Greener Spring Cleaning: Part 2 (Homemade Room Freshening Spray)

Got stinky stuff in your home? Yep, we all do from time to time. Here, I will share my tried-and-true recipe for making room freshening spray out of totally safe and natural ingredients. Don't worry, it tackles the tough stuff from greasy kitchen odors and smelly trash cans to bathroom funk (including diaper pails!) just as well as store-bought sprays.

The difference is that instead of masking the smell with artificial fragrances and other chemical nastiness, this simply eliminates it! Behold the power of baking soda. The vinegar helps to kill any bacteria that is lurking in your home and possibly causing those less-than-pleasant smells in the first place. Mixing up some room freshening spray is quick and cheap to do with three simple ingredients that you should already have on hand. (And if you don't, trust me, you will be getting these soon, because they are just that important for homemade cleaning solutions.)

Homemade Room Freshening Spray

• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Combine ingredients in a new (not one that previously contained chemicals!) spray bottle.
2. Shake gently and spray as needed. A few mists should get rid of even the toughest household odors.

{3-Ingredient All Natural Room Freshener}

Other Tips:

• I learned about this recipe from Green Grandma's book, Vinegar Fridays, which is a great resource for natural cleaning solutions (and many more uses for vinegar).
• A funnel comes in handy when filling your bottle, but it is not necessary.
• I store my bottle of room spray in the main bathroom, but you can make more than one bottle and store it wherever you will need to use it.
• You can also use this as a fabric refresher. Just spray onto fabrics and allow to dry. Again, baking soda is a natural deodorant and the vinegar kills and yucky odor-causing germs so this is just as effective as Febreze -- just without the scary chemicals that you shouldn't be inhaling.
• Be sure to label your bottle with a permanent marker. Include the recipe so that when you need a new batch, you don't have to look it up.
• If you want to prevent the marker from getting rubbed off over time, just add a piece of clear packaging tape over the top.
• You can find spray bottles at Dollar Tree, IKEA, Target, and craft stores.
• You do not need to buy name brand baking soda. I just found this on sale, so that is what I have. I tend to stock up and buy several boxes whenever I find a good deal since this is a staple at our house. 
• The above is true of the vinegar, too. I tend to buy the one-gallon jugs from Kroger because that is usually my best deal.
• I don't personally add a scent to my room spray, but if you like you could add a few drops (say 3-5) of essential oils such as lavender or orange just to give it a little extra something-something.

For more tips on homemade cleaners, check out my previous posts:

• Homemade Window Cleaners
• Homemade Laundry Detergent
• Greener Cleaner Experiment (my first foray into homemade cleaners -- from 2010)