There are quite a few unpleasant smells in our homes, aren’t there? From stinky feet to pet accidents, things get stinky at home. And because we have lots of fabrics in our homes (bedding, upholstery, etc.), those smells can definitely linger if we don’t clean them up quickly. Luckily, there are lots of great easy-to-make odor eliminators to help with this issue.
Why DIY Odor Fighters?
Obviously, you could just go to the store and buy one of the many products designed to eliminate these smells from your home. However, there are several good reasons not to go that route.
First of all, those products are often expensive. If you want to live a frugal lifestyle, then they aren’t the right products for you.
Second, they’re typically filled with chemicals. Whether you don’t want to live with chemicals in the air or simply don’t like that chemical smell, this can be a huge deterrent for those products.
Third, there are SO MANY of those products that it can feel impossible to choose the ones that are right for you. In contrast, with a few easy-to-make odor eliminators in your toolbox, you can resolve nearly all home smells on the cheap in a natural way.
6 Easy-to-Make Odor Eliminators
So, how can you get rid of the big and small smells that you don’t want to have to smell in your home? Here are six different options:
1. Simmering Spices on the Stove
This is my favorite way of getting rid of smells I don’t like in the kitchen. Of course, usually the kitchen has good smells. But perhaps you burned something in there and the smell has lingered. Or you cooked fish that tasted good but didn’t smell so great. Or the dog had an accident on the floor.
Whatever the case, cooking something that smells yummy is a great way to get rid of the bad odor. Personally, I like just cooking up some mulling spices. I take whatever I have on hand that will smell good, simmer it on the stove, and enjoy the scent. A favorite for me is a combination of vanilla extract, cinnamon, and fresh squeezed oranges. Here are some other options.
2. Baking Soda and Essential Oils
These are two ingredients that you can use in a variety of different recipes for easy-to-make odor eliminators. Baking soda itself is a great way to neutralize smells. That’s why many of us put a box in the fridge. And I use essential oils all over the house, in diffuser, as drops on a pillow, in oils for my skin, and more.
Combine these two ingredients together and it’s like magic. A few drops of essential oil in baking soda in a jar is a great room freshener. It works in the car, too. Plus, you can add water and then use it as a spray. It’s just like those air cleaners that you buy at the store – but better!
Apparently, you can also make a thick paste of those items, spooning into something like a muffin tin to create a disc shape, and then once it dries use those as a deodorizing disks inside of garbage cans, etc.
3. Natural Oil Diffuser
I happen to have purchased a fairly fancy essential oil diffuser. However, you can actually DIY your own. There are many different recipes and hacks for doing so online.
4. Citrus Smells Good
You might also add citrus to DIY odor eliminators instead of using essential oils. For example, baking soda, water, and lemon makes a great air spritzer.
5. Tea Bags Also Smell Great
You can place tea bags inside of any enclosed space to create a lovely smell inside. For example, if you want your clothes to smell like chamomile, then stick a few tea bags in your dresser drawer. In fact, you can place tea bags inside of stinky tennis shoes for a few days and they’ll stop smelling so gross!
6. Activated Charcoal Is One Of The Best Easy-To-Make Odor Eliminators
There are a bunch of different recipes online for how to use activated charcoal to eliminate odors. For example, put it in a jar with some holes in the lid to reduce fridge odors. Put it in a sock that you stuff into stinky shoes to get rid of the smell.
What are your favorite ways to eliminate odors at home?
Read More:
- How to Concoct Your Own Cleaning Solution
- Frugal Ways to Naturally Eliminate Odors from Couches
- 10 Household Products You Can Create Yourself to Save Money
Kathryn Vercillo is a professional writer who loves to live a balanced life. She appreciates a good work-life balance. She enjoys balance in her relationships and has worked hard to learn how to balance her finances to allow for a balanced life overall. Although she’s only blonde some of the time, she’s always striving for total balance. She’s excited to share what she’s learned with you and to discover more together along the way.