All-Natural Carpet Freshener

Photo by asromanov

I’m one of those women who is obsessed with things smelling good whether it be myself, my family or my home.  I have super olfactory senses and can detect the faintest hint of anything.  (I have super taste buds too, but that’s a different post.) If it’s rank, I seek it out to rid my home, and nasal passages, of the offender.

Case in point, I did this three days ago when some unknown odor was stinking up my clean kitchen.  Even the kids noticed and that’s saying something.  Usually the culprit is the trash, but this time it was our fancy stainless steel step-on garbage can.  It had to be dealt with immediately.  Despite the fact that I had not been able to move much from a locked-up neck and severe pain, I was determined to make my kitchen smell clean again.  There I was at 11:00pm taking the garbage can apart.  Yes, you read that right.  I took it apart.  I scoured like crazy and put it back together just fine, thank you very much.

An ongoing malodorous offender has been the carpet.  Though we have leased a nice home, the owners had a few large dogs that ruined the carpet.  They replaced a great deal of it with hardwood but our family room and bedrooms still smell bad.  You can imagine how hard it is to live with the constant fragrance of Eau to Dog Urine.  Therefore, we have gone through quite a bit of carpet freshener.

Out of Arm & Hammer Pet Deodorizer, I decided to make my own.  All it took was some baking soda and several drops of lemon oil.  Of course, baking soda is easy to find at any Walmart, Target or local grocery store.  I purchased several four pound boxes because they’re cheap and clean so many household items naturally.

The essential oil may be a little harder to find depending on your city.  I purchased mine at a high-end, specialty grocery store that has a Healthy Living section with all kinds of essential oils.  You may be able to find essential oils at your local craft store in the soap or candle making aisles.  Below is the recipe which can easily be doubled, tripled, quadrupled….

All-Natural Carpet Freshener

• 1 cup of baking soda
• 10-20 drops of your favorite essential oil (my favorites are tea tree and lemon)

Mix together well then sprinkle on your carpet.  I spooned out larger amounts on specific spots and rubbed it in.  Let it sit for several minutes then vacuum.  The result is a fresher smelling carpet for pennies per application.