Every modern housewife makes great efforts, trying to maintain harmony, cleanliness and comfort in the family nest. To do this, you have to do the cleaning every day, put things in their places, do timely washing, and most importantly, fill each separate room with a pleasant aroma so that household members returning after school and work feel a gentle and pleasant smell, giving a feeling of lightness and peace of mind.
For these purposes, in most cases, special fragrances or air fresheners are used, manufactured on an industrial scale and sold in any business department. At the same time, the cost of household chemicals with a pleasant smell ranges from economy to elite class, where budget options disappear very quickly, and not every family can afford expensive items.
To save yourself the constant costs of buying fragrances, you can make a unique air freshener designed for use in apartments, houses, and also cars with your own hands. Moreover, in home-made recipes, almost all the ingredients of the composition are natural and are present on kitchen shelves .
Many housewives have already tried homemade fragrances, where essential oils are the main ingredients. But there is a huge variety of recipes, thanks to which it will be possible to decorate each separate room of the house with a special smell.
Pros and cons of homemade air fresheners
Modern manufacturers of air fresheners offer the consumer a wide variety of different scents that not only fill the room with a special aura, but also help to get rid of unpleasant odors. Modern versions of fragrances can be found in the form of aerosols sprayed in an enclosed space , balls that can be neatly folded in a decorative basket, shapes of air fresheners in the form of crystals can be used to decorate a shelf with souvenirs, and designer containers, inside which there is a liquid or gel mass, will become decoration of the interior of any room.
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find natural ingredients in the composition of the proposed flavors. For example, fruity and floral aromas are created using chemically complex extracts or from natural oils. The process of making fragrances with frosty freshness, sea breeze or forest glade is a little more complicated. In these cases, specialists have to select and compose the appropriate formulas, combine different chemical elements that, during the spraying process, enter the human respiratory tract. Invisible drops affect his brain activity, slightly irritate the mucous membrane, due to which a person feels the proposed aromas.
At the same time, it has been proven that odors made by mixing chemical elements do not cause serious harm to the human body, but with frequent use, the sense of smell may be impaired.
The pricing policy of high-quality air fresheners for an apartment or house cannot boast of being democratic , and it is inappropriate to purchase cheaper fakes made in a neighboring house, or budget options, since you will have to purchase an additional spray can or balls every week.
The presented facts, one might say, push housewives to independent creativity, thanks to which it will be possible to reproduce unusual flavors with their own hands.
But before proceeding with the execution of a pleasant masterpiece, you need to familiarize yourself with the advantages and disadvantages of home air fresheners.
Let's start with the pros.
- In self-production, only natural ingredients are used that are incapable of negatively affecting human health.
- Most of the essential oils used in homemade fragrance recipes are only beneficial. The same essential oils are used for aromatherapy procedures.
- It is very difficult for allergy sufferers and asthmatics to find commercially-made fragrances, while the safest ingredients can be used in home-made air fresheners.
- Each person will be able to independently prepare their favorite aroma, without making large expenditures.
- It has been proven by many housewives that home made air fresheners last much longer than the options sold in the household chemicals department.
- A very important factor is the ability to independently adjust the saturation of the prepared aroma. If necessary, you can emphasize lightness, or fill the aura of the room with a more languid smell.
After familiarizing themselves with the benefits of a home air freshener, everyone immediately wants to start creating their favorite scent. But before you get started, you need to familiarize yourself with some of the disadvantages of the artisanal production of flavorings.
- To make the perfect incense, you will have to use a lot of free time. This factor concerns not only the selection of the desired aroma, but also the compilation of a suitable consistency. Do not forget about the required saturation of the smell. Someone succeeds in making their favorite scent on the second try, while others achieve their goal only on the fifth experiment.
- Another reason for refusing to make your own air freshener is laziness and lack of desire. But if you overcome yourself and show interest in work, everyone will be able to decorate the aura of their own home with the most unsurpassed smells.
Unfortunately, the rhythm of life of a modern person practically leaves no opportunity to take a short break. And in the evening, there is simply no strength and emotional charge left to spend several hours experimenting with composing a bouquet for an air freshener.
It is best to choose a day off and try to create a masterpiece without haste. Such an interesting activity will attract the attention of household members, and after a couple of minutes all family members will be busy with work.
What can be done?
Modern manufacturers of air fresheners offer their products in different forms, for example, in liquid or thick, in the form of balls or crystals. Any variations of manufactured flavors can be repeated independently at home. The main thing is to find the necessary recipe and figure out how to prepare a mass of a certain consistency, or use an unusual shape.
