Here's how:
Use a hammer and and a nail to poke holes in the lid of a small canning jar. (The heart is a nice touch, but clearly not necessary)
Fill the jar about 1/4 full with baking soda
Add 6-8 drops of lavender essential oil
Put lid on and place in any spot that could use some freshening. Every once in a while, give the jar a gentle shake to boost it's air freshening power.
I've made several, and I use them in my linen closet, under my kitchen sink (which is where the stinky garbage can is) and in the bathroom.
This powder is also useful for removing odours from carpets and upholstery. And it's already in a handy shaker! Just sprinkle on your sofa or a spot on your carpet that needs to be deodorized, let sit for a little while, and then vacuum it up.
You could, of course, substitute your favorite essential oil for the lavender. And you crafty ladies could certainly pretty up the jar a little bit too!
NOTE: As with any cleaning product (even the reasonably safe and friendly ones), keep out of reach of children and pets.
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I use baking soda to clean the stains from my china teacups and coffee cups. I LOVE this product~!
ReplyDeleteAWESOME idea! Thanks for sharing on the Homemaker on a Dime Blog Hop! Your newest follower, www.project-purple.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI use plain baking soda as a room deodorizer. I never thought of adding essential oil to it. *runs out of the room to get essential oil*
ReplyDeleteGreat idea!
ReplyDeleteI just started a linky party this past Tuesday. It was a great success with over 50 link ups! I would love it if you would participate ToDaY! It's called $10 Tuesdays and it's for things that cost less than $10 and take 20-30 mins (ish) to complete. I love inexpensive and quick projects and I'm guessing others will too ;) Thanks so much for considering.
Tina
http://sweetfloweret.blogspot.com/
spam.
DeleteOHH how fab! I have both of those ingredients plus a mason jar..so I am going to do this! Thank you for sharing :)
ReplyDelete-Lindsay
Delighted Momma
Thanks for linking up this great post at the Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop :)
ReplyDeleteLOVE this idea...thank you so much for sharing it!
ReplyDeleteHi, girlie! This is featured at Recognition Day Thursday found here: http://www.homemakeronadime.com/2011/05/recognition-day-thursday-do-able.html. Please feel free to grab the feature button :)
ReplyDeleteI love this idea...I'm definitely going to try it. I'm your latest follow, love your blog!
ReplyDeleteI did this only, instead of poking holes in the lid, I used a bit of light weight woven fabric held in place by the normal ring. It totally works and looks pretty too.
ReplyDeleteThis is an awesome idea!!! :D Must try!!! Especially near the kitties litter box. ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this!!! I love the idea and I will do it right away!!!So nice....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theresmagicineveryday.com
I tried this but mine doesn't smell :( maybe the essential oil is no good.
ReplyDeleteLove this!! I feature it on my blog!
ReplyDeletehttp://formamas.blogspot.com/2011/07/homemade-air-freshener.html
Thank you for your inspiration!
love love love!
ReplyDeleteGreat DIY. I quoted your air freshener tutorial on my blog http://karboojeh.wordpress.com
ReplyDeleteThank you for the inspiration. I made a baking soda + musk deodorizer, and it smells heavenly! God bless
Beautiful idea. I am so going to do this. I found you on Stumbledupon. I am new follower on blogger and Facebook.
ReplyDeleteJulie
http://julesmpg.blogspot.com
This looks like an awesome idea and sort of a fun craft. I'm involved in a Mothers of Preschooler fellowship and would like to suggest this for one of our crafts. Do you think using baby food jars would work as well? I'm afraid canning jars would strain our craft budget to buy and I doubt there is anyone willing to donate 30 of them so everyone can make one.
ReplyDeleteI saw another pin on Pinterest that used baby food jars for this type of project. They would work great and you're recycling! The other pin was using gelatin and essential oils to make a gel air Freshener. This pin suggestion is cheaper and better for us in my opinion.
Deletelove it! and i prefer it to buying something chemically & costing more than it should at the store
ReplyDeleteContrary to very popular belief, baking soda is actually fairly poor at absorbing odour.
ReplyDeleteMuch of the push for doing this comes from the producers themselves, since it sure sells a lot more boxes of baking soda than are actually used for baking.
To copy text from an "Ask a Scientist" site...
The popular "open box of Arm & Hammer in the refrigerator" simply provides an adsorbent material that can soak up odors -- but not very effectively. For example, if some of the odoriferous materials floating around in the refrigerator are acidic, the alkaline baking soda can absorb and neutralize the acid. Even in that regard, it is not all that effective because, as the powder in the box contacts water vapor, it tends to crust over an lose a great deal of its already limited surface activity. It all sounds quite nice, but it does not work very well. Far better would be a canister of activated charcoal because it can indeed adsorb vapors that contact the charcoal.
