Clearing the Air on Air Fresheners

If you watch almost any TV channel long enough you will see a commercial for an air freshener.  Whether it is Febreze or Lysol telling you they remove odors or Glade telling you they create a “more tranquil atmosphere” in your room someone is going to try to sell you something to clean your air.

The Problem With Chemical Air Fresheners

The problem is these products do not clean the air; they actually pollute the air.  Therefore, when you buy an air freshener you are spending money to decrease the air quality in your home when what you want is the exact opposite!

If you know anyone with asthma (or if you have asthma yourself), you already know that these toxic products are tough on the respiratory system.  Consider yourself lucky.  Many people spray, plug in, and burn wax melts or candles in hopes of making the air fresher. 

According to the EPA, these air fresheners are made of ingredients such as formaldehyde, petroleum distillates, dichlorobenzene; and the aerosol sprays contain propellants.  So if you have musty smells, do you really think the answer is formaldehyde?  Formaldehyde is used as an embalming fluid.  Spraying air freshener is like embalming your family while they are sill alive!  Dichlorobenzene is a known respiratory irritant.  OSHA has even set limits of exposure to this chemical in the workplace.  That is what you want to spray in your air?  The solid fresheners, candles, plug-ins, and wax melts mostly contain the same ingredients.  If you care about your indoor air quality, you will stay away from these products and take a different approach to controlling odors in your home.

Go to the Source of the Odor

The most common sources of odors in the air are mold spores, bacteria, and cooking/smoke odors.  If you have a musty smell, it is probably molds or bacteria causing the smell.  To get rid of the smell, treat it at the source.

If the bathroom is musty because of mold, increase air circulation and do not throw wet towels in a pile on the floor. If you re-use a towel, make sure you hang it up. If possible, add an exhaust fan to the bathroom or open a window when taking hot showers.  If you have poor air circulation in the bathroom and cannot add a fan to the room, do not keep a laundry hamper in that room. In the bathroom, eliminate smells by cleaning with vinegar and baking soda.  Sodium percarbonate is great for getting rid of mold and mildew and it will not pollute the air.  Most of the products with this ingredient have something like “Oxy” or “Oxygen” in the name. Look for this ingredient on the label.

Natural Options for Air Fresheners

 

If you have cooking odors or smells from smoke, you can place a bowl of vinegar in the room.  The vinegar will get rid of the smell.  If it is especially strong or in a large room, you can put several bowls out.  Vinegar has a strong smell at first but it dissipates quickly and when it does, it takes odors with it.

If you need to deodorize your sinks, drains, and garbage disposals just grind up ½ a lemon with a cup of ice cubes.  You will get rid of the odor and sharpen the blades at the same time.

You can sprinkle baking soda on the trash to get rid of garbage smells.  If your trash can smells, wash it out!  Just use soap and water; and the smell will be gone.

 If you want fragrance in a room, you can do this without adding chemicals to the air.  Just simmer a few spices in a small amount of water or orange juice.  For a fresh smell, just simmer ½ a lemon in a small amount of water.

If you like floral fragrances, you can purchase essential oils (be sure to get the real thing) and just put a drop in water and simmer.  If you want to spread the aroma through the house, transfer the warm oil and water to a bowl and sit out in the room for an hour.

Cleaning with Vinegar

Almost every one of us have a common substance in our kitchen pantry that has the ability to remove soil, loosen mineral deposits and sanitize and deodorize almost anything in your house.  What is this multi-tasker?  Vinegar!

Vinegar is an effective non-toxic cleaner and sanitizer.  It saves you money as well.  Just think, if you have anywhere from 3 to 7 cleaning agents in your home at a cost of $3.99 each then you have $12 to $30 worth of cleaning supplies that can be replaced for under $2 with vinegar.

Vinegar saves time as well.  Because it does not require rinsing, you can finish your cleaning chores faster.  It is a great deodorizer.  Yes, it has a distinctive smell but it dissipates very quickly and in the process kills odor-causing bacteria.

Because it is non-toxic, you don’t have to worry about using it around the kids and the pets and when you empty your cleaning bucket, there are no harmful chemicals going down the drain.

Vinegar is as natural and organic as you can get.  It is the bi-product of fruits and grains.  You do not have to worry about it spoiling or going bad.  The shelf like of vinegar is almost indefinite.
Here are just a few uses for vinegar:

Cleaning With Vinegar In the Kitchen

Clean and deodorize a drain by pouring in 1 cup baking soda and then one cup hot white vinegar. Let this sit for 5 minutes and then run hot water down the drain.

Clean and deodorize the garbage disposal in the same way by pouring in 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup hot white distilled vinegar. Let sit for 5 minutes then run the disposal with a cup of ice cubes and hot water.  The ice will sharpen the blades.  Or you can freeze regular full strength vinegar in ice cube trays and just drop a few cubes and run while flushing with water.

Remove soap scum and odors from the dishwasher by pouring a cup of white distilled vinegar inside the empty machine and running it through a whole cycle.

To prevent glassware from etching by minerals, wash them and then spray with vinegar. Give the glasses a hot water rinse before letting them dry or drying them with a towel.

To clear cloudy glassware, soak a cloth in white vinegar and wrap around the inside and outside of the glass. Let it sit before rinsing clean.

To remove grease off exhaust fan grids, the inside of your oven, or anywhere grease gathers just wipe down with a sponge soaked in vinegar.

Remove strong smells from onions, garlic and fish from your hands with vinegar. Just pour on a dishrag and wipe your hands.

To clean your microwave oven, put a bowl with 1/2 cup vinegar and 1 cup water in the oven and run just long enough to boil. This will loosen baked-on foods from the microwave's walls and deodorize any smells.

Cleaning with Vinegar In the Bathroom

Remove hard water deposits on faucets and fixtures caused by mineral deposits.  Spray faucet with vinegar, let sit for a few minutes, then scrub with a toothbrush.  Deposits will become loose and easily wiped away.

Remove soap scum and film from bathtubs and showers by wiping them with white distilled vinegar and then scouring with baking soda.

Wipe away mildew by wiping down surfaces with vinegar.  For heavily stained items, use full strength.  For lightly stained items, use a mix of ½ vinegar and ½ water.

Mop no-wax floors with 1 cup vinegar in a gallon of water for a great shine.

Clean and sanitize wooden cutting boards by wiping with vinegar.

Vinegar Around the House

Clean mini blinds by donning a pair of white cotton gloves and dipping your gloved fingers into a mixture of equal parts white vinegar and warm water. Just run your wet gloved fingers across both sides of each blind.

To remove stickers and price tags, cover with a paper towel soaked in vinegar. Leave overnight and in the morning the label will slide right off.

Use as a de-foaming agent in carpet steam cleaners by adding about 1/4 cup white distilled in the rinse water to remove detergent residue and make carpets stay fresh longer.

Spray the backs of rugs to keep them from mildewing.

Use instead of water to clean your scissors.  Water will cause scissors to rust (both the blades and the fastener) but vinegar will remove grime and sticky gunk.

Clean your piano keys with a soft cloth that has been dipped into a mixture of ½ cup vinegar in 2 cups warm water.  Make sure to wring out cloth so there are no drips.

Keep ants away by spraying vinegar along doorways, windowsills, and countertops or anywhere that ants appear. If you find an ant trail, clean it with vinegar to keep ants from using it again.

Get rid of smoke odor by placing a shallow bowl full of vinegar in the room where the odor is the strongest.  It will smell like vinegar at first but within a day, the smoke smell and the vinegar smell will be gone.

 

Images courtesy of Grant Cochrane/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net