Give Your House A Fresh Smell With A Natural Solution That's Easy To Do

We love helping people come up with ways to make their homes smell better, but some tricks work better than others. Simmer pots, for instance, make homes smell better faster than a simple bowl of potpourri in each room. It's because, when scented water starts steaming, it wafts throughout the house, from room to room, leaving its scent in the air and even on curtains, furniture, and clothing. There's a reason steam does this, especially when it is carrying essential oils — it carries them farther and leaves them lingering longer. Steam cleaning, from our rooms to our clothing, is a thing, and it works by the steam permeating areas we can't always reach — the same works with essential oils. Where basic room sprays have a scent that fades after an hour or two, steaming your oils turns them into vapor and helps them move through your home, even into areas you might not be able to spray — from the upper corners of the ceiling to under doors in little-used rooms.

One reason to consider essential oils over other room sprays is that these oils are natural, with no additives you may not even be able to pronounce, and definitely no purpose you don't know. While essential oils are often safer, you want to limit use around young children and pets, so take some time to learn which oils could be harmful to other living creatures in your home. Additionally, when choosing oils, purchase them from reputable places, so you know they're pure essential oils.

You can blend essential oils with herbs and fruit into delightful simmer pot recipes to help give your home a refresh. You don't need much essential oil to pack a punch when you're steaming it — about six drops is plenty for every 1/4 gallon of water you use. Once you add the oil to your pot of water and any fresh ingredients you want, bring the water to a brief boil, then set the stove to simmer so the water stays just warm enough to turn the steam loose. You can leave your simmer pot running for about half an hour — and that should be enough to keep your home smelling fresh for up to a day. While some people keep their simmer pots on all day, you do want to consider safety (are you in the kitchen to be sure nothing happens to the running stove?). You can also use your candle warmer as a simmer pot to focus on specific areas of the house.

Perfect scents for a fresh-smelling home include citrus (as this is often a scent used in cleaning solutions, so you get that just-cleaned smell), peppermint and cinnamon (they can add a festive smell to your home, and they're both uplifting), and lavender (this one offers a clean scent, familiar from laundry detergents, that is also calming).