Don't you just love coming home to the smell of fresh baked cookies? Or the fresh smell your home gets after leaving the windows open all day?
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| Photo: http://tinyurl.com/lumsywm |
The air inside our homes, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, can often be more polluted than the air outside. Gross, right? So how do we keep our homes smelling clean and fresh without going to extremes or having to bake cookies everyday?
Here are a few tips we found from This Old House and BrightNest:
Stinky Garbage Cans: Take out the trash and make a scent sachet for the bottom of the can using 1 tablespoon of coffee, a few cloves, and 1 tablespoon of baking soda all wrapped up in a coffee filter.
Fridge: Open a box of baking soda and leave on the shelf. For another alternative, try placing a fresh, unflavored bowl of oats in the fridge. The absorbent nature of the oats will grab hold of the smell. Just make sure to toss them out when you're done - no one wants the stinky oats for breakfast or stinky baking soda in their cookies!
Use Dryer Sheets: If you love the smell of fresh laundry, grab a few dryer sheets and place them behind the vents that are pumping air into the rooms of your home. You can also use the dryer sheets to dust your baseboards - not only will they help keep the dust away, but will also leave the rooms smelling clean and fresh.
Clean Your Disposal: One simple way is to drop lemons and limes with some ice into the sink and turn on the disposal. For tough smells, take some vinegar and baking soda and mix with hot water while you run the disposal. This chemical reaction will bubble and fizz to eliminate the tough smells. You can also buy disposal cleaner packets at your local store (usually in the dish soap aisle), pop them in, run the hot water, turn on the disposal and let the packet do all the work.
Use Cloves & Orange Skins: There are tons of way to use citrus and other natural ingredients as air fresheners. One way: Grab an orange and peel it, then press 5-6 cloves into the skin of the orange, wrap it up with a cord or piece of fabric and hang it in your kitchen. This yummy smell will last up to two weeks.
Drop a Little Essential Oil onto Your Furnace Filter: Changing your furnace filter is one of the easiest ways to improve the air quality of your home and prolong the life of your furnace. If you have a pleated or a disposable filter, it's also an opportunity to spread some fresh scents! Simply add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to the new filter.