To me, it seemed odd to mix lavendar with the baking soda. We expect the air freshener to release the lavendar scent, but how can it if the soda "absorbs" odors? Seems counter-productive, doesn't it? I use baking soda in my fridge and I like the way the jar looks and would like to try this natural, low-cost project. I'm no pessimist, and I think there's nothing wrong with sharing information and asking questions when something doesn't make sense. Thanks for sharing this project! :-)
DeleteI am a smoker and my 1 year old Jeep smelled horrible. I had tried numerous air fresheners and I have a professional detailer that cleans it every 2 weeks and nothing was helping the smoke odor. I googled it and came across an article about putting baking soda in a cup and just sitting it in a cup holder. I did this and it absorbed the odor overnight. I am a HUGE believer in baking soda, not only does it work, it is super cheap. The best of both worlds!
Deletecut am apple in half and leave in car,takes away cigarette odors! who would of thought?!
DeleteI would love to add my two cents to the OP above regarding the ineffectiveness of baking soda as an order absorber. My personal experience is that upon knocking over a cup of coffee in my car cupholder, I immediately sopped up the liquid, then filled the cupholder with baking soda. The next morning there was NO smell of coffee whatsoever - so yes, baking soda to absorb order does work effectively in removing odors. I would question the use or addition of EO to baking soda unless you add enough EO to create a pleasant smelling scent. But since baking soda works so great on its own, why bother with the EO? Just place a pretty bowl and fill it part way with baking soda and let it do its job.
DeleteThere always has to be a pessimist out there.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information (whoever you are- "anonymous"), but the rest of us tend to like the baking soda & e. oils idea!
But you can go ahead and put your charcoal in a jar and enjoy. :) Have a great day!
I loved the easy-green-n-cheap idea but it didn't work the way I expected. I used about 10 drops of lavender essential oil, but I can only smell lavender if I bring the jar really close to my nose :)
DeleteShake the jar a little everyday, you'll smell it.
DeleteI am going to try this! Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteWow its really easy... i'll try it for sure...thanks for sharing dear! :)
ReplyDeleteThis may be a dumb question...but if you add essential oil to the baking soda, isn't the baking soda going to absorb the smell of the essential oil??
ReplyDeleteI love the idea though, just curious if it will work?
I was going to mention the myth about baking soda and odors, but Anon beat me to it. Really, it doesn't do much except give the Essential Oil a place to vaporize. Why not use rock salt, EO, and lavender flowers or dried rose buds to look prettier in the jar instead of baking soda. My kids would use that sucker as a giany salt shaker anyway, and rock salt would be harder to get out the little holes! Sea shells would look good too.
ReplyDeletewhat else can i use as substitute for lavender oil?can i use perfume instead?
ReplyDeleteBaking soda has so many uses! I use it to scrub the kitchen and bathroom too. I hate inhaling the harsh chemicals in regular cleaners. Thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to try it and see alot of homemade cleaning ideas. Where do you purchase the essentials oils? The only ones I have found are costly
ReplyDeleteI found mine at Michael's!
DeleteYou are paying for what you get. I love doTERRA because I know I am getting a certified pure oil. I know that I am not getting any fillers. The reason there are cheaper oils out there is because they are using fillers plus a little bit of oil. If you are interested in getting any doTERRA oils feel free to contact me.
DeleteHeather Story
801-558-6684
I really like this post. I have it pinned on my pinterest, have tried it, and wrote about it on my blog. Thanks for your post!
ReplyDeleteAnd to the anonymous person above, check out amazon.com. I was able to get a box of essential oils for a really good price. I got 6 1 oz bottles for around $20. 1 oz seems so small but it goes a LONG way with essential oils.
adaynasmile.wordpress.com
Anonymous--feel free to contact me and I would be happy to help you get in contact with some amazing essential oils--they are great for me than just the smell!!
ReplyDeleteanother neat and simple idea is to use water beads. You can find the receipe at www.waterbeadcreations.com
ReplyDeletethese are beautiful and so inexpensive to make. all you need is 1 packet of water beads, they come in a variety of beautiful colors, add water based fragrance oils and water, the beads will absorb the water and the scented oils resulting in beautiful scented water marlbes.
Instead of a mason jar, I found a "cheese shaker" at the dollar store so it already has holes!
ReplyDeleteThat is a great idea!
Deleteuse a piece of lace fabric instead of metal lid-just cut it larger than the lid so it will stick out from under the band
DeleteThere is a great book out on "Baking Soda" by Diane Sutherland, with all types of use for it, plus some neat recipes.I've tried alot of them and they work!!
ReplyDeleteI just made this today - heart design and everything. I used a Pomegranate/Vanilla essential oil and my living room already smells wonderful! I can't wait to make my Tangerine/Lychee one!
ReplyDeleteHi Kelly!
ReplyDeleteI've just found your blog and I am so thrilled!
I really love it.
I'm sure I will find such a big inspiration here!
Francesca from Italy
I would have never thought of such a wonderful idea...thank you!! I will try this as I am a sniffer xoxox
ReplyDeleteThis is such a cute idea. Baking soda is awesome at removing odors. We went fishing once and put the fish in a container in the trunk. In transit the box tipped and fish fell out. We didn't realize until days later that one fell in a crack, it was horrible. We poured baking soda on the area that smelled of rotting fish and vacuumed 2 days later and it took the odor away completely. Up until that point we thought it only worked in the fridge. Thanks for sharing this cute way of using it in the bathroom. I'll definitely use it.
