Do you love to use air freshener? It smells great, but can be bad for your health. Learn to make all-natural homemade air freshener that will leave your home smelling sweet.
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I love a fresh smelling room and used to be a store-bought room freshener addict. A quick spritz after cooking a meal, before company came over, or as a last step to housecleaning made me feel like my home was clean and fresh. I was spraying it ALL THE TIME…
Until I began to learn more about the toxic chemicals in many household products. I checked out my favorite Febreze’s ratings on the Environmental Working Group consumer guide and found out that most of their products score a D or F for “significant hazards to health or the environment.”
I was shocked to find out what was I spraying around my home and decided to never use commercial air freshener.
Dangerous Homemade Alternatives
Online recipes for homemade fresheners usually contain a dangerous mixture of fabric softener and water. This mixture replaces one health hazard with another health hazard!
Both commercial air freshener and homemade air freshener with fabric softener can:
- Act as hormone disruptors.
- Cause asthma to develop in healthy people.
- Cause cancer in humans.
How to Make Room Freshener with Essential Oils
The best homemade room refresher is simple: water, vodka, and essential oils.
I often use vodka to clean around my house (it’s in my homemade Window Cleaner and natural Lemon Disinfectant Spray Cleaner). Vodka is a great cleaner because:
- It leaves no scent when used in natural cleaners.
- It leaves no residue (like the baking soda found in some homemade refresher sprays).
- It is naturally antibacterial, anti-fungal, and it’s a natural deodorizer.
- Alcohol emulsifies essential oils into an evenly diluted spray that does not need shaking.
- Cheap generic vodka cleans as well as more expensive brands.
Homemade Air Freshener Recipe
Mix together in a glass spray bottle mix:
- 1 cup distilled water
- ½ cup vodka (use a bottom shelf, cheap version)
- 10 drops to ½ tsp. essential oil of your choice
Shake to combine.
Room Freshener Scent Combinations
Start with 5-10 drops of essential oil and add more until the desired level of scent is reached. My favorite scent combinations:
- Zen Spa – 10 drops eucalyptus essential oil, 5 drops lavender essential oil
- Sleepy Time/Relaxation – 10 drops lavender essential oil, 5 drops vanilla essential oil
- Floral Dream – 8 drops ylang ylang or lavender essential oil, 8 drops jasmine essential oil
Free Printable Labels
Dress up your homemade cleaner with a free printable label or a DIY vinyl sticker. (Have a vinyl cutting machine? Get the SVG cut file here.)
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JODY Russell
I use witch hazel as an alternative to vodka
MJP
Thanks for recipe. If I buy vodka in the u.k it would be in drinkable alcohol form so presumably best to buy an ethanol product rather than uk sold vodka? Although I could have a drink whilst cleaning but maybe woudn’t get much cleaning done! Thanks for clarifying.
Bren
I use vodka (the type purchased for drinking) because most of the rubbing ethyl alcohol sold in the U.S. has denaturants added to it (i.e. acetone, denatonium benzoate, methyl isobutyl ketone). Vodka is simply ethanol cut with water.
Christina Lo
Can I use white vinegar instead of the alcohol?
Bren
Yes, but your spray will have a vinegar odor.
Lisa
Thank you for this easy diy recipe. I’ve made several fabric refresher sprays and they all clog up the spray bottle, so perhaps this one without the baking soda won’t do that. Quick question…does it have to be a glass bottle? I have several plastic spray bottles I’ve saved that I’d like to utilize if possible. I would be spraying this on our actual clothing (armpit areas, etc.) to lengthen time between washes. Do you think this spray would be safe for that use?
Bren
You can use whatever spray bottle you have on hand. I like to use glass when possible to prevent any possible plastic leaching,
Virginia
I’m new to the DIY scene and have a question. Would just the alcohol and water kill odors around the house. My husband can’t tolerate the aroma of essential oils or actually scents of any kind.
Bren
Yes, just using the acohol (no essential oils) will help eliminate odors.
LT
Does the plastic spray bottle degrade over time with oil in it?
Bren
I use a glass spray bottle and have not had trouble with the plastic stem degrading.
Jawwad
HI,……….what is the alternative of vodka.
Bren
You can use any plain Ethyl alcohol (ethanol). Ethanol is sold as vodka or grain alcohol in the United States. Other types of denatured alcohol (non-drinkable) are available in the U.S. including isopropanol (rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol) and methanol (methyl alcohol). However, substituting other alcohols for the ethanol in this recipe will result in a cleaner that contains additional ingredients that could be dangerous to inhale and may not be safe on all surfaces.
vanessa
hi so essential oils will NOT damage fabrics? I ruined the finish on my piano once when I was a child, by placing one of those scent sachet envelopes on top of it, and the oils ruined it. also, a dropped oil diffuser in the bathroom permanently ruined my hardwood floor in that area. have also ruined metal vents by spraying oil mixture on them. so I’m super eager to spray this all over my sofa, but you can see why I’m very cautious….
Bren
EOs and fragrance oils can be very corrosive to wood finishes if they are not diluted. A few drops of EO in a mixture has never damaged any of my fabric surfaces. f you are nervous I would spot test in a inconspicuous area. I advise people to do only what they are comfortable doing!