Homemade Air Freshener: Breathe happy without the toxic mess.

Dec
2012

Homemade air freshener - This stuff is easy to make, super cheap, and isn't full of the dangerous toxins of commercial products.

Homemade air freshener is probably one of the easiest and cheapest things you can make. But beyond those reasons, ditching the toxic stuff is important. Really important. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start with a story…

About a year ago I was sitting in the foyer at my church watching my then little baby crawling around. It was an enjoyable morning. Calm. Peaceful. But then a slightly unpleasant smell began to tickle my nose. I looked over to see a little pile of kiddie vomit a couple of feet away from me.

Yuck.I was about to investigate the situation when a man quickly came running down the hall, brimming with purpose. He had a wash cloth and a little blue spray bottle in his hand. He rushed over the to pile, wiped it up, and then sprayed it with some Febreeze. Everyone around the situation looked relieved. I didn’t think much of it.

At least not until the fumes of the air “freshener” (ha!) reached my nose. All of a sudden I was dizzy, nauseous, and repulsed by the toxic fumes of that chemical mess. Despite the unpleasantness of the kid vomit, this cover-up was way worse! I grabbed my baby and left immediately.

Ditch the toxic air freshener!

I could write a really lengthy post about the dangers of air fresheners. But instead I’ll just talk about some of the ingredients of one of the most popular air fresheners (rhymes with just-sneeze):

Acetaldehyde: This is a known carcinogenthat has reproductive and development effects, immune system toxin, and irritant to the skin, eyes, and lungs.
Fragrance: One of the most generalize terms that can contain up to 400 ingredients, most of which have a long list of health concerns from depression to headaches to skin irritations and beyond.
Propylene Glycol: Another known carcinogen, propylene glycol is toxic to the immune system, is linked to allergies, accumulates in the body and irritates the skin, eyes, and lungs.
1,3-Dichloro-2-propanol: A cancer causing toxin.
Limonene: An allergen, immune system toxin, and irritant to the eyes, skin, and lungs.
Methyl pyrrolidone: Reproductive system toxin linked to birth defects, allergies, immune system toxicity, and skin, eyes, and lung irritation.
Alcohol, denatured: In this form it is linked to cancer, birth defects, organ system toxicity, and skin, eyes, and lung irritation.
Butylphenyl methylpropional: An allergen, irritant, and immune system toxin.
Ethyl acetate: This is a neurotoxin which is also linked to developmental and reproductive issues.
Benzaldehyde: Also a neurotoxin and skin, lung, and eye irritator

Of course, Proctor and Gamble don’t want you to know what’s in their “happy little air freshener” and only discloses three ingredients on their Febreze-brand products. Thankfully, the Environmental Working Group (EWG)—an American-based non-profit that advocates for health protection—found a whopping 87 chemicals in Febreze Air Effects.

Once again clever marketing has convinced people into thinking that they are “cleaning” and “deodorizing” the air for a more sanitary and healthy environment. But really these air fresheners are a serious threat to our health and environment.

Just. Say. NO.

Homemade Air Freshener is the way to go…

Thankfully, I was never a fan of air fresheners… even long before I went all hippe-diy-toxic-free. But I still HATE being bombarded with these fumes in other places. And it’s a crying shame because it’s just. so. easy. to make your own homemade air freshener.

And it’s cheap.

And toxic-free.

And did I mention easy? Good. Because it is.

So here is the simple solution to toxic garbage floating around in the AIR YOU BREATHE. You can keep it simple and just deodorize or add a little essential oil fun to give a natural aroma to your air. Your choice.