DIY: Room Deodorizer and Air Freshener

One of the pitfalls of living in a house full of men (little or otherwise) is learning to deal with stank. That’s right, stank; more than stink and well on it’s way to rank!

I’ve spent a lot of money the last few years on air fresheners, smelly candles, and scent boosters for the laundry, but they’ve all been a fairly temporary solution to a continuing issue. So what’s a mom to do?

I have seen some pretty neat and quick ideas for making your own air fresheners at home, either by melting or warming with your Scentsy warmer or by using essential oils mixed with baking soda to make a custom scent for your home.

Rather than keeping my Scentsy warmer on all day in the stinkiest of places (the hall bath) I decided to combine two pins I saw on Pinterest this week and make my own with what I already had on hand!

To make one of these for yourself, you will need the following:

• 1 empty, clean, DRY jar with a lid
• Baking soda, enough to fill your jar half-way
• In-laundry scent booster of your choice. I used Downey Unstopables in Fresh because it was what I had.
• Spoon
• Dry-erase marker
• Hammer
• Small nail, like a finishing nail
• Piece of scrapbook paper cut to fit the lid (optional)

Start by filling your jar about halfway with baking soda. I used a small canning jar, so it only took about three tablespoons of baking soda. The baking soda acts as a deodorizer by absorbing odors from the air.

Next pour in enough of your scent-booster beads to cover the top of the baking soda. At this stage you can either choose to mix them in with the baking soda or leave them “floating” on top. I left mine on top because I like the layered look. The scent-booster beads give off a really refreshing amount of scent without being perfumey.

Put your lid on the jar and start marking out a piercing pattern with your dry-erase marker. If you don’t have a dry-erase marker, a Sharpie is fine to use as well, you’ll just need to wipe it off later with rubbing alcohol.

With your hammer, gently tap the nail over each dot you drew for your pattern. You do not want the nail to go all the way through the lid, just enough to make a tiny hole for the air to filter through. Be careful of wayward thumbs and fingers!

When you have finished piercing all of your holes, give the top of the lid a wipe down to get rid of the dry-erase marks. You can either leave the jar like this, or decorate with scrapbook paper and ribbon to make it pretty! I recommend that if you use a piece of paper over the lid, carefully pierce the paper with the nail over the lid through the same holes you made earlier; that way, the airflow stays uninterrupted.

I made four of these this week; one for each bathroom, one for the master bedroom, and one for Hub’s office at work! So far these seem to work best in a warm environment, like on a window sill or on a high shelf near a heating vent.

If you like this tutorial, let me know by pinning or leaving a comment! And if you happen to make one for yourself, make sure to show it off!