Green Cleaning Tips: Air Fresheners

Commercial air fresheners can be very expensive and contain materials that can prove harmful to the environment and tend to mask odors rather than eliminate them. Using green cleaning alternatives is not only easy, but it is also a good way to rid your home of toxic chemicals. All the ingredients below are inexpensive and can probably be easily found in your kitchen cupboards.

Air Fresheners

• In a spray bottle (a spray bottle that sprays a fine mist), combine one teaspoon of baking soda and two cups of hot water. Once the baking soda has dissolved, add one teaspoon of lemon juice. Put on the lid and give the bottle a gentle, side-to-side shake. Now you have a homemade air freshener that will absorb and neutralize odors, rather than just covering them up. Just don't forget to label the bottle, so you will always know what's in it

• An alternative to buying costly potpourri is to create your own fresh scent. Fill a saucepan half-full with water and place on the stove. Add cloves, cinnamon sticks and orange peels, then bring the liquid to a simmer. As the liquid reduces, just add more water. This smells wonderful and lasts all day.

• For the bathroom, dampen a cotton swab with jasmine oil and swab the inside of a toilet-paper roll. Each time the toilet paper is rolled; a fresh scent will fill the room.

• Place some lemon rinds in a pot of water, and put the water on the stove to simmer. You can also use orange or even grapefruit rinds, if that's what you have on hand. This homemade air freshener will keep your kitchen smelling clean and fresh.

• To deodorize your garbage disposal, grind a combination of ice and lemon rinds. You can also use orange rinds.

• To remove the smell of garlic, onions, or any other unpleasant odors from, cut a lemon in half and rub it, cut side down, on your cutting board.

• Who knew white bread was a deodorizer? A few slices of white bread in your refrigerator will absorb unpleasant odors.

Air Neutralizers

• Combine one-part white distilled vinegar to five-parts water. Pour into a spray bottle and spray in odorous areas.

• Another way to purify the air is to dampen a cotton ball with pure vanilla extract, place in a dish and set in odorous area of the house. A dish with three cotton balls is great for the living room. A room in which heavy smoking occurs might require another dish.

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Last Updated Monday, July 6, 2009 - 03:49 PM EDT.