I go through a lot of this stuff. If you've ever smelled the inside of a high school band room, you'll know why. My husband, a band director, used to go through copious amounts of store bought fabric freshener like Febreeze to cut down on that funky smell the band uniforms get about 2 games into the season. Febreeze costs around five bucks a bottle and I sure don't like paying that price. I knew I could make this cheaper and better, so I started fooling around with ratios and ingredients. I experimented with essential oils and vodka. (Seriously.) I tried my homemade laundry detergent mixed with rubbing alcohol. In the end, I came up with a solution that works really well and costs right at 80 cents a bottle (if you purchase the ingredients at full retail price).
It's easy, cheap, and fabulous.
You'll need the following ingredients for your homemade fabric freshener:
white vinegar
liquid fabric softener
water
Here are a few money saving tips for purchasing your ingredients. I buy white vinegar in the gallon jugs because I use so much of it in my other homemade cleaning products. It's so much cheaper to purchase it this way. I also buy off brand liquid fabric softener or I use a coupon for a great deal. (I picked up bottles of Downy liquid for 50 cents each last year and am still using it!) Of course, your water just needs to come straight from the tap. If you purchase your ingredients like I do, the cost per bottle of fabric refresher is even less than 8 cents a bottle.
To make the fabric refresher, simply use a funnel to add one part vinegar, one part water, and 1/2 part liquid fabric softener. So, if you're making a full size bottle (like the size of a bottle of Febreeze), you'd use 1 1/2 cups vinegar, 1 1/2 cups water, and 3/4 cup liquid fabric softener.
The vinegar acts as a antibacterial agent and the smell of it will dissipate as the vinegar evaporates, leaving you with just the smell of the liquid fabric softener. Not that the vinegar smell is ever strong in the first place. That's just a question I get whenever I talk about making my own cleaning products.
Shake the bottle before each use. Please, be sure to clearly label your homemade cleaning solutions!
I use this homemade fabric freshener all over my house- on the furniture, in the Littles' rooms, in the laundry room, and more. The true test is that band room though. After I get through spraying those nasty uniforms, it smells like a field of flowers in there. ;o)
Peace, B.
It's easy, cheap, and fabulous.
You'll need the following ingredients for your homemade fabric freshener:
white vinegar
liquid fabric softener
water
Here are a few money saving tips for purchasing your ingredients. I buy white vinegar in the gallon jugs because I use so much of it in my other homemade cleaning products. It's so much cheaper to purchase it this way. I also buy off brand liquid fabric softener or I use a coupon for a great deal. (I picked up bottles of Downy liquid for 50 cents each last year and am still using it!) Of course, your water just needs to come straight from the tap. If you purchase your ingredients like I do, the cost per bottle of fabric refresher is even less than 8 cents a bottle.
To make the fabric refresher, simply use a funnel to add one part vinegar, one part water, and 1/2 part liquid fabric softener. So, if you're making a full size bottle (like the size of a bottle of Febreeze), you'd use 1 1/2 cups vinegar, 1 1/2 cups water, and 3/4 cup liquid fabric softener.
The vinegar acts as a antibacterial agent and the smell of it will dissipate as the vinegar evaporates, leaving you with just the smell of the liquid fabric softener. Not that the vinegar smell is ever strong in the first place. That's just a question I get whenever I talk about making my own cleaning products.
Shake the bottle before each use. Please, be sure to clearly label your homemade cleaning solutions!
I use this homemade fabric freshener all over my house- on the furniture, in the Littles' rooms, in the laundry room, and more. The true test is that band room though. After I get through spraying those nasty uniforms, it smells like a field of flowers in there. ;o)
Peace, B.
