not just because of visits.

We often use a diffuser, which we fill with water and a few drops of essential oil. I consider the diffuser to be more of a short-term solution. We use it in the evening for example, but the scent can get intense after a little while, so we turn the diffuser off.

That’s why I was looking for a solution, which would make our flat smell nice overall and long term. Not even homemade air fresheners in a spray bottle would help me with that.

I’ve taken a liking to an option which I call “air freshener in glass”.

Making it is very simple. The base is my favourite baking soda, which absorbs odours on its own, and an essential oil, which I exchange according to my mood, season of the year or situation.

Ingredients:

• 1 jar with a lid (e.g. from a jam), cca 300 ml
• 150 ml of baking soda
• 10 – 15 drops of essential oil

Procedure:

1. Pour the baking soda into the jar. You can adjust the amount depending on the size of the jar, I use about half of the jar volume.
2. Dribble in the essential oil of your choice. My recommendation is to start with a smaller amount and add more, if you want the scent to be more intense.
3. Close the jar and shake it. Then make several bigger holes into the lid and you’re done.

If you want this air freshener to be a decoration in your flat as well, choose a jar with a nice lid or decorate it how you like.

Air freshener made this way will last you about a week. However, you can add the oil throughout the time to prolong its effect.

GS tip: It really works, it will surely scent a 5 × 5 m room nicely.

Did you know, that you don’t need to choose the scent only according to your mood, but every scent influences us in a way?

Let’s take a look at the effects of some of my favourite oils together:

• Lavender: calms down, reduces tension and stress
• Lemon: encourages creativity, boosts energy and stimulates for work
• Eucalyptus: helps with concentration, clears the air and has positive effects on migraines
• Jasmine: relieves menstrual pain, helps with optimistic mood, works as an anti-depressant and an aphrodisiac
• Mint: warms up the organism, helps to clear the sinuses during cold and it is suitable even for stomach aches and nausea