Air Fresheners – The Sweet and Harmful Scents

I have to confess that I love getting into a place and feel a nice and sweet scent. A soft or fresh scent gives me a welcoming, warm, and clean and feeling.

When visiting friends’ houses, it wouldn’t take me so long to ask what air freshener and scent they were using in their house.

Until then, I didn’t know how harmful air fresheners can be for our health. In fact, we always associate the bad smell with something negative such as filth or rotten. Well, now I know better some ugly and dirty truth about air fresheners, and…

…The truth about air fresheners stinks! ?

Why air fresheners are harmful?

According to The Natural Resources Defense Council – NRDC (2007), most “household air fresheners contain chemicals that may affect hormones and reproductive development, particularly in babies.” Those products provide a pleasant fragrance to the environment we are in, but they are mostly damaging our bodies.

Here are listed some reasons to avoid air fresheners.

• They contain phthalates, a hormone-disrupting chemical that can lead to congenital disorders and reproductive or hormonal imbalances.
• Those fresheners can cause skin, throat, eyes, and nose irritations.
• The chemical components from deodorizers can trigger allergies.
• Some substances can cause dizziness, nausea, and headache.
• Air fresheners contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), substances linked to cancer.

What can you do about it?

If you still enjoy some nice fragrance in your house, mainly if you have pets, we listed some natural options for you:

• Clean your house regularly.
• Maintain a healthy air quality in your house, circulating air by opening the doors and windows.
•  Empty trash cans regularly.
• Add some natural indoor plants to your home.
• Deodorize your house with natural products.

DIY House fresheners/deodorizers

Here are some DIY ideas, which you can also use different herbs or spices of your preference.

• Option 1

Ingredients:

1 sliced lemon (if you prefer, you can use slices of orange or green apple)

4 cinnamon sticks

1 tbsp of cloves

1 small pot

Water

• Option 2

Ingredients:

1 lemon

4 rosemary twigs

A few drops of vanilla extract

1 small pot

Water

Instructions:

Fill half of your pot with water and take it to the stove until the water boils. Add the ingredients into the boiling water, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer.

Please, don’t forget the pot on the stove because the water can evaporate leading to burning hazard. I would suggest to leave the pot simmering for a few minutes, then turn off the heat and enjoy the scent until it cools down. 

You can also put the mixture in a mason jar and let the scent flow in the room. It won’t be as strong as when simmering, but still works well.

Suggestion: use different herbs and flowers such as eucalyptus, mint, thyme, and lavender since they provide a wonderful fresh fragrance to your house.

Let us know which one is your favorite! Leave some comments and share your experiences and ideas.

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