Natural  Air Freshener & Deodorizers

Natural Air Fresheners -room fresheners, air deodorizers and odor neutralizers that are eco-friendly

With all the commercial air fresheners being marketed these days, I thought it was a good time to cover some basics about conventional air freshener and green alternatives found in natural air fresheners. Using natural air freshener doesn’t have to be a pain either, there are just as many handy applications and methods of diffusing natural fresheners. But first,

Are Commercial Air Fresheners Safe?

Some of the chemicals found in commercial air fresheners have been banned by the FDA, but these bans are unenforceable due to trade secret laws that protect the chemical fragrance company.

• Formaldehyde – known carcinogen

• Phenol – skin and nervous system irritant

• Limonene – skin, throat, eye irritant

• Methylene Chloride -Prolonged skin contact can result in the dichloromethane dissolving some of the fatty tissues in skin, resulting in skin irritation or chemical burns. It may be carcinogenic, as it has been linked to cancer of the lungs, liver, and pancreas in laboratory animals.

• Acetone -Acts as a central nervous system depressant.

• Terpinolene – Highly irritating to mucous membranes, has been known to cause hypothermia, CNS and respiratory depression, and headache

• Methoxybenzaldehyde

• Butanoic acid

and the list goes on…

The thing about conventional air fresheners is that these chemicals tend to build up over time, mostly on carpets and surfaces where kids play and other areas that we come into regular contact with. We track them outside where they end up contaminating the soil. They don’t even work for getting rid of odors and cleaning up the air. Conventional air fresheners just cover up odors for a short period of time, while leaving all their unknown chemicals laying around.

Benefits of Natural Air Fresheners

Natural air fresheners not only make the air smell good and fresh, but actually kill germs without killing friendly bacteria. What’s more, putting together your own unique scent combinations can be a lot of fun. There are hundreds of fruits, trees and herbs essential oils from which to choose. Below we’ll look at some of the most well known essential oils for natural freshening and anti-bacterial traits.

More recently there have been more conventional air fresheners marketed as being natural room fresheners. While many of these products are improvements on conventional air freshener, such as soy candles or truly natural non-aerosol sprays, yet in most of these ‘natural’ air fresheners are still scented with chemical fragrances rather than essential oils and other natural plant materials.

The disadvantages and risks of using conventional room fresheners are many, but can natural air fresheners really measure up in terms of ease of use like the popular automatic air fresheners sold in many stores -what exactly are the benefits of using natural air fresheners?

One of the very unique aspects of natural air deodorizers is that you’re not just covering up an unpleasant smell, but you can actually deodorize and clean the air this way, by dealing with the source -and add a pleasant natural aroma while you’re at it.  Click Here for my favorites air fresheners for neutralizing odors and freshening a room.

One general purpose spray recipe that I love because it can be used on counter tops or as an air freshener:
Natural Air/Fabric Freshener and Surface Cleaner

• 1 cup water

• 1/4-1/2 cup vodka or witch hazel

• 10-15 drops eucalyptus essential oil (or pine if you prefer, both are anti-bacterial)

• 10-15 drops cedar essential oil (many nice kinds, I like Virginia cedar for it’s soft, warm aroma. If you prefer, use some thing like lavender, both will provide a warm aroma and additional anti-bacterial qualities.)

• 10-15 drops grapefruit essential oil (your choice- this is for extra aroma. You might try mint, lavender, sage, lemon or any other essential oil )

Adjust the amounts. More alcohol or witch hazel will make a spray that dries faster, which can be good for surfaces, but not as necessary for air freshening.

For more ideas for natural air fresheners for the home Click Here

For some households you may decide to avoid sprays for freshening the air. I like to use eucalyptus, pine, lavender and/or cedar in sprays because these can also be effective in inhalation therapy for asthma or cold related nose and chest congestion. If you want to have more exotic aromas without spraying them into the air, you can use an essential oil diffusor or vaporizer.

How to Diffuse Natural Air Fresheners

In addition to sprays, there are other fast ways to neutralize odors and add a nice aroma.  Try ....

• How to Diffuse Essential Oils

• Benefits of Diffusing Essential Oils

Electric Diffusers

There are several high-end aromatherapy diffusers, but there are also very basic and small diffusers that you can plug into a wall outlet or car lighter/power.