12 Unexpected Uses For Cinnamon Around Your Home

There is almost certainly a jar of ground cinnamon or a few cinnamon sticks in your pantry right now. You probably use them for baking cookies, pies, and other delicious treats. But, did you know that this ingredient most commonly associated with cooking and baking offers several uses outside of the kitchen? That's right, the flavorful and aromatic spice can actually come in quite handy for keeping a home clean, eliminating odors, repelling unwanted insects and rodents, protecting plants, and much more.

Cinnamon has a very distinct fragrance. It is often associated with fall and winter and cozying up by the fireplace, but its potent smell is also the reason it's so effective as a tool around the house and garden. Pests get confused by its scent, bugs recoil from it, and its molecular properties make it such a great cleaning agent. If you're ready to learn about some of the best ways to put cinnamon to good use in your home, keep reading. 

While the scent of cinnamon may repel pests, many of us humans find it to have a fragrant and pleasant aroma. If you too love the way it smells, you can use it to make your home smell like fall by DIYing an air freshener. Simmering a pot of cinnamon with a few other key ingredients — or adding them to your slow cooker — will infuse the fragrance throughout the home. And, because of its stronger scent, the invigorating aroma should last for a few days at a time.

This DIY air freshener is incredibly easy to make, and once you get it going, you can just leave it simmering on the stovetop if you'll be home, or opt for the slow cooker if you'll be out of the house. Just add a few cups of warm water and some cinnamon sticks (or ground cinnamon if you don't have any sticks) to your pan. Add in some other fragrant fall items, such as orange slices, cloves, or nutmeg, and bring all the ingredients to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to leave the pan simmering throughout the day. If you notice that the water level in the pan drops too low, you can add a few more cups of warm water.

There is yet another way to infuse the fragrant aroma of cinnamon throughout your home. This hack involves making your own cinnamon-scented candles that you can burn when you want to relax and unwind. These candles are relatively easy to DIY and can also make a great hostess, holiday, or birthday gift for a friend or family member. In addition to some ground cinnamon, you'll also need wax, vanilla extract, ground clove (or other fall-related fragrances), and candle wicks. Don't forget to make sure you also have a jar to hold the candle — you can clean out an old candle jar or use a mason jar or even a mug for this.

Once you have everything ready, melt the wax in a slow cooker, in the microwave, or on the stovetop. Then, prepare the wick by wrapping it around a popsicle stick or something similar and placing it over the cup or jar that you're using. Add the cinnamon and other spices to the wax and stir until fully combined. Then, you're ready to pour your candle mixture into the jar, taking care to keep the wick stabilized. Finally, let the wax harden before trimming the wick, and your candle is ready to gift or start using in your home. You can even give the jar a more festive look (while also enhancing the cinnamon fragrance) by gluing some cinnamon sticks around the outside of it.

If you love the fragrant aroma of this fall spice, why not start adding cinnamon to your mop water? Each pass of the mop over your hard floors will infuse more of the scent throughout your home, creating a warming and welcoming feel. Plus, you'll get the added benefit of keeping away unwanted guests. Remember, many pests do not like the way cinnamon smells, so by spreading it across your floors, they're more likely to stay away and look for somewhere else to call home.

There are a few different ways to add cinnamon to your mop water, and the right one for you will vary based on the types of floors you have in your home and how you clean them. Since you use less water when cleaning hardwood floors, add some powdered cinnamon or cinnamon oil to a spray bottle filled with water and mist the solution over a small section at a time before wiping it up with a microfiber mop. For tile and vinyl floors, you can bring a gallon of water and some cinnamon sticks to a boil on the stovetop. Let it cool, and then pour it into your mop bucket with your cleaning solution. Then, get to work making those floors shine — and making them smell incredible.

Cinnamon as a lawn fertilizer? Don't knock it until you try it. Cinnamon can actually be quite effective at helping grass grow. It delivers iron and other essential nutrients to the soil. With these added nutrients, seeds are better able to take root, encouraging strong growth. Moreover, cinnamon's chemical makeup also makes it an effective solution for getting rid of mold and mildew. This means that when you sprinkle it over grass, it can stop these fungi from growing and wreaking havoc on your once green and beautiful grass by causing problems such as root rot.

Using cinnamon instead of chemical sprays has other benefits as well. Many chemical-based fertilizers can be very harmful to wildlife and the environment as a whole. Unlike these fertilizers, cinnamon is all-natural. It won't increase greenhouse gasses or pollute rivers, streams, lakes, or oceans. It really is a win-win for everyone.

While pruning plants can encourage healthier growth and increase the overall aesthetics of your yard, doing so also has the potential to make the plant more vulnerable to certain diseases. If the pruning cuts are left exposed, verticillium wilt or other diseases can form, threatening the health of the plant. Fortunately, a little cinnamon powder from your pantry can protect plants against these diseases. Apply some ground cinnamon over the cuts and let it sit to seal the opening. The sap from the plant should help it adhere, but if needed, you could mix the powder with some water and spread it over the affected section. Cinnamon offers antimicrobial properties, which can help prevent fungal diseases from causing problems as the plant heals. Its scent will also repel pests that could cause other damage to the plant.

In addition to sealing wounds with cinnamon, taking a few other precautions when pruning your plants can help minimize the chances of disease. Always make sure that your pruning tools are sharp to ensure clean and even cuts. It is also important to sterilize the tools with isopropyl alcohol before use to avoid transferring diseases between plants in your garden or home.

Whether you're looking for something to help get your children in the holiday spirit or need an inexpensive gift for friends, family, or co-workers, making cinnamon ornaments may be the solution that you've been searching for. Not only are these ornaments easy to make, but they'll also add a fragrant scent around the house or tree, conjuring up feelings of warmth and happiness. The only ingredients you need to make the ornament dough are ground cinnamon and applesauce.

After mixing the two ingredients together, use your hands to form them into a few smaller balls. Roll each ball out over parchment paper or plastic wrap, and then use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Poke a small hole towards the top of each shape using a straw before baking the ornaments in a very low oven heat for about 2 ½ hours. Once completely dry (give them at least 24 hours), tie a ribbon or string through each hole. Now they're ready to gift or hang. If desired, you can also use paint or icing to decorate each ornament.