- Spray can. Quite a simple and most common option for making an air freshener. To prepare it, you will need a container of an interesting shape or a bottle with a spray. A liquid prepared according to the selected recipe is poured into the container, after which the sprayer can be activated, thereby filling the rooms with a manually created smell.
- Gel flavor. This type of air freshener is made according to special instructions, where the main component is food gelatin. The containers with the prepared mixture are placed in an open space so that the aroma spreads throughout the room.
- Diffuser. The name is quite mysterious, but in fact it has nothing special. We are talking about a small container in which a fragrance of a liquid consistency is poured. Wooden sticks are inserted inside, which absorb the composed bouquet and transfer it to the surrounding airspace.
- Balls and crystals. In this case, we are talking about dry flavors that any housewife can make. It is enough to use the required amount of disinfectants indicated in the recipe.
And in order to give the air freshener an aesthetic appearance, you can add food coloring to the prepared mass, due to which the balls or crystals will acquire an unusual color scheme.
- Sachet. This type of air freshener has French roots. Dry components, emitting a pleasant smell, are placed in a breathable material, the bag is placed anywhere in the room.
It should be noted that sachets are often used in cars. At the same time, industrial products lose their flavoring qualities after a few weeks, and homemade formulations serve their owner 2 or even 3 times longer.
- Scented fabric. Just like sachet, it is used in most cases in cars. A piece of felt fabric is used as the main element for making a fragrance, and a liquid consistency of air freshener is prepared for impregnation.
The best recipes
Hearing talk about fragrances, an image appears in the head of each person with spray containers of air fresheners or small sachets. Moreover, each individual type of incense has a different composition.
In home decoration of flavors, small containers, resembling jars, in which the ingredients necessary for the recipe are put in are in wide demand.
It is very important not only to fill the container, but to beautifully compose an internal composition, thanks to which the room will not only be filled with a pleasant aroma, but also receive a unique novelty of decor.
To begin with, it is proposed to consider a rather simple and very interesting option for decorating a room aroma using orange, cinnamon, cloves and anise. These ingredients will create a warm winter scent that will warm the soul after an exhausting trip home during the cold season. If the ingredients of the proposed scent are collected in a plate, saucer or vase, the scent will be present in the room for a week. If you place the elements of the recipe in a jar, the smell will last for about a month.
- Before preparing the flavoring, you need to cut the orange into circles, lower them into the prepared container and add a few cinnamon sticks.
- Then dip 9 or 10 cloves and a few stars of anise into the vessel. The ratio of elements by quantity can be changed. It all depends on the required saturation of the aroma.
- Further, the container filled with the indicated ingredients is filled with water. To bring the fragrance into working condition, the container must be heated. To do this, you can use a water bath, a USB heater for drinks, or place the container on a hot radiator.
The following recipe contains lemon, rosemary and vanilla as the main ingredients.
- The lemon is cut into circles or slices, after which it is placed in a prepared jar or container with high walls.
- 4 sprigs of rosemary and a few drops of vanilla are also sent there.
- After that, the container is filled with water and placed on a USB heater or radiator.
The fragrance recipe below stands out for its sense of lightness and sophistication, which speaks of the coming of spring. And this is no accident, because the recipe contains lime, thyme, mint and vanilla.
- Lime is cut into small circles or slices, after which a few sprigs of thyme are added to it.
- Next, 2-3 drops of vanilla extract are instilled, and mint is laid.
- After the container is filled with clean water.
Housewives who have experimented with the presented recipe say that almond essence can be used instead of mint, and its liquid form is analogous to dry thyme.
It may seem to someone that making a gel-like fragrance at home is extremely difficult, in fact, nothing is easier.
- First you need to thoroughly rinse and dry the small glass containers in which the air freshener will be placed. These can be baby food jars, or tomato paste containers.
- In the central part of the lid, a medium-sized hole is made, on top of which tissue paper is attached. It is through it that the composition located inside the can will be dosed out to the outside and mix with the air in the room.
- Next, you need to boil a glass of water, and dissolve about 3 bags of gelatin in it. Then pour a tablespoon of salt into the consistency and pour another glass of cold water.
- Then add 30 drops of your favorite essential oil, a few drops of food coloring on a gel basis.
- After the mass is thoroughly mixed and poured into prepared jars. Spilled mixture needs time to cool down. It is best to do the workpiece in the evening, so that during the night the consistency turns into a gel, and in the morning place containers in all rooms.
