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...
Beth says
Do you think putting vinegar in these will help prevent mold?
Nikki says
This looks great! I am excited to try it. Because we don’t keep food coloring on hand, I am going to try using a bit of green tea for green and hibiscus for red. I’ll post on my blog about it and let you know how it turns out!
Rebecca says
The salt is a mold preventative, but if you think it’s interfering with your gelatin, you could leave that out and try the vodka instead! Keep in mind that alcohol does make it set more softly, too, but it should still set up!
I have a couple friends who have had issues with it setting up as well. I admit I’m perplexed because every time I’ve made these they set up like a treat!
Diana says
I love this idea, I tried the lavender recipe exactly but it did not gel at all, reading through your replies you suggest it may be the gelatine at fault, however the same packet of gelatine has worked well with my fruit juice jellies at much lower concentration, so I’m still a bit puzzled as to why it has not set at all. Incidentally what is the purpose of the salt? I feel it could be reacting somehow with the essential oil and causing the problem maybe, if so can it be left out? Really want to be able to make this work for me! Many thanks
Christine says
I like this recipe for making the air fresheners. This will be my next project. Thanks! I really like the doTERRA brand essential oils. My FB page is http://www.facebook.com/peppermintoilandmore
messy says
Rebecca, I don’t beleive that is the answer both times I had purchase a brand new package. It seems to be to much water with the two cups. I have tried twice now.
Rebecca says
I can’t imagine it’s anything else, Messy, if you followed my instructions, because one ounce of gelatin is an entire box (4 packets) of Knox brand unflavoured gelatine. With 2 1/2(ish) teaspoons (and 1/4 ounce) per packet x 4 packets, you have the power to gel up 8 cups of liquid.
These set up very firmly for me every time!
messy says
They did not gel at all for me followed your directions… 🙁
Rebecca says
I’m afraid it sounds like your gelatine may have been bad!
Katie says
Mine didnt gel either…it’s been 3 hours. I used Knox gelatin And poured when hot. What can I do to get them to gel?
Terri says
Where do you get the oils?
Kristin says
These sound excellent and I can’t wait to try them. Thank you for the idea/inspiration.
Annie says
Hi, thank you so much for this idea. I have literally never made anything craft like since childhood but am now happily sitting looking at 2 jars if air freshener! Feel stupidly proud if myself!!
Deborah Jennings says
I have some spray air freshener (pump spray). I am wondering if I added some Essential oil to some sweet almond oil if it would work in a spray bottle. I just may have to try this one out.
Christine says
Water and essential oil in a spray bottle works great for clearing the air or for sanitizing.
Julie L. says
There has been no response about the molding issue. I am going to try these as well & will probably give as gifts for mother’s day. Am wondering if you cover them & put them in the fridge it might stop the mold issue. But you have to wonder if that would alter the lasting power of the essential oils. The only other solution would be to make them within a few days of when you are giving them as a gift, cover maybe with a piece of pretty fabric & ribbon for looks only on the day of the gift giving with a note to uncover & display for best results.
Rebecca says
There is so much at play regarding whether or not mold with form. 1.)Are your ‘jars’ sterile? 2.)Is your water sterile? 3.)Is there naturally occurring mold in your living environment? Of the nearly 100 of these I’ve made, only 2 molded. One of those was in a very hot, very humid room. The other? Well, I just don’t know what went wrong, but it wasn’t awful, I just cleaned the jar out, ran it through the dishwasher and made another one in there that did just fine. As with anything else that doesn’t contain chemical preservatives, there is some question about whether or not it’ll grow fur, but that’s the trade off!
laree says
Jello will melt on a hot day. That may be why their stuff was runny. Mold can’t grow in sunshine, that’s what ‘they’ say anyway.
Also depending on brands and/or quality of essential oils will make a difference in now it mixes together.
All this aside thanks for the recipe! I have needed wholesome air freshener for quite some time this is very inspiring
Condo Blues says
Thank you for this! I make my own air freshener spray with essential oils but sometimes you need something a little more stickaround ifyaknowwhatImean.
Have you considered cutting corn from your dog’s diet? My dog was power scratching himself bald. I cut corn from his diet and later wheat. When I did the gas stopped!
Karen J says
Love, Love, Love this. Am burdened with multiple allergies so willbe trying this for sure.
sw33tp3a says
could one use flavored gelatin? Say use cherry gelatin & add a complimentary essential oil or two? Maybe that the flavored gelatin would promote mold? Hmmm…I’ll have to try it both ways.
Jessica says
I think that it would be super green to use old baby food jars! I have a ton of them, so it works out. Do you think that I could recover with the lids and they would be ok?
Michelle Ferris says
This made me really sad. I made a bunch for christmas, and they molded after a short while. I wasn’t even able to give them as gifts, and now I just look like a bad, giftless relative.
Addison says
My husband and I made these for our first Christmas and they really work. We made a few for our apartment first to test them out and it’s so great. Thanks for the recipe!
Prithi says
gr8 idea to have a homebased room freshner, will definetely make it at home. Thank u for sharing.
Heather says
Such an awesome idea. My friends and I can’t wait to make these. What size jars did you use and if a candle votive was used instead, how many drops of oil do you recommend for each one?