While Reed Diffusers and Spray Air Fresheners can be a lot of fun, many people prefer using only natural products to scent their homes. Herbs and Essential Oils can be used in a number of ways to create all natural Home Fresheners. Potpourri, Sachets, Aroma Crystals, and even Air Freshener Sprays can be created using either all or mostly natural ingredients. Remember to choose your Essential Oils carefully, and do plenty of research, as these potent oils can cause serious health hazards if used incorrectly.
Herbal Potpourri and Sachets
Dried Herbs and Botanicals can be charged up with additional Essential Oils to boost their natural aroma. These super charged herbs can then be added to muslin bags to make sachets or they can be displayed in containers throughout the home as dry potpourri. To create an herbal sachet or potpourri simply combine your favorite dried herbs with a few drops of a complimentary Essential Oil. Below, I’ve listed some of my favorite Herbs and Essential Oils for use in herbal potpourri and sachets:
Herbs
Chamomile Flowers
Lavender Buds, Super Blue
Jasmine Flowers
Lemongrass
Peppermint Leaf
Rose Buds
Rose Petals
Spearmint Leaf
Essential Oils
Basil
Bay
Bergamot
Chamomile
Cypress
Eucalyptus
Frankincense
Geranium
Ginger
Grapefruit
Juniper Berry
Lavender
Lemon
Lime
Mandarin
Orange
Patchouli
Peppermint
Petitgrain
Rose
Rosewood
White Sage
Spearmint
Anise
Tangerine
Vanilla
Aroma Crystals
The Essential Oils listed above can also be added to Sea Salt, Medium Grain to make Aroma Crystals. Add about 2 – 5% Essential Oil to Coarse Sea Salt to give it a strong, natural fragrance. The Aroma Crystals can be kept in a container and treated similarly to potpourri. The salt can be recharged with more Essential Oil when they begin to lose their aroma. Aroma Crystals can be left their natural color or they can be dyed using FD&C Liquid Dyes, Micas, or Oxides. You can also mix a little Potpourri in with the crystals to enhance their appearance.
Air Fresheners
You can create an incredibly simple Air Freshener by putting your favorite Hydrosol into a spray bottle. Neroli, Lemon Balm, Lavender, and Rose Hydrosols make wonderful Home Fragrance Sprays when used alone or blended together. These are the most simple and natural Air Fresheners that you can make.
If you would like something a little more involved you can use Polysorbate 20 to make your Essential Oils water dispersible. Add an equal amount of Polysorbate 20 to your favorite blend of Essential Oils to make them water dispersible. The water dispersible Essential Oil Blend can then be added to Hydrosol or Distilled Water to create an Air Freshening Spray. 1/8 to 1/4 ounce of Water Dispersible Essential Oil should be enough to scent 4 ounces of water. When making Air Freshener Sprays that include Essential Oils it is important to keep in mind that many Essential Oils can rapidly degrade plastic. The most notorious culprits are spice and citrus oils, but many other Essential Oils can cause similar problems. This is especially problematic when making Air Freshening Sprays as the Essential Oils can damage the sprayer tops, leaving them useless. When making Essential Oil Air Fresheners it is always best to test a small batch to see how it behaves in your chosen packaging before making multiple bottles.
Dear NATURAL BEAUTY. sometimes i think that i’m alone on my mission against commercial air fresheners. i do not think that people ever read labels: the ingredients many commercial air fresheners have in them are just terrifying. and yet, very few people are making connection between the chemicals in air fresheners and their asthma symptoms.
please, make sure to stress the fact that your fragrances, potpourri and sachets have no harmful chemicals.
I have personally found that commercial air fresheners and potpourris can irritate my breathing and my skin. Natural, handmade alternatives are fun to make, easy to formulate, and can be created to reflect your personal taste in a way that most commercial items cannot. All in all, handmade home products are pretty rewarding all around!
hii i m also manufacturer of air fresheners and i also want to manufacture safe air fresheners. can i use distill water with some quantity o of hydrosols. what is the shelf life of this air freshener. also suggest me some natural presevative or safe preservatives
Yes, you can blend distilled water with hydrosols, as hydrosols are water-based. While we cannot advise on the shelf life, we do offer a number of water soluble natural preservatives, such as, Aspen Bark Extract Powder, Blackcurrant Powdered Extract Powder, Lactobacillus Ferment and LactoCoconut Extract.