Your home should be your sanctuary, which means you want it to be a clean and comforting place with smells that help you relax instead of making you gag. Sometimes it can be hard to get your home clean or smelling good, especially if you have pets or children. It’s also a never-ending battle because you have to clean on a daily basis if you want to keep the mess from getting out of control.
You also want to do what you can to reduce exposure to chemicals in your home, for your own health and that of the other people (or animals) living in your home. Chemical-based cleaners can be toxic in the air, and if you have a pet that might eat something off the floor (you know how dogs like to lick up spills) you’re risking poisoning them when you’re using cleaners filled with toxic chemicals.
Know Your Products
Start out by knowing the products you’re using and looking at the ingredients in them. Consider purchasing cleaning products that specify they are non-toxic. There are plenty of environmentally healthy brands of cleaners out there, for your entire home cleaning project.
You can also use some of the products you already have in your home to clean with, which will save money and your senses. Things like toothpaste, peroxide, baking soda, white vinegar, lemons, and even natural oils can all be used to make your home cleaners and have it smelling good.
White vinegar is a must for cleaning your coffee maker, removing stains and mold. Salt can be used as an abrasive scrubbing agent and can be mixed with baking soda and peroxide for deep cleaning. Mix natural scents, like lavender, into your homemade cleaners for a beautiful smelling home.
Freshen The Air Naturally
It’s easy to create a better aroma in your home without making the air you breathe a chemical cesspool. It can be especially handy for people with allergies to use natural products to scent their homes as well. Instead of buying aerosol sprays or stinky candles, here are some suggestions for better air quality in your home:
- Invest in an air purifier- this removes stink and toxins from the air in your home making you breathe cleaner. Great for homes with pets and smokers too.
- Make your own spray- you can combine any scent you’d like with a carrier oil that is a lighter liquid or even with rubbing alcohol, to make it easy to spray and allow enough to fill a spray bottle. Scents like lavender and chamomile are calming. Scents like lemon and peppermint are invigorating. Make sure you shake well before you spray!
- Invest in a diffuser- you can use those same natural oils in an aroma diffuser to get them out into your home. You can do a little research to find the best scents for your home and the atmosphere you want to create.
You can also choose to fill your home with plants. Plants naturally help clean the air and some of them, like ferns and aloe, actually clean toxins from the air too!