The simplest and most effective air freshener is a mixture made from soda. All housewives know that baking soda is extremely susceptible to various odors. She will not only give off the aroma of essential oils with which she interacted according to the conceived recipe, but will also be able to destroy unpleasant odors in the room.
- To prepare the base, you need to take a glass container with a lid. Cut out a small round hole in the lid and seal it with scrapbooking paper.
- The paper material must be pierced with a needle, making a lot of holes in it. Cotton fabric can be used as an analogue. And in the most extreme case, pierce the metal lid of the container with an ordinary awl.
- The washed and dried containers are filled up to about half with baking soda. Add 10-12 drops of the essential oil scent you like on top, after which the consistency must be shaken.
- If the smell is not enough, you can add a few more drops of essential oil inside, and also shake it. Thus, it will be possible to achieve the necessary saturation of the aroma.
Most car enthusiasts prefer to feel the coffee aroma in the interior of their car:
- he invigorates;
- emphasizes male stance;
- gives confidence.
And for male motorists, these are extremely important aspects. Of course, you can get the chalk version at any car dealership, but its effect will last for one week.
- To begin with, it is important to know that instant coffee will not work for making a sachet. In this case, you should use roasted grains.
- The required amount of grains is poured into the prepared bag made of breathable material. Then it is tied with a thread and hung in a convenient place.
It should be noted that the duration of the flavoring properties depends on the type of coffee beans.
Recently, diffusers have been in great demand. In most cases, they are placed in living rooms and bedrooms. And this is not only due to the exquisite external appearance, but also to the subtly transmitted notes of the finished fragrance, made by hand.
- First you need to choose a container for the diffuser. It is best to use a low vase with a narrowed neck. Further, essential oils, vegetable oils and wooden sticks are selected.
- Vegetable oil is the first to enter the process of creating a divine scent. It must be poured into the prepared container in a small amount. With the help of aroma oil, dilute the consistency, thereby filling the mass with the smell, and then proceed to adjust the intensity of the aroma.
- Then wooden sticks are placed in the finished mixture, which will spread the aroma inside the room.
For most housewives, it is very important that the pleasant smell of fresh roses is in the bedroom. But no one wants to constantly spend money on buying flowers. The recipe for a stunning aroma made from rose petals will come to the rescue. It should be noted that the proposed method for preparing an air freshener applies to lilacs, peonies and chrysanthemums.
- First you need to take a 0.5 liter jar, rinse it and dry it.
- Next, flower petals and table salt are laid out in layers. Thus, the jar should be filled a little short of the top.
- Then 50 ml of pharmacy alcohol is poured inside, after which the jar must be tightly closed with a lid and removed to a dark place for two weeks. From time to time, the mass can be shaken, but do not open the container.
- After the specified period, the contents of the can are transferred to a decorative vase and placed in the room, where it will give a pleasant aroma.
Most housewives love quick air freshener recipes. One of them is based on vanillin.
- Mix in a saucepan a glass of water, a glass of vinegar, a tablespoon of vanillin and a teaspoon of cloves. Mix the ingredients, put the saucepan over low heat. Simmer the mass for no more than two minutes.
- Then the mass is removed from the fire and set aside until it cools completely.
- After the workpiece is poured into the sprayer, and you can start using it.
The quickest home air freshener recipe is made with perfume.
- Ordinary water is poured into the spray container, a couple of drops of aromatic oil and alcohol-based perfume are added.
- All ingredients are shaken, and after that you can start spraying.
Shelf life
Manufacturers of fragrances and air fresheners, preparing an annotation for their product line, set a specific shelf life, according to which the consumer purchases the product. The longer the service life is indicated, the higher the price policy will be.
For handcrafted air fresheners, it is probably very difficult to determine the expiration date. But knowledgeable people understand that several factors affect the life of home-made products:
- the quality of the products used in the manufacture;
- the area of the room in which the air freshener will be located;
- humidity in the room;
- the volume of the prepared flavors container.
Industrial and homemade fragrances make a decent difference in terms of how long they are used. For example, it is suggested to take a gelatinous air freshener. Its shelf life ranges from 1 week to 1 month. A sachet filled with coffee aroma will easily last for several months. The diffuser will emit a pleasant smell for about 2 weeks, but this time frame is conditional. Homemade formulations made from natural ingredients are ready to boast of a long service life that is 2 times higher than the manufacturers' indicators.
When making a home air freshener, you should know an important rule - the spread of the aroma depends on the saturation of the finished consistency.
It is possible to enhance the lack of smell by adding a couple of drops of essential oils, but it is extremely difficult to reduce an overly saturated smell.
For information on how to make a DIY air freshener, see the next video.