Room Freshener Ideas

Mulled Cider

• Take away a stale smell in a closed house in winter while you brew a pot of cider to chase away winter chills. Just add mulling spices in a muslin sack to an open pot of cider. Mixed apple and cranberry juice make another tasty base. And you can always make mulled wine for the grown-ups. The mulling spices will release their fragrance as the liquid heats, and your home will smell as delicious as the warm mug of spiced fruit juice. You can simmer dried citrus peels, cinnamon sticks and a splash of vanilla in a pot of water all day for an air freshener you won't be drinking.
  
  

Vinegar

• Place a bowl of vinegar in a room in a protected spot where no one will spill it and pets won't drink it. The vinegar clears odors from the air and will even clean the air of cigarette smoke. Alternate vinegar with small, open bowls of baking soda. Baking soda does the same great job of absorbing odors in a room as it does in your refrigerator.
  
  

Green Plants

• A big spider plant or bamboo plant may help to freshen the air in the room. Plants breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen, and according to the University of Minnesota Extension, a NASA study determined that many common houseplants may even help to remove pollutants from the air. Plants tested included those that grow well indoors in low light like spiders, English ivy, several philodendrons, Ficus benjamina and peace lilies, among other plants. Grow herbs in the kitchen to use in cooking and to scent the air with their particular perfumes. Touch the plants and they will give up their scent.
  
  

Salty Citrus

• Cut an orange, lemon or grapefruit in half. Scoop out the pulp to eat and partly fill the halves with salt. Place the fruit halves in small bowls to keep them upright and tuck them in a corner or behind a collectible or some books in a room. The salt absorbs stale odors and the citrus releases its clean smell in the room. This works in the refrigerator as well.
  
  

Cinnamon Stick Tea Lights

• Line the outside of an inexpensive glass tea light holder with short sticks of cinnamon. An easy way to do this is to connect the cinnamon sticks with thin jewelry-making wire or twine and then tie and glue the connected mat of cinnamon around the glass cylinder. When the candle heats the tea light, the scent of cinnamon is released in the room.