If you’ve noticed some damp and musty smells creep up around the house this winter, you’re not alone! When we have cold and rainy days, we don’t leave our windows open as much as we do in summer which can make our homes prone to stagnant air and smells that aren’t so pleasant.
Essential oils are an affordable and entirely natural way to keep your home smelling fresh and inviting during any season. Not only do they smell divine, essential oils also offer a range of health benefits from stress relief to sleep support and can even ease physical symptoms of the cold & flu.
And we’ll be honest, at D:FUSE Aromatherapy while we do love essential oils for the unlimited benefits they offer to our mental and physical health, sometimes we just like to enjoy them for the sole reason that they smell amazing and make our homes more pleasant to be in!
In this blog, we’ll go over 5 of the best essential oils to make any room in your house smell good as well as some tips to keep the bathroom and toilet area smelling fresh throughout the year!
1. Lemon essential oil
It’s no surprise that the fresh, citrusy scent of lemon is a staple ingredient in most household cleaning products. Lemon essential oil happens to be one of the best essential oils for removing odours and is our top pick for purifying the air in your home.
Adding some lemon essential oil to your cleaning and aromatherapy routine helps remove impurities from the air and its energising scent brings a brighter, uplifting feeling to your space.
If you’ve had some moisture build up around the house that has left a smell you’ve tried to get rid of but still seems to be lingering, lemon essential oil is an odour neutraliser that can quickly disguise even the most stubborn of smells. Not only does it smell lovely, it can also boost your mood and bring mental clarity if you’re feeling a bit bogged down.
You can also add lemon essential oil to your home cleaning routine to fill your home with its uplifting citrusy scent all day long.
How to use lemon essential oil at home:
Diffuse: To refresh the air in your home, add a couple of drops of pure lemon essential oil with some water to your essential oil diffuser and let it run for 30 - 90 minutes in the room or area of your choice.
DIY Spray & Wipe: Keep your house smelling fresh and clean by adding 5 - 15 drops of lemon essential oil to a glass spray bottle with 3 parts water and 1 part vinegar or rice vinegar.
Adjust the number of drops to your preference/the size of the glass bottle. Use it to spray surfaces or your kitchen sink while the citrusy aroma lingers on.
Pairs well with: sweet orange, peppermint, patchouli
2. Sweet orange essential oil
Another member of the citrus family guaranteed to bring a heavenly scent throughout your home is sweet orange essential oil from the rind of the orange itself!
Sweet orange is milder than lemon so if you’d like something equally fresh but less acidic, this invigorating scent does wonders for your home!
Like other citrusy essential oils, sweet orange can detoxify and clear unpleasant odours so you can refresh the air in any room. In addition, sweet orange essential oil boosts the immune system - super handy during the cold, winter months.
And if you thought that wasn’t enough, the scent of sweet orange is well known for easing symptoms related to depression, anxiety and stress. It’s also a wonderful essential oil alternative to lavender for helping children to get to sleep.
How to use sweet orange essential oil at home:
Diffuse: To cleanse the air in your home, add a couple of drops of pure sweet orange essential oil with some water to your oil diffuser and let it run for 30 - 90 minutes in the room or area of your choice.
You can also diffuse sweet orange essential oil into your bedroom an hour or two before sleep to help you get some quality rest.
Floor cleaner: For your next kitchen or bathroom floor clean, combine 10 - 15 drops of sweet orange essential oil with a plant-based dish soap, a cup of vinegar and 3-4 litres of hot water in a bucket.
Mop as usual for a floor that not only sparkles, but smells amazing!
Scented drawer sachets: Create your own scented drawer sachets to keep your clothes smelling fresh with sweet orange essential oil with this great step-by-step YouTube video by Megan Makes.
You will need the following materials to make them: fabric, stitch witchery tape, an essential oil, some string, rice and an iron!
Pairs well with: peppermint, lemon, patchouli
3. Cinnamon essential oil
If you’re after something warm and comforting with a little bit of spice and you love the smell of freshly baked goods - look no further than cinnamon essential oil!
The perfect blend of sweet and spicy, cinnamon essential oil brings instant happiness to any space with its delicious, inviting smell. Cinnamon is also a powerful essential oil for aromatherapy with its antibacterial, antimicrobial and immune-boosting properties. A little whiff of this oil can also help improve circulation, perfect if you’re dealing with cold hands and feet.
How to use cinnamon essential oil at home:
Diffuse: To brighten up the air in your home, add a couple of drops of cinnamon essential oil with some water to your oil diffuser and let it run for 30 - 90 minutes in the room or area of your choice.
DIY Cleaning Spray: Cinnamon essential oil not only smells great but is an antimicrobial, making it an effective cleaner for the kitchen and bathroom. Add 10 - 15 drops to a glass spray bottle with equal parts water and distilled vinegar for a spicy spray.
Use on sinks and countertops and let sit for 10 minutes to eliminate bacteria before washing off to leave behind the lovely warming scent of cinnamon.
