What’s That Smell? Natural DIY Fresheners for Your Apartment

This article originally appeared on the Springs "You're Home Blog."

A bad smell is the unseen enemy that can destroy the best housekeeping efforts. Stores have aisles full of candles, sprays and other air freshening products, but you can save money and the environment by using natural DIY solutions.

We've put together a list of easy and effective ways to keep your Springs luxury apartment home smelling sweet.

Air Fresheners

• Place three to four shallow bowls filled with coffee grounds around the room. Let them sit overnight and dispose of the grounds the next day. Repeat an additional night for stubborn odors.
• Mix water, vodka and essential oils for an intoxicatingly fresh scent. Store in a spray bottle but be careful to mist, not saturate. Vinegar can be used in place of vodka.
• Who doesn't love the smell of freshly laundered clothes? Make your own eco-friendly dryer sheets and place one inside a drawer, a closet or anyplace you want to get rid of musty odors.
• Charcoal's filtering properties make it a great natural air freshener.
• If it's good enough for NASA, it's good enough for your apartment. Air-purifying houseplants are a colorful and attractive way to control odors.

Carpet and Fabric Fresheners

• Sprinkle baking soda over carpeting, chairs and couches. Wait several hours, overnight if possible, then put a fresh bag in your vacuum cleaner before vacuuming up the baking soda.

Kitchen Fresheners

• Burned a batch of chocolate chip cookies? Sprinkle cinnamon, nutmeg and a drop of orange essential oil into an inexpensive pie pan and let it sit in the oven as it cools down.
• Vinegar is nature's all-purpose cleanser. Pour one cup of white vinegar into a saucepan and bring to a simmer to release its odor-fighting properties.
• Trash cans are notorious for retaining smells. Make a sachet of coffee, baking soda and a few cloves inside a coffee filter. Seal with a twist tie and drop it in the bottom of the trash can.
• Cut up a citrus fruit and run the pieces through the garbage disposal to neutralize nasty food odors.
• Baking soda is the classic deodorizer for refrigerators, but did you know that crumpled-up newspaper is equally effective?

Bathroom Fresheners

• Eliminate funky mold smells by scrubbing affected surfaces with a mixture of one gallon of water and one cup of bleach. Use a stiff-bristled brush and be sure to wear protective gloves.
• Get a clean and fragrant toilet with a scrub made from baking soda, borax, salt and essential oil. 

Pet Fresheners

• You can't live without your pet, but fortunately you don't have to live with the odor. Once again, vinegar is one of the stars in these DIY solutions for pet stains and smells.

Do you have a tried-and-true air freshening tip to add to our list? Let us know in the comments!