7 Traditional Room Fresheners Adding Scent to Your Homes

Buying a wonderful residential apartment or flat in a coveted residential locality is often considered the culmination of dreams and aspirations. This is partly true, but the real dream is living a beautiful life in your beautiful home. And having a fresh and fragrant home space is an important part of this dream.

Magazines and e-commerce stores are full of advertisements for room sprays and air fresheners. While these successfully but temporarily mask bad odours, they come with a host of health concerns. From damaging the ozone layer to causing nasal irritation, from exasperating asthma to causing migraines, the downside of using synthetic air fresheners far outweighs the benefits. Here are some traditional room fresheners that can help keep our homes smelling sweet without any of these concerns.

• Essential oils 

Essential oils are great for giving your room a mild but very aromatic scent, making your home space delightfully attractive. Essential oils can be used in electric oil dispensers, reed diffusers, and even as additives in non-toxic homemade sprays. You can pick from various fragrances, including lavender, rose, peppermint, eucalyptus, tea tree, jasmine, sandal, lemon, ylang-ylang, frankincense, and neroli.

• Dried potpourri

One of the most common traditional room fragrances is potpourri sachets, which can be slipped into closets or cupboards or placed in open bowls to keep the home smelling divine. Dry flower petals or leaves from rose, jasmine, mogra, lily, lavender, and lemongrass are great additions to your potpourri packs. You can add grated orange and lemon rinds, dried fruit, and spices into these sachets.

• Incense sticks

Lighting incense sticks are a common tradition in Indian homes. Incense sticks can be made in many ways, but most are smeared with essential oils and lit to dispense the fragrance. The common concern with incense sticks is the smoke they give off and the fragrance. Several low-smoke options are available that can be a good option for you.

• Ground coffee 

Here is a popular deodoriser and traditional room freshener that most people swear by – freshly ground coffee beans. Scientific studies establish a positive correlation between coffee smell and good mood, even among non-coffee drinkers.  

• Herb concoction

One of the easiest ways to get your home to smell wonderful is by boiling a concoction of herbs, spices, and citrus fruits. This traditional room freshener is a good way to prepare your home before parties or get-togethers. You can boil slivers of oranges, lemons, cinnamon sticks, cardamom, star anise, flower petals, and other aromatics in a big pot and let it simmer for a while.

• Gel room scent

Gel room scents are non-toxic and very mild but a good solution to make your room feel fresh. You can also make your own gel scent by adding unflavoured gelatine with essential oil and pouring them into small jars.

• Baking bliss

There is nothing that smells as wonderful as freshly baked cookies. There is a positive association between the aroma of baked goods and joyful emotions. Use this to your advantage and bake cookies or desserts before hosting an event at home.

Conclusion

While traditional room fresheners work great, there is no substitute for cleaning your home, which is well-ventilated and odour-free. When done right, deep cleaning and using traditional fragrances together can work wonders for your home.