Who doesn’t want a great smelling house? I know I do. What I don’t want, however, is a house that smells great, but is filled with toxic chemicals. I also don’t want to go crazy and spend a lot of money or time trying to read labels and figure out which natural air freshener is ok enough to use. With all of that being said, I set out to find some of the best natural air freshener hacks on the web to make my house smell great – cheap and toxic free.
Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links in this post are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links. I recommend these products because they are products that I personally use or companies that I have found trustworthy.
Dangerous Chemicals in Commercial Air Fresheners
First, a brief mentioning of the toxic chemicals that are in commercial air fresheners that you will want to avoid if you would like to shop for a name brand version. Most commercial air fresheners contain chemicals such as VOCs (volatile organic compounds), formaldehyde, benzene, and phthalates. These chemicals can cause headaches and nausea, asthma aggravation, neurological damage, and even cancer. The more problematic chemicals are actually phthalates (read my post Toxic Chemical Spotlight: What Are Phthalates? to learn more). Phthalates are often listed as fragrance or perfume on labels and when they are in air fresheners, they are dispersed all over the air in small particles. Phthalates can cause birth defects and developmental, hormonal and reproductive issues.
If you would like to buy a commercial, but natural air freshener product, I would suggest organic Citrus Magic spray, or a diffuser or plug-in version with only essential oils.
Best Natural Air Freshener Hacks
Ok, onto the best natural air freshener hacks. If you want to go completely natural and are willing to be a slight bit adventurous, I would give the below hacks a whirl. Let me know if any of them worked for you in the comments below!
Stove Top Potpourri / Simmer Pots / Crock Pot Simmers
This lemon and rosemary version from Rachel Schultz on Homemaking looks divine. I tried it and it smells divine too. Great for summer.
If you are going for a cozier fall/baking scent, this version from Fly Through Our Window couldn’t be easier (scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe).
Vanilla Extract Bake
Along the same lines as the simmer pots above, the Krazy Koupon Lady has discovered that if you simply bake vanilla extract in your oven, your house will smell fabulous. Add two tablespoons of vanilla extract to a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes at 300 degrees.
Utilize Furnace Filters
Following the Krazy Koupon Lady again, add pure essential oils to your furnace filter whenever you change it out (which is more often than you actually do it btw).
Essential Oil Toilet Paper
Check out this idea from Dump A Day (yes really) for this great idea. Simply add essential oil to the cardboard part of your toilet paper.
Eucalyptus
Try this hack from Juicing for Health and hang eucalyptus in your shower or wherever it gets steamy in your home. You will be surprised at how far the clean smell will go.
Garbage Disposal
We all know how awful a rancid smelling garbage disposal can be. Try this easy idea for lemon ice cubes down your garbage disposal from Design Meet Style.
Cotton Balls
The Krazy Koupon Lady is at it again with her essential oil cotton balls. You can place them in mason jars around your house with slits cut in the top of the lid to make sure kids and pets don’t get a hold of them.
Tried any of these natural air freshener hacks out? Let me know what you think in the comments below.
