Posted in Home, Home Recipes | Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Here’s a few quick, cheap recipes that I use in our house. These are better for the environment as well as your health than aerosol sprays and they can be made in smaller quantities to take with you on trips! (I’m a little weird about how hotel rooms smell, and don’t get me started about those sheets! LOL).
Orange Bathroom Spray
Ingredients:
Directions:
Put the liquor and oils in the spray bottle first and shake vigorously to mix. Then fill the rest of the bottle with water and shake again. This one is great for the bathroom. This one really does work well on stinky odors. Shake well before each use.
Lavender Linen Spray
I received a store-bought version of this as a gift once and loved it so much I went back to the store to find it, and was SHOCKED to find out it was $18!
Ingredients:
Same directions as above. Just add the Lavender flowers last. Before you go to sleep at night lightly spray your sheets and pillow. Or spray everything in the morning right before you make up the bed. That night, when you turn down the bed, a lovely scent is released! Shake well before each use.
Living Room Spray
Ingredients:
Same directions as above. Be careful when spraying this around microfiber, because it can stain. Shake well before each use.
*Liquor is used as a diluting agent. The recipes will still work if you leave it out, but the scent won’t last as long.
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I do. I make the Lavendar spray but I use about
1 cup Isoprophyl Alcohol
1 cup water
30 drops of lavendar.
I use it to de-germ a room or the whole house after we’ve been under the weather. The lavendar is naturally anti-viral and anti-bacterial. I’ll have to try that Lemon spray though.
Wow 1 cup of iso I never thought of that. Tea Tree Oil is a good anti-bacterial too.
I’m so excited to find this – I’ve been looking for a recipe for lavender linen spray for ages.
Hi Max! Glad I could help!
Thanks for posting! I just stopped using air sprays because I started worrying about the chemicals they were putting in the air. Definitely going to try these.
Hi Marjorie Thanks! Come back and let us all know what scents you used! (Love ur avatar BTW, I’ve been meaning to tell you that on Twitter!)
oooh Savvy – I’m tempted to drink this for after school on a Friday afternoon….
No, seriously, for the car? Try peppermint and orange – I just bought some oil and these scents (according to aromatherapy) help us to pay more attention to what is going on around us! v interesting.
I think I’ll make the orange one for the bathroom…thanks!
@Tracey LOL! I will definitely try peppermint and orange for the car. Thanks!
Any recommendations on where to get good essential oils? I’ve begun with making our own laundry detergent, and now that I see this for air freshener I’m excited to try it!!
Hey Rana! You can always get essential oils from the Savvy Shop. Click here. But if you’d like to check out a store near you, try your local Vitamin Shoppe or health food store. AuraCacia is a good brand to try because their oils are pretty much undiluted, BUT they can be expensive. NOW brand is a more affordable version, their oils are alittle more diluted, but they’re still all natural and very potent. I’d start with 4 scents. Peppermint, Lavender, Tea Tree Oil, and Lemongrass. HTH.
[...] presents 3 Spray Air Freshener Recipes | Savvy Brown posted at savvy [...]
I just made a bath – my first attempt.
In a 3 oz spray bottle I mixed:
75% alcohol that contains water
10 drops of Eucalyptus oil
10 drops of Peppermint oil
10 drops of Rosemary oil
10 drops of Lavendar oil
Filled the rest of the bottle with distilled water.
I made fish tonight so we’ll see if it keeps my house smelling fresh. Also, my father’s room has a terrible odor that I’ve been trying to get rid of for years without having to shampoo the carpet. His room was the first room I sprayed. Its been closed since he’s in hospice care. I will check it in the morning and let you know it turned out
Thanks ladies!
@Sisterboyd Please do! Also, you may need to open the window in his room for a short time to let things circulate and spray the carpet and any other fabric directly and let air dry with the window open.
I checked the room this morning and it still had that yucky smell. I left the bathroom window open for about 5 hours and no help. I think I’m going to have to shampoo the carpet or do some type of treatment on his carpet.
I did spray the livingroom and the fish smell wasn’t as powerful. But I think we’re going to have to get the carpet shampoo’d.
Now I do love my spray. I wish I had it when I got my leather couch because it had a horrible smell that lasted for weeks. I dabbed tea trea oil on cotton balls and placed them under the cushions, but it took a while before the tea trea oil could overpower the other odor.
Do you think vodka is more powerful than alcohol?
