Welcome back to the Belle Casa Berks and Bucks Blog, and it’s now time to say it. Halloween has been and gone, the sales have started and the evenings are drawing in – yes, Christmas is on the way! There are likely to be a lot of people around your house this winter period and you will want to keep your home smelling as fresh as possible, and not of stale turkey and gravy! So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at some of our favourite homemade air freshener solutions.
Why are homemade air fresheners so awesome?
All of these air freshener ‘recipes’ are all-natural and allow you to experience the health benefits of essential oils at the same time, yet they don’t smell fake like commercial air fresheners do! It is also cheap to mix them up so no need to buy expensive ingredients for your homemade air freshener! But best of all, you can play around with the scents and even mix them up a bit to suit them to yours and your family own tastes. Well, not tastes, but you know what I mean!
Let’s start with the Basics…
So, let’s begin at the beginning. The simple homemade air freshener recipe starts with a humble 8oz spray bottle. These are available pretty much everywhere. That doesn’t mean you can double or even triple the recipes if you want to make a batch at any point, though!
The basic air freshener recipe starts with vodka. Vodka allows the essential oils and water to mix more effectively, and also helps it dry faster when it settles. And whilst it makes the better air freshener, we understand that there are many reasons why people don’t want alcohol in the house, so please do substitute for rubbing alcohol or even real vanilla extract.
DIY Air Freshener Spray Formula:
- 3/4 cup water (tap water is perfect, but distilled is fine too)
- 2 tablespoons vodka, rubbing alcohol, or real vanilla extract
- One of the essential oil combinations below
Recipes, or ‘Flavour Combinations’!
Right, let’s get into our favourite three recipes for your homemade air fresheners.
Summer Citrus Air Freshener Spray
- 5 drops wild orange essential oil
- 4 drops lemon essential oil
- 4 drops lime essential oil
- 5 drops grapefruit essential oil
Woodsy Air Freshener Spray
- 7 drops white fir essential oil
- 6 drops cedarwood essential oil
- 5 drops frankincense essential oil
Deodorizing Air Freshener Spray
- 4 drops melaleuca essential oil (aka tea tree oil)
- 8 drops lemon essential oil
- 6 drops eucalyptus essential oil
BONUS: Try this cosy winter holiday Air Freshener Spray
- 6 drops wild orange essential oil
- 5 drops cassia essential oil
- 5 drops clove essential oil
Belle Casa Berks and Bucks are your one stop shop to a sparkly home this winter period! Get in touch today to find out about our domestic cleaning services or ironing services. Or read our previous blogs for more tips and tricks!
So there you have it – our favourite homemade air freshener recipes. Top tip – make sure you give them a good shake before you use them as the essential oils will naturally settle at the bottom of the spray bottle.
The money you save on expensive and often ineffective air fresheners can go towards taking the family out for a lovely day out before Christmas gets into full swing. Here at Belle Casa, we have you covered! Take the train lover in the family to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre.
Buckinghamshire Railway Centre
Why not head down to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre – a 25-acre working steam museum with one of the UK’s largest collections of locomotives, rolling stock and railway memorabilia.
They are open every Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday from April -October, and Wednesdays during the school holidays. Their ‘Steaming Days’ are great fun for all the family when you can take a ride on a full-size steam train, and also, for a small fee, you can go for a ride on their miniature ride-on railway. Find their full calendar here.
As well as the 1890s station building, they have an impressive glass-roofed visitor centre – the former Oxford Rewley Road station – with café, gift shop, stunning Royal Dining Coach from 1901. They also have a coach used by Winston Churchill and Dwight D Eisenhower for secret war strategy planning meetings!
The Travelling Post Office
You can also take a tour of the fabulous exhibition hall housing magnificently restored exhibits, with tracks displaying priceless vehicles awaiting restoration. The Buckinghamshire Railway Centre’s ‘Travelling Post Office’ tells the story of moving mail by rail and visitors can even have a go at sorting mail!
Special Events
On top of this, they also hold several Special Events throughout the year, not just ‘Days out with Thomas™’ for younger fans but also steam locomotive galas and historic transport rallies – buses, commercial vehicles, full-size and miniature traction engines, not forgetting Santa’s Magical Adventures at Christmas! Visit them at www.bucksrailcentre.org for all information.
What’s not to love? Make your homemade air fresheners in good time and keep your home smelling lovely and fresh this winter. It’s by getting ahead with things like this that you can keep stress away and have trips to keep the kids, and big kids, happy!
Belle Casa Berks and Bucks is your one-stop domestic cleaning service. Our dedicated and professional staff can provide cleaning and ironing services at a very reasonable price, and our dedication to customer service means that if you are not happy with anything – anything at all – we are on hand to put it right for you. Your happiness and comfort are of the utmost importance to us. Get in touch today and let us give you a hand with the household chores!
