Natural home fragrance.. building upon crunchydoula's post - Page 2

[hollyvangogh]

Originally Posted by zmom

Oooh. I had no idea that they don't work on the low energy bulbs. (I refuse to use them most places in my house because as a photographer, I'm sensitive to light colors and I absolutely HATE the color of light that they produce.

Treehugger has written about CFLs and light quality. You can actually get a lot of different types of light depending on the type of CFL and the quality. My favorite kind are the "daylight" bulbs but DH likes the warmer ones that seem more like incandescent bulbs.

[Savoir Faire]

I keep seeing those reed diffusers...the ones in bottles? Do they work? I'm kind of weary but am tired of the stink.

[lifeguard]

I had a reed diffuser in my office at work & it did NOT work at all. Not even the first day - I couldn't smell anything but my office mates stinkiness - lol!

[transformed]

Dont know if this was mentioned but you can use Ball Jar lids for ring diffusers. (But do they work on the new style of lightbulbs?)

[4evermom]

My closet smells really good because I saved the pine needles from my Christmas tree to sew into little bags. They are just sitting in a plastic grocery bag, waiting, lol. I love how vacuuming after Christmas smells since there are usually pine needles in the vacuum bag and that scent gets released until I change the bag. And I have a clove apple in my t-shirt drawer which lightly scents my clothes.

[savannah smiles]

Originally Posted by Savoir Faire

I keep seeing those reed diffusers...the ones in bottles? Do they work? I'm kind of weary but am tired of the stink.

I bought some of the smaller $5 diffusers from Target and they worked very well. I found the smell to be too strong for me to use all of the time so what I did was buy some bottles of the liquid you're supposed to boil/heat and then I diluted them w/ water and used them as refills. Not only do I get to pick the scent and change it as often as I want, but I can control the strength of the scent and it's much cheaper than buying new reed diffusers all of the time.
Even though I change out the scented liquids, the smell from the previous scent doesn't remain in the reeds.

[Woodland]

Originally Posted by Savoir Faire

I keep seeing those reed diffusers...the ones in bottles? Do they work? I'm kind of weary but am tired of the stink.

hehe just thought this was funny

[CariOfOz]

Originally Posted by Carlyn

You could simmer some cinnamon sticks and cloves in water on your stove (or you could do it in a microwave if you have one) for a while. Or in apple juice, then drink your cider a little later for a treat.

So you'll be putting on the next batch of this.. when? :

Originally Posted by hollyvangogh

YEAH! They're called Pomander balls. I made a basket full for Christmas last December. I put the cloves in decorative patterns (it helps to stab the holes in with a skewer then put the whole clove in). We put them in a basket with those scented pine cones you can get at crafts stores around Christmas. It smelled heavenly. You can also do this with clementines and hang them on a Christmas tree (should you celebrate Christmas).

Love those, bonus that they look nice & festive

If you have a garbage disposal.. cut an orange up into small sections and blitz a little bit in it Puts a lovely citrus scent thru the whole kitchen. I'm getting on the bicarb + EO bandwagon and am going to test out some scents for 'crapet sprinkles' (I hate carpet can ya tell lol). I love vanilla as well and get some really nice wax melts from a lady at the weekend markets that are just great. Our house has an awful musty odour due to rising damp thru the foundation (we rent *sigh*) so I am ALWAYS doing one of the above things so that ppl that visit don't think we stink! lol

[fanniefarkle]

fresh flowers and plants will help clean the air

open windows as often as possible

change air filters in your ventilation system every month

boil cinnamon, cloves, etc. in water on the stove

eo on cotton balls is great for small areas, like closets and cabinets

odor collect in fabric, so air out or wash things like throw pillows, curtains, throws every so often

[Amys1st]

Originally Posted by racheloperasinger

Oh, and we don't have carpets so I can't do the vacuuming baking soda/cinnamon thing anymore (which I highly recommend!)

Do share how you do this and I can share some tips as well!

For 10 years I had hardwood floors thru my whole house and now our upper level is carpeted until we put in hardwood in this house.

[flowmom]

Cleanliness and ventilation is the first step of course .

I have found that using cleaning products that are scented actually leaves a nice smell residue, especially in small rooms like bathrooms. Stuff that you use every day leaves more of a "smell imprint" on the home than products for scenting that you just use periodically.

• bathroom: Dr. Bronner's lavender liquid soap in our hand soap dispensers and nice-smelling bath soap (natural scents)
• kitchen: tangerine-scented environmentally friendly dishwashing liquid
• everywhere: surface spray made of diluted orange oil cleaner (like Citrasolve) with a few drops of geranium oil (geranium really smells fresh & clean)

I also love the smell of Murphy Oil Soap .