Oh another question – could I use lemon and/or lime juice and/or jest in place of the oil. I don’t have lemon oil and when I priced it at Whole Foods it was rather pricey.
@SisterBoyd Yep. I agree I think you will have to shampoo the carpet. I think vodka and gin are both more powerful than rubbing alcohol, BUT for REALLY icky odors like cat pee? I use straight vinegar.
You could use lemon or lime juice, but it won’t have that much of a scent. It’s the water evaporating off of the oil that leaves the scent behind.You could use any essential oil you want. Lemongrass is also good, tends to be cheaper and a little goes a long way. I have some in the Savvy Shop for $3.65 but if you don’t want to wait check out Vitamin Shoppe, Trader Joes, those little stands at the Grove and the Farmer’s Market! Last time I was in L.A. I got some great lavender oil there. HTH
[...] material. I plan to start composting next . I make our laundry soap, our dishwashing detergent, our air freshener, our body creams and anything else I can think up and we don’t use bleach or harsh chemicals. [...]
Yesterday I took a mental health day and was motivated to do a little spring cleaning. I realized I was down to my last drop of Febreeze and then remembered this post. I used your recipe for linen spray with my very favorite scent – Vanilla essential oil.
At first I was a little skeptical because even though I used like 50 drops I couldn’t smell anything…but I sprayed away…on every thing in my bedroom. I could slowly smell the scent begin to rise and by the time I was ready to go to bed I was wrapped up in a Vanilla cocoon. Very soothing and relaxing.
Thanks Savvy!
@Brown Babe Delish! I’m glad it worked for you!
I’m laughing at myself because I got the whole recipe wrong! ha ha haha I didn’t realize that the alcohol/vodka was only 1/4 cup compared to 3 cups of water. Then, I thought you said that 100 proof vodka. Oh you should have heard the laughter of my mother and her friend when I asked where I could get 100 proof vodka – no I’m not a big drinker ;p ha ha ha
Well yesterday I had a good time at Whole Foods buying new EOs and then I did get a bottle of 80 proof vodka. I made it before I reread the recipe so its 75% vodka, 10 drops each of lemon, lime, frankenscense and myrrh and I filled the rest of the bottle with water. Of course I will use this up and try it again with the correct measurements ha ha ha.
I made another bottle earlier in the day before I went shopping. I was just trying different things. 65% alcohol, 10% apple-cidar vinegar, 15 drops each of lavendar, peppermint, rosemary, and tea tree; and filled the rest of the bottle with distilled water. You can smell the vinegar but it goes away soon.
@SisterBoyd Whoops! You weren’t wrong about 100 proof though, I did have that in there. I just edited that. (It does exist though, that’s my island ancestry showing! LOL) Sorry for the confusion, but the alcohol does help to keep the scent hang around longer.
I thought you could get 100 proof – Everclear. I was trying to find it. I took a aromatherapy class a few years ago and the instructor told us to use Everclear, but I never got the information on where to get it.
Hi everyone! Just checking in
My friend’s birthday is this week and I just mixed up a batch of body scrub (orange EO, safflower, avacado, coconut, vitamin E, and jojoba oils) and linen/room spray wtih lemon and lime EOs, vodka, distilled water, and a touch of tea trea oil (for disenfectant). I read that tea trea oil kills parasites like lice, scabbies, and flies and ticks. Her family vacations at least 3 times in the summer and she’s having to travel for her job so I figure this would be a nice treat for her. I hope she likes her gift. If not, I’ll take it back and use it myself hahahahaha
My next mix will be a spray for insects. I live in the valley in So. California at the base of the mountains and we get a variety of creepy crawlies in the summer months including yucky flies.
I’ll report back soon
[...] Linen spray or Air Freshener – Find a pretty spray bottle or atomizer to put these in. You can even use a flight approved travel atomizer if she travels a lot, so she can take it with her and use it in her hotel room! [...]
I would try rosemary in the car.
Also, I have looked at several sites with recipes for linen spray and most say not to use rubbing alcohol. it can damage fabrics and doesn’t hold the scent as well.
To chase way fleas and other critters use eucalyptus.
I make my own air fresheners and i need something to mix with my fragrance oils for them to be stronger and last longer. They last long but I want them to last longer.
I love your site!! I’m changing to all natural air fresheners and want to make my own. Your site is a life saver, I’m going to try all of the recipes and will let you know how they come out.