If you ever feel like you’re in a Febreze commercial before they spray the Febreze (maybe the one with the giant cat sofa that is covered in cats), then don’t fear, because ditching that cat smell — without ditching the cats — and making your home smell amazing is actually pretty easy.
You can make your own deodorizing spray or simply take the trash our more regularly. There are so many simple ways to make your home smell amazing that don’t include hours of steam cleaning all of your furniture.
1. Make Your Own Deodorizing Spray
Domestic CEO Amanda Thomas has a super easy recipe for making your own home deodorizing spray. All you need is one tablespoon baking soda, two to three drops of your favorite essential oil (lavender, lemon, orange, cinnamon, peppermint — whatever you prefer!), and distilled water. Mix the baking soda and the essential oil, add it to a 12-ounce spray bottle, add the distilled water and then shake the mixture well. Then it’s ready to use on that smelly sofa or your cat’s favorite sunbathing spot.
2. Make A Stove Simmer Pot
Interior designer Rhobin DelaCruz told Good Housekeeping that she learned this trick from her “cleaning obsessed mother.” She said all you need to do is simmer water in a small saucepan and add citrus slices and herbs like lavender or mint. The scent will evaporate with the water and move throughout your home.
3. Refresh Your Carpets
You can clean and deodorize your carpets with another simple mixture from Thomas. She suggests mixing one cup of baking soda with one tablespoon of ground cinnamon. After mixing the ingredients well, add them to a shaker container like a clean Parmesan cheese container.
Sprinkle the mixture liberally on your carpets and then let it stand for 30 minutes to one hour. Vacuum your carpets as you usually would, and it will smell like you just cooked a delicious fall dessert.
4. Clean Your Garbage Disposal
You garbage disposal can hold onto smelly, decomposing fruits and veggies. To make your disposal smell fresher, drop a dallop of lemon-scented soap down the drain, run the water and then turn the disposal on. You can even use lemon or lime rinds, according to Good Housekeeping. If the smell still persists, pour one-half cup of baking soda down the drain while running warm water.
5. Place Air Fresheners On Your Air Vents
Put a couple of car deodorizers (Good Housekeeping suggests the ones from Glade or Febreze) on the metal slats of air vents in your home. As the air blows through, the scent of the deodorizer will blow throughout your home.
6. Make A Natural Room Diffuser
If you want to do some DIY air freshening, then make your own bamboo room diffuser. Thomas suggests using simple wooden bamboo skewers, Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day All Purpose Cleaner in Lemon Verbena and a small jar or glass to make your own diffuser for super cheap.
Fill the jar with cleaner halfway, trip the bamboo sticks down so that they’re no more than twice the height of the glass and then add the skewers to the glass. You can place the diffusers anywhere in your home where you’d like a fresh, clean scent.