Pairs well with: sweet orange, ylang ylang, geranium, bergamot, ginger
4. Cedarwood essential oil
This list wouldn’t be complete without the warm, woodsy and cosy scent of cedarwood essential oil. Just thinking about the relaxing smell of cedarwood makes us want to grab a blanket and snuggle up with a cuppa.
A versatile and grounding essential oil, cedarwood can double as a comforting indoor scent for the cooler months and a peaceful outdoor scent for the warmer months.
Cedarwood essential oil is also a great base note for diffuser blends because it pairs well with so many other essential oils and will make your home smell wonderful.
Some of the many benefits of cedarwood essential oil include anxiety relief and sleep support as well as a natural air freshener with a scent that evokes a general sense of well-being.
How to use cedarwood essential oil at home:
Diffuse: To create a relaxing and inviting environment at home, add a couple of drops of cedarwood essential oil with some water to your oil diffuser and let it run for 30 - 90 minutes in the room or area of your choice.
Essential oil-Infused microfibres: Next time you're dusting or wiping down a counter with a microfiber, add 1 - 2 drops of cedarwood to the cloth to infuse your countertops and surfaces with this fresh, woody scent.
Pairs well with: lemon, frankincense, lavender, rosemary, peppermint, cinnamon
5. Lavender essential oil
When it comes to the best essential oils for keeping your room and home smelling fresh throughout the seasons, we couldn’t leave out the soothing, floral scent of lavender.
This classic evergreen essential oil is popular in aromatherapy for its therapeutic effects on the mind and body and its effectiveness in helping with sleep. The sharp, clean scent of lavender essential oil is a natural air purifier and inhaling its relaxing smell encourages feelings of peace and calm.
There are so many ways to incorporate lavender essential oil into your home environment for a fresh smelling home. Whether you choose to add it to your DIY cleaning products or simply diffuse it, here are some ways you can benefit from keeping lavender essential oil on hand to maintain a clean and crisp home year around.
How to use lavender essential oil at home:
Carpet cleaner: Rugs, mats and carpets are high foot-traffic areas in the home that tend to accommodate more than just dust on their surface!
Add 5 - 10 drops of lavender essential oil to half a cup of baking soda and mix well. Sprinkle the mixture over the target area and let sit for 5 minutes before vacuuming for a lavender-infused carpet!
Diffuse: To refresh the air in your home, add a couple of drops of lavender essential oil with some water to your diffuser and let it run for 30 - 90 minutes in the room or area of your choice.
Pairs well with: peppermint, lemon, patchouli
Tips to keep your bathroom/toilet area smelling fresh
There is no better place in your home to use essential oils than the bathroom and toilet!
These areas are visited by all family members at home every day and can quickly become a breeding ground for bacteria and other nasties.
We recommend 2 specific groups of essential oils for the bathroom and toilet area:
- Citrus: lemon, grapefruit, lemongrass and mandarin because they are powerful odour neutralisers and make the place smell wonderful
- Herby/mint: eucalyptus, clary sage, tea tree and peppermint because they have antibacterial and antimicrobial properties and strong scents which can mask unpleasant smells
Diffuse
While our ultrasonic essential oil diffusers are the easiest and most effective way to diffuse your essential oils, we understand that not every toilet and bathroom comes equipped with power outlets for your diffuser.
To overcome this, you can use a portable nebulizing diffuser in your bathroom. These diffusers are small, stylish, wireless and rechargeable so you can easily take them anywhere without having to worry about whether you can plug them in or not.
Portable nebulizing diffusers are heat-free, safe and require no water at all! They work by compressing air and combining it with the selected essential oil to create a fine, concentrated mist. So just choose an essential oil ready and you’re good to go!
Recommended blends
2 drops each of lemon, grapefruit, sweet orange, bergamot
2 drops each of peppermint, lemongrass, lavender and eucalyptus
Toilet bowl odour neutraliser
Keep a bottle of tea-tree, lemon or eucalyptus essential oil on the cistern of your toilet. To control odours, you can add a couple of drops to the toilet bowl every day or have your family members add a drop or two after each flush.
Bathtub and tile scrub
Mix ¼ cup of plant-based dish soap with a ¾ cup of baking soda, a splash of water and 10 - 15 drops of an essential oil of your choice.
Wet the surface of the shower or tub with some water before using a cloth to spread the mixture across the tiles and tub. You can use a scrubbing brush to scrape off stubborn stains. Let sit for 10-15 minutes before washing off and wiping down with warm water.
Toilet paper roll air freshener
A really handy trick is to add a few drops of your favourite essential oil to the inside of the toilet paper roll (again, we recommend fresh oils from the citrus or mint families)!
This will infuse the bathroom with a nice smell and every time someone spins the roll it will activate a burst of the natural scent of your essential oil!
And that concludes our list - so next time, why not replace synthetic fragrances and air fresheners with the divine smelling natural scent of essential oils and give one of these tips a try?
We guarantee it will keep your home (and all of the rooms in it!) smelling good during any season while also letting everyone at home experience the health benefits of essential oils!
You don’t need a bunch of fancy equipment to experiment with the world of aromatherapy, all it takes is just one or two essential oils to get started.
Let us know which tip you tried and tag us on Instagram @dfusenz!
