Suzanne O’Connor’s Bargains LA

Green Tips

During the winter months, thank heaven spring is on the way, we tend to do heavier cooking: Roasts, stir fry, broiled meats, etc. This comfort food often leaves our home smelling like an old diner kitchen. To add to the odor is our fireplace which we have been using regularly. Often too chilly to open windows during the day, I am left spraying with Oust for a whole day to get rid of the odor and keep the place smelling fresh.

Though Oust works, it isn’t cheap or good for the environment, so when I came across a list of alternatives to freshen up the house from Readers Digest, I took note.

* Pomanders have been used for centuries to fill small spaces with a delightful fragrance as well as to combat moths. They are also incredibly easy to make: Take a bunch of cloves and stick them into an orange, covering the whole surface. That’s it. Pretty simple, huh? Now suspend your pomander using a piece of string, twine, or monofilament fishing line inside a closet or cupboard, and it will keep the space smelling fresh for years.

* Fill your abode with a refreshing citrus scent by simmering several orange and/or lemon peels in 1-2 cups of water in an aluminum pot for a few hours. Add water as needed during the simmering. This process freshens up the pot as well as the air in your home.

* Layer rose petals and salt in a pretty jar with a tight-fitting lid. Remove the lid to freshen the room.

* Dried orange and lemon peels are a far superior choice for use as kindling than newspaper. Not only do they smell better and produce less creosote than newspaper, but the flammable oils found inside the peels enable them to burn much longer than paper.

* Is an unpleasant odor wafting from your garbage disposal? Freshen it up with salt. Just dump in 1/2 cup salt, run the cold water, and start the disposal. The salt will dislodge stuck waste and neutralize odors.

*You don’t have to use an aerosol spray to neutralize foul-smelling cat-box odors or freshen the air in your bathroom. Just cut a couple of lemons in half. Then place them, cut side up, in a dish in the room, and the air will soon smell lemon-fresh.

*When your humidifier starts to smell funky, deodorize it with ease: Just pour 3 or 4 teaspoons lemon juice into the water. It will not only remove the off odor but will replace it with a lemon-fresh fragrance. Repeat every couple of weeks to keep the odor from returning.

*It’s an old Realtor’s trick. Put a drop or two of vanilla extract on a lightbulb, turn on the light, and your house will be filled with the appealing scent of baked goods in the oven.

I hadn’t picked up a Readers Digest in years, but now with the economy sinking, this old, Doctor’s office standby surprisingly carries a ton of money saving, frugal, good for the environment tips. Old fashioned…. You bet. But old is new again.

Banish Bad Odors Read