Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Home Scents With Natural Ingredients

This is the second post in my "GO GREEN" week long segment.  Please come back throughout the week to learn about ideas that might improve the environment in your home and beyond. (Yesterday we learned about house plants that will purify your air). And "GO GREEN" will be a monthly series continuing with a post in March, too!

We all love when our homes smell clean and fresh. But so many store bought, mass produced "clean scent" items such as fabric sprays, room sprays, dryer sheets and diffusers can have chemicals that will give you the opposite of clean air. In fact, some experts believe that dryer sheets can lead to kidney damage, among other health issues. {This is legit, not just a 'green sided' opinion...medical experts and the EPA have listed most common ingredients used in fabric softeners and dryer sheets as 'toxic'}.

I've been experimenting with a few DIY natural scent recipes and here are some of my favorite sources for using easy to find, natural ingredients to add a layer of scent to your home...other than the natural smell of dog, shoes and kids and husbands in general ;)

3 comments:

  1. I love this post, Amy! These kinds of products really fall through the regulatory cracks, and unfortunately many consumers assume that because a product has made it onto the shelf that it must have passed certain hurdles for human health and environmental impacts - sadly not true. The vast majority of chemicals commonly in circulation are virtually unregulated, even where risks are known or suspected.

    For the dryer, another super easy fix is to keep lavender oil handy and put a tiny dab on a sock that you're throwing in the dryer...it will spread the scent around.

    Also, for cleaning, I make a vinegar and water spray, which I add a few drops of either lavender or peppermint oil to. The vinegar scent goes away right way, but the essential oil lingers.


    xo

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    1. So glad that you like this post, Amy. There are so many things that we just take for granted or assume are safe to bring into our homes and hand to our kids. I hadn't heard that about Lavender oil...love that! I'm a vinegar and water girl, too. I'd much rather have a vinegar scent than any chemical clean scent. I've loved learning more about the 'little' things that I can do to not only have a greener home but to also not just be on the consumer highway...I love making my own scents and cleaners...and am looking forward to learning about getting back to basics in order to preserve a greener lifestyle. This was a wake up call for me. It has changed how I will be painting things from now on, too. Thanks so much for your leadership in this area and for being such a dear friend. All the best! XXXOOO.

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  2. First of all i want to thank you for providing this posts here. Because it is much essential thing to maintain a healthier and neat environment. But i am expecting much more new and updated posts.

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