Have you ever noticed that males of all species have a tendency to (How can I put this delicately?) be malodorous?
I’m talking from a position of knowledge and experience here; I have a husband, five sons, and two male dogs. We also have chickens and a cat. My boys tromp all over the yard without regard to the location of dog or chicken scat. I feed my family a great deal of beans. My dogs get gassy when they’re nervous.* There are ample opportunities for ‘the stink’ to arise.
*Boy, do I wish I was joking about that. Last summer we took the dogs to a family reunion in Southern Michigan. We got stuck on the Ohio Turnpike in 90°F temperatures. Our air conditioning broke and only one of the windows in the van worked. It was the window next to yours-truly’s head. So all the air exiting the van went right. past. my. face. Remember that. It will become very important to my story in mere moments. And the dogs? Well, let’s just say being stuck in traffic was as hard on their nerves as ours. Being stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic in sweltering temperatures with a flatulent eighty-five pound hound dog and his equally foul-smelling and obese beagle buddy was -in a word- horrific. You could have calibrated a 30-second hourglass by timing the brief respite between ‘episodes’ from Hambone and Diggedy. I was traumatized. We all were.
I learned early on in my mother-of-many-boys career that eliminating the causes of ‘the stink’ was nearly impossible; I learned it was all about making a pleasant smelling oasis in each room. And I spent money on it. Oooh, baby, did I spend money; scented candles, gel air fresheners, room sprays, linen sprays, plug-in room deodorizers, misters, potpourri (sidebar: My mom fed boiled potpourri on a taco to my German exchange student friend in high school. But that’s a story for another time. Hi, Mom!)
When I learned that three of my babies had asthma, all that stuff went out the window. Actually, it went in the trash, but you savvy, right? All the pretty smelling stuff went buh-bye. Laundry detergent, fabric softener, cleaners? All unscented. Boo hoo. Poor me.
The allergist told me I could use essential oils in small amounts in little bowls or reed diffusers, but I found that the scent dissipated too quickly. I had to find something that smelled nice (or an inexpensive carbon filter face mask comfortable enough to wear 24/7) or risk losing what little sanity I had left. It took five years…
You’ve heard that necessity is the mother of invention? Well, I’m the mother of five little necessities and I had a perspiration. (My Dad defines ‘Perspiration’ as an inspiration that hurts.) Homemade all-natural, essential oil powered, gel based air fresheners. They met all the requirements to keep my poor asthmatic kids from doubling over and wheezing. They smelled great. They lasted a good long time. They were cheap to make. They had five ingredients you could find at any grocery or department store. And this mom was happy.
Now a word or two about essential oils: they’re pretty powerfully scented, so go easy on how much you add. You don’t want to add more than 30 drops per air freshener until you know just how strong your oil is. The basic air freshener base recipe is listed and my favorite scent combinations are given below it.
For a printer-friendly version of this recipe sans photos and yakety-yakety, click here!
Homemade Essential Oil Air Fresheners
Ingredients:
- 1 ounce granulated or powdered gelatin
- 2 cups cold water, divided
- 20-30 drops of your choice of essential oil
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- optional, food coloring to tint the air freshener
Also needed:
- heat-proof jars to hold the hot gelatin liquid
- a disposable chopstick or skewer to use as a stir stick
Bring one cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over the boiling water and whisk until smooth and all the gelatin is dissolved. Add the salt and the second cup of cold water and whisk. Set aside.
Add the desired amount of essential oil and food coloring, if using, to the jar(s). Quickly pour the hot liquid gelatin over the essential oil and food coloring. Stir until evenly colored.
Allow to cool, uncovered on a heat-proof surface. When it reaches room temperature, place wherever you want a lovely scent.
Sweet Basil and Lemon Air Freshener
- 20 drops Sweet Basil essential oil
- 8 drops Lemon essential oil
Rosemary Orange Air Freshener
- 25 drops Sweet Orange essential oil
- 5 drops Rosemary essential oil (The Rosemary essential oil is mighty strong stuff. Keep a light hand with this!)
Fresh Pine Scent Air Freshener
- 25 drops Fir Pine essential oil
- 3 drops Lemon essential oil
- 2 drops Sweet Orange essential oil
- 1 drop Bergamot essential oil
Pure Lavender Air Freshener
- 30 drops of Lavender essential oil
Essence of Provençe Air Freshener
- 20 drops Lavender essential oil
- 5 drops Thyme essential oil
- 2 drops Lemon essential oil
~~~
This year, if we have to take the dogs on another road trip, I’m prepared; I’ll just cram one of these up each nostril and pray.
Reader's Thoughts...
nickelzoit says
how long will it last? will the gelatin dissolve?