ReplyDeleteFound you through Pinterest. This is such a great idea. Practical, cheap, and oh so easy! It's things like this that make me shake my head and say...now, why didn't I think of that? :) Will be making one of these asap!
ReplyDeleteLove the idea as an air freshener but wouldn't using the same jar with the oils as a cleaning agent be harmful to carpet or fabric furniture? I know it's not much in there but I'd be careful with oils like that!
ReplyDeleteInteresting idea! So the baking soda doesn't counteract the scent from the essential oils then I am assuming.
ReplyDeleteI definitely want to try this! Now I just need to find a pretty jar...
I am going to try this. I will post the results on my blog! :D
DeleteGreat idea! I have been trying to find something to do with pretty powder makeup jars and other containers to pretty to throw away.
DeleteI love the idea, going to try it out myself I think. I too have a crafts blog, so I will give you a shout out if I post!
ReplyDeleteOMG this is such a great idea. I love crafts and just recently descovered the world of Pinterest. Thats how I found your Idea. I also just started my own blog called Devine Design Overnight. It's about crafts and cooking.
ReplyDeleteYeah -- cause unlabeled small containers of white powdery substance will never be misconstrued, right?
ReplyDeleteSeriously?!?!?! You really said that? I hear what your saying, BUT your average person has no reason to worry about a small container of white powdery substance being misconstrued. And if they did, I can assure you, they wouldn't be keeping it in a pretty jar on the counter for everyone to see.... If you are worried that would be th case in your life, then by all means, don't make one.
DeleteGreat idea! Pinned! :)
ReplyDeleteHow about using one of those weird salt shakers that your relatives have given you for a Christmas present? It already has the holes and must be more attractive than a Mason jar.
ReplyDeleteI love this!! Although since I am addicted to Downy Unstoppables, I think I might put some of it in the jar instead :)
ReplyDeleteToo Fun; but my frustration comes 'bout when scent just doesn't linger long enough. I'm curious to y'alls findings...Am I the only one?...Tips?
ReplyDeleteI did It and It isn't smelling up my room at all :-\ am I doing something wrong?
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I cannot wait to try it! I shared you on my facebook page too! "The Mama Tidbits"!
ReplyDeleteMaybe the point is that the baking soda neutralizes the bad odors, not makes your room smell like lavender. Maybe....
ReplyDeleteBut Baking Soda is wonderful for a lot of things, in any case.
A different Anonymous
great idea love it, now lets c how creatively decorative i can get with this !!! Thank for sharing
ReplyDeleteThat's an adorable idea! And, if I'm not mistaken, you could use almost any fragrance in the baking soda, right? Great post, and thanks for posting pics too :D
ReplyDeleteThis is great! Visiting from Pinterest. New follower here and on Pinterest. I'm going to use your tip for sure. Looking forward to more awesome posts. You'd make my day if you came by
ReplyDeleteevescrochet.blogspot.com
Have a blessed day.
I love the idea of using a bit of lace, (or one of my huge number of flea market find doilies), held by the canning ring. I am reluctant to poke holes in a new canning lid, but it would be a great reuse of a used one.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSave any citrus peels and spices that are too old to use. Boil them in little water. They make the house smell lovely for next to nothing.
ReplyDeleteMost car air fresheners that are available these days are very effective in masking the underlying odor in your car. When searching for the best auto air freshener, you will have to check out the fragrance and also the effectiveness of the air freshener.
ReplyDeleteI think I found my homemade Christmas presents! Work friends & relatives are going to be excited!
ReplyDeletehow long would it last
ReplyDeleteI'm so loving this idea works perfectly
ReplyDeleteI really want to try this idea out! How long does it last? Do you find that the baking soda absorbs the essential oil fragrance?
ReplyDeleteI tried this but I cant smell anything..even in the bathroom with door closed..I added upto 20-22 drops of essential oil.. I would soo love for this to work and any suggestion would be really appreciated...
ReplyDeleteWell, love your idea. You are so creative. I like the homemade air freshener and I want to try it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rainingblossoms.com
Awesome idea definately will do.I am a new follower can't wait to see more deas.
ReplyDeletei did this but there is not much deodorizing happening!! Do I need bigger holes? More holes? More Oil?
ReplyDeleteYou could use glass baby food jars as well :)
ReplyDeleteWow, it's really great idea...i would like to make homemade air freshener.
ReplyDeletei love this idea...but as my contrary husband asks...if the bicarb absorbs oudor...wont it just absorb the lavendar drops??...arg. hes so contrary and i dont have a comeback...
ReplyDeleteThat is a great question, and I don't really have a scientific answer for why it still smells lavender-y...but it does. Try it, prove him wrong :)
DeleteCalifornia Scents pack three fragrance blocks in to each and every can for long lasting fragrance. They last for up to 60 days and some have been known to last past this time too!
ReplyDeleteOk..love this idea and now that I have tried it...I can't smell anything! I didn't use lavender. I used a very strong vanilla essential oil and nothing. I really had hoped this worked. I am going to try a different oil.
ReplyDelete