How to Get Rid of Odors Using Common Household Products
Most people buy products on a regular basis that can double as air fresheners with little to no effort. You just need to know which ones to use. Ready for some help? Good. Here are ten ways to overcome the smells in your life with common household products.
1) Arm & Hammer Baking Soda. In a sixteen-ounce trigger spray bottle, add two teaspoons of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda to two cups of water. Shake Well. Next, spray the air of any room or area to banish bad odors. To deodorize a closet or refrigerator, place an open box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda on a shelf.
2) Bounce. Inside of an air-conditioning vent or on top of a fan, tape a Bounce dryer sheet. It will blow fragrant air throughout the house. You can also place Bounce sheets under mattresses, sofa cushions and carpets to improve their smell. Don’t forget to use them in your hamper and drawers. Be sure to take advantage of the different varieties of this products in order to vary the sweet fragrances floating through your home.
3) Downy. In a sixteen-ounce trigger spray bottle, add one tablespoon of Downy liquid fabric softener and water. Shake well. Then spray the air. You’ll be surprised at how much better it smells afterwards.
4) Heinz White Vinegar. In order to remove stubborn smells lingering in the air from cooking, paint and cigarettes, place a small bowl of Heinz White Vinegar in the room. You can also put it in a spray bottle and spritz it around the room. This solution will act as an odor neutralizing foul smells.
5) Car Freshener Pine Trees. Those strongly scented Car Freshener Pine Trees can be used to improve the odor of other things besides your vehicle. If you hang them on a blind in front of a window or taped against an air conditioner, it will freshen up your home. You can also bring one to work to battle interoffice odors.
6) Kingsford Charcoal Briquets. If you place a clean, used coffee can filled with charcoal briquets in a closet or chest, it will absorb odors. (Warning: Make sure the briquets are unused and fresh also.)
7) Maxwell House Coffee. Using fresh grounds of Maxwell House Coffee, fill a bowl and place it in a room. It will deodorize and freshen that room.
8) McCormick Vanilla Extract. Before vacuuming a room, saturate a cotton ball with vanilla extract and place it in the vacuum bag. Then, as you pick up dirt from the rug, you’ll also be perfuming the air.
9) Mennen Speed Stick. By removing the lid from a Mennen Speed Stick and placing it in an area (i.e. closet drawers, linen closets, cars), you’ll deodorize it. You can also use a knife to slice it and place chunks around the house. (Warning: Because it can leave a stain, be sure to put it in some type of container to prevent movement from where it’s place, like a carefully bent piece of foil.)
10) Nestea, ReaLemon and Mr. Coffee Filter. Make one quart of Nestea according to the directions on the container and add four tablespoons of ReaLemon lemon juice to it. Next, strain this mixture through a paper coffee filter. Pour it into an empty trigger-spray bottle and spritz in the area with the offensive smell. It will neutralize it.
Now that you know alternative ways to attack those unwanted smells in your life, here are some facts to meditate on about the air, itself.
* Air is composed of 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen and 1 percent trace elements.
* Air is invisible, odorless and tasteless to humans.
* Humans are able to live at least 24 hours with food and water. Yet, they can only last a few minutes without air.
* You’ll die first of carbon dioxide poisoning (not oxygen deprivation) if locked in a completely sealed room.
*Your left lung takes in less air than your right lung.