Megan's Cookin' says
I’m going to give this a try. I like that you can make different colors for the holiday too!
Sharon says
Wow! I am always in search of great new things and your homemade gel air fresheners are awesome–economical, cute and no chemicals. Ive got some vintage looking labels that would look good on these too! Thank you for sharing a fantastic idea.
Patty says
Thank you so much for sharing this. Such a great idea! I have 2 boys, 2 cats and a very large bullmastiff and these will certainly come in handy.
Mika says
I, too, am a mom with 4 kids, 3 of the male kind and one of the female. 3 of the four are asthmatic and we too and to remove anything that was scented. I used natural products to clean with but never once though of doing homemade air fresheners. Even though my guys and gal are grown and two are out on their own, I still have 2 male stinkers to deal with so your freshners will be made and used. I just started using a homemade laundry detergent that has a light scent which has not bothered the Asthma and it is VERY budget friendly. Thanks for sharing!
shon says
Will definitely give this a try. I came across this while searching for ways to get my plug ins to last longer…I LOVE a scented home; makes me feel all comfy. Any tips on places to buy essential oils?
Julianne Collier says
Have you every used fragrance oils? I have a lot that I need to use up. I am sure they will work just fine, but just wanted to check.
Thanks!
Aromatherapy says
Orange essential oil is one of the best fragrances and is great when diffused into the air. Not only for the smell, but for the energy and mood it brings.
Staci says
I love this idea…so simple. I’m including these in my Friday Favorites this week!
Kathy says
Any suggestions for food fragrances? facon, yeast, fresh bread, onions, etc? to put into the gelatin?
That would be nice –
Jana says
I would like to make these for gifts, can I cover them until ready to give? ( to make them last longer?)
Jenny L. says
I’m wondering this same thing. I’d love to make them ahead of time to give away for the holidays, but I’m worried how long I could keep them packaged. I wonder, would covering them in plastic and putting them in the fridge make them keep until I could give them away?
Renae says
Do these evaporate into nothing, wither and shrivel up, or just quite “smelling”?
Rebecca says
Renae- They do a little bit of each. They wither up and shrivel on the bottom, evaporate in the middle, leave a little withered plug near the top and quit smelling… When they evaporate in the center it’s time to swish the rest out with warm water and restart!
Katy R says
I wonder, have you ever tried using it for the bottom of a flower vase? (Using plastic flowers in it of course) Then you could pretend the flowers are real and use the stems to stir it lol
Rebecca says
What a great idea, Katy! You’d probably have to wait until the gelatin mixture cooled down somewhat to avoid melting the stems…
Courtney says
How long do these last? I have been unhappy with the choices in scents for air fresheners, your scent combinations sound lovely.
Rebecca says
Hi Courtney! They last about 4 weeks as long as you add ample salt or vodka to inhibit mold growth. If they start growing fur, just empty the rest of the gel out and start over 🙂
Valerie says
Hey, Beccy, where did you find the cute little jars?
Rebecca says
At the Walmarts, Val! Nothing fancy-schmancy. I believe they also have something similar at The Dollar Store (and it’s various iterations) and Dollar General.
ELENA says
were to get the essential oils??
Rebecca says
You can purchase them at http://sparknaturals.com/?id=4818 (This URL has been corrected!)
ELENA says
NO THAT WEBPAGE IS NOT AVAILABLE….
Rebecca says
I mixed up a couple of the letters. Here is the corrected URL for purchasing the essential oils:
http://sparknaturals.com/?id=4818
dapapa says
I resemble those remarks
Rebecca says
Sacha- Yes, Diggedy is short for ‘Hot Diggedy Dog’. He is an elderly shelter-acquired beagle. When we got him years ago, his shelter-given name was Mr. Beaglesworth. Ty didn’t think it suited him and renamed him within minutes. Diggedy ended up being prophetic. Boy, that dog can dig!
Cindy- Thank you! I, too, have spent beaucoup d’argent on the essential oil diffusers in the past. Let me know how your air fresheners turn out!
momgateway- Thank you so much. My kids love making these with me. They’re keen on the part of the proceedings where food coloring is added. Hence, the color of the air fresheners in the post. Holy vibrant, Batman!
Brooke says
How do we keep these from here molding ?
Rebecca says
Hi Brooke- Definitely add salt to the boiling water and dissolve before adding to the gelatine.
momgateway says
Great idea–very creative–I’d love to try this as a project with my kid! Your blog is lovely!
Cindy says
what a great idea. The essential oil diffusers I see are usually really expensive. I can’t wait to try this at home.
Sacha says
You have a dog named Diggedy?! That’s my planned name for our next dog! No kidding. As in Hot Diggedy Dog! Is that where you got it too?
Also, awesome post.