I have tried various scent distributors. I had a plug-in one from the Body Shop but I found that it heated the essential oil too much and it got too stinky. Same with the candle diffusers. I like the idea of a cold essential oil diffuser, but I haven't tried one. But it seems that in general those things give too big a blast of smell. Same problem with scented candles -- I find I have to burn them for a very short time or it's too much, and the smells are often too artificial.

The original reed diffusers really work and smell lovely but they are $$.

[racheloperasinger]

Originally Posted by Amys1st

Do share how you do this and I can share some tips as well!

For 10 years I had hardwood floors thru my whole house and now our upper level is carpeted until we put in hardwood in this house.

I got this trick on MDC, somewhere. You take a bunch of baking soda, mix some cinnamon into it, sprinkle it directly onto the carpet, and then vacuum it up! I think it would work better with a flour sifter or a giant pepper shaker or something that distributes powder a little more evenly than the way I was doing it. But it smells so fresh as you vacuum it up! Plus, the next time you vacuum, it smells like cinnamon again. Bonus.

[sunnysandiegan]

Originally Posted by Ksenia

Cleanliness and ventilation is the first step of course .

Stuff that you use every day leaves more of a "smell imprint" on the home than products for scenting that you just use periodically.

ITA!

People always say our house smells great and ask me what I use. In general, I think it is just the stuff we use every day... that and we keep our windows open at least a crack for a little while every single day of the year (select windows/doors for cross-breezes and freshening purposes).

I mostly clean with baking soda, white vinegar, and water. The house just smells clean afterwards. I clean little spaces every day, unless there is some reason why I need the whole house spotlessly and immaculately clean all at the same time, which is rare. Even when we are expecting company, I generally do a little bit every day for a week or so. I just do more in-depth...spend 30-45 minutes a day versus my usual 15-20 minutes per day.

We use nice smelling products on a daily basis, such as Biokleen dishwashing liquid (some citrus scent) and Ecover dishwasher detergent (also a citrus scent) and liquid soaps (varies by season) and bath/body products (varies by season). I tend to prefer vanilla scents in the winter, light floral scents in the spring, citrus scents in the summer, and I mix it up in the Fall. We don't really have a traditional Fall season anyway.

Personally, I find keeping the kitchen clean the best way to keep the entire house smelling great. We often have our sliding glass door open in the kitchen and the front door open to create a cross-breeze that quickly removes any cooking odors. I wash up the dishes each evening after dinner and DH cleans up his breakfast dishes and pans before going to work (he cooks breakfast nearly every day). Cooking veggies more than meats also helps. Grilling definitely keeps the house smelling better, too, IMO. Avoiding frying foods also helps, even in olive oil (which we do sometimes). Washing down the walls in the kitchen (daily or weekly) works well to minimize cooking odors.

[Carlyn]

I agree, sunnysandiegan, those kitchen smells can permeate the house. It makes a big difference at our place when I remember to use the fan above the stove when I'm cooking.

[racheloperasinger]

Originally Posted by sunnysandiegan

ITA!




Personally, I find keeping the kitchen clean the best way to keep the entire house smelling great. We often have our sliding glass door open in the kitchen and the front door open to create a cross-breeze that quickly removes any cooking odors. I wash up the dishes each evening after dinner and DH cleans up his breakfast dishes and pans before going to work (he cooks breakfast nearly every day). Cooking veggies more than meats also helps. Grilling definitely keeps the house smelling better, too, IMO. Avoiding frying foods also helps, even in olive oil (which we do sometimes). Washing down the walls in the kitchen (daily or weekly) works well to minimize cooking odors.

This is great advice for us! We are about to move into a very small house with a kitchen that just opens up into the rest of the house! DH and I are wondering what will happen when we fry fish!:: I guess it's lucky that we're, like, 97% vegetarian anyway, because I shudder to think what it would be likely if we were fryin' up real meat every night! :

[sunnysandiegan]

Originally Posted by racheloperasinger

This is great advice for us! We are about to move into a very small house with a kitchen that just opens up into the rest of the house! DH and I are wondering what will happen when we fry fish!:: I guess it's lucky that we're, like, 97% vegetarian anyway, because I shudder to think what it would be likely if we were fryin' up real meat every night! :

LOL We grill all fish OUTSIDE!

[MrsSurplus]

I have been enjoying this thread as I clean and declutter and look for ways (including use of aroma) to make my home more homey & inviting...and as I was scrolling through the threads, this one again caught my eye as I thought, "WHAT is that horrible smell??!!"

Here's my submission to the thread: Check mousetraps regularly. Especially in 90+ degree weather.

[Kavita]

Don't know how natural this is exactly, but, I used to work in a bakery and they had one of those little tiny potpouri simmering things (that's like a little tiny crockpot) and put artifical vanilla extract/flavoring in it. It makes the place smell really nice and yummy! I've tried the same tactic with natural vanilla extract but it doesn't actually smell as good as the artificial stuff!