Essential oils for air freshening in the car. How to make a DIY car air freshener

What happens if you close your eyes and touch the world without the aid of sight? It's simple - another sense (smell) comes to the fore.

Sitting behind the wheel, the first thing we pay attention to is the aroma of the car (the smell of the dashboard, covers, baked goods, hot coffee in a cup holder, and so on).

But all this is secondary. The main source of the scent is a car air freshener.

It would seem that everything is simple. It is enough to go to the store, choose a freshener that is suitable for the price and smell, and attach it to the car.

But is it worth poisoning yourself with "chemistry"? - Of course not. Today there are many ways to make a freshener with your own hands.

What is a store-bought air freshener?

When buying a freshener in a store, we do not even think about its composition and strength of action. But such a product is an ordinary "chemistry" that emits not only a smell, but also toxic substances.

The challenge for manufacturers is to achieve the maximum concentration of aroma and prolong the effect of their product. Everything else is of little concern to them.

But that's not all. You can buy a freshener that seemed to have a pleasant scent, but after opening, you get a completely different scent that is annoying and clearly betrays a chemical base.

At the same time, it is not known how the store product will affect health. So why take the risk? Below we will look at the most interesting and simple recipes for making a freshener from improvised means. At the same time, you will be sure of the naturalness and benefits of the product.

Gel freshener

This method is one of the simplest and most budgetary. As a basis for the "puff", you can use ordinary glycerin and a number of additional elements.

The algorithm of actions is as follows:

The advantages of such a product are versatility, durability and a pleasant aroma.

You can be sure that the composition will not spill accidentally, and the smell will emanate for a long time.

If you wish, you can add a little dye and transfer the composition to a transparent bottle. All that remains is to find a suitable place in the salon.

Hydrogel freshener

In this embodiment, the base is a hydrogel, which is easy to buy in a store.

The algorithm itself looks like this:

• prepare everything you need - hydrogel, essential oil, container, water;
• wash the container and drip 25-30 drops of essential oil into it (here, proceed from the volume of the prepared container);
• pour water into a container and mix the composition well;
• open the bottle and add about 35-40 hydrogel beads;
• now add water and leave the mixture alone for 10-12 hours;
• if liquid remains inside, then it can be drained.

That's all. This design can be used in the car and at home.

In the first case, use a pin or small drill to make several holes in the lid to allow the aroma to escape.

If the freshener is used at home, then it will be easier to open the lid and put the product somewhere on the shelf.

Citrus freshener

When buying fruits or flowers, we do not even think about the possibility of their alternative use. For example, from several dozen flowers of a dried carnation and 2-3 oranges, you can make a high-quality air freshener of natural origin.

The manufacturing scheme is as follows:

• divide the flowers into equal slides (for each of the oranges);
• stick flowers into the surface of the fruit until you get the original "hedgehogs".

Such a freshener will "work" for 12-15 days. In the car, it can be placed in the glove compartment, attached to the dashboard or on the rear shelf (behind the passenger seat).

Aromatic pendant

This option is difficult to attribute to the class of car air fresheners, but you should not ignore it either.

The essence of the preparation is as follows:

• prepare small containers (small bottles);
• fill them with a special composition (the following options are suitable - twigs, petals or sand);
• add a little essential oil to the composition. The main thing here is not to overdo it (2-3 drops are enough);
• close the container and let it brew for a while. Before installing in the car, it remains to make several holes in the lid in order to release a pleasant aroma out.

Felt freshener

Many have seen fresheners made of solid material in the form of Christmas trees, coffee beans and other figurines on the shelves.

You can do a similar thing with your own hands. All you need is a piece of wool felt. The latter can be bought in the store by choosing a color suitable for the interior of the car.

The algorithm of actions is as follows:

That being said, do not repeat the mistake of most motorists when they hang the air freshener from the rear-view mirror. This product will distract you from the road and may cause an accident.

The best option is to fix the "odor" somewhere near the rear window or in any of the corners of the dashboard.

Aromatherapy is very popular today. You can scent a room or a car using store-bought products or make a scent yourself. To prepare a fragrance with essential oils, you will need to choose your appropriate fragrance.

There is a wide range of broadcasts, so it will be quite difficult to choose the one that suits you. The most popular oils are:

1. Ylang-ylang. The product will help to relax, protects the nervous system from strong psychological stress, reduces symptoms of fatigue, stress, and helps to relax the brain. The oil is considered one of the best aphrodisiacs for women.
2. Verbena. The oil will be indispensable for the car, as it promotes concentration, tones the body, improves mood. With its help, you can get rid of headaches.
3. Lemon oil. The product has strong antiseptic properties. The smell of lemon will help protect the car from the appearance of various insects, mosquitoes.
4. Patchouli. The oil will help tone the body, cheer up. Helps improve memory.
5. Ester of cinnamon. The aroma of the oil helps to cope with strong psychological stress, relieves symptoms of chronic fatigue. Great for the car as a fragrance, as it neutralizes unpleasant odors.
6. Fir ester is considered one of the healthiest oils. Due to its properties, the oil helps to destroy almost all types of bacteria and microbes, eliminates unpleasant odors, enhances resistance to stress, strengthens the immune system. The product also helps to repel insects, is practically not inferior to ylang-ylang as an aphrodisiac.

Do-it-yourself car fragrance - necessary ingredients

Before you start creating a flavor, you need to prepare the following components:

• Form for cooking. Cans of cream, cookies, soap are great.
• Essential oil.
• Baking soda.
• Small cloth bag.
• Wax.
• Boiled water.

How to make a do-it-yourself sachet for a car

• First you need to mix 1 glass of boiling water and 10 drops of the ether you like.
• Pour soda into a separate bowl, pour flavored water into it, mix thoroughly until smooth and pour the entire composition into a mold.
• As soon as the mass in the form acquires a dense structure, it must be placed in a sachet and hung in the car.

Scented herringbone

Surely, everyone has met a herringbone car fragrance. It is not necessary to purchase such an air freshener in a store, because it can be very easy to make with your own hands. The peculiarity of self-production is that the form of the flavoring agent can be any, just like the essential oil.

• First you need to cut a blank of the desired shape from cardboard.
• After that, the figure needs to be wrapped in felt, in the upper part, punch a hole through which to stretch a beautiful thread.
• Essential oil only needs 4-6 drops. Initially, the smell from such a product will be fragrant for about a week, then, when the fabric is completely saturated, the aroma will be present in the car for a month.
• It is not recommended to impregnate the same form with different aromatic oils, because after mixing, the esters can cause irritation. If you need to replace the scent, it is better to prepare a different form.

Long lasting flavor

This self-made fragrance will provide long-lasting fragrance in the car.

For cooking you will need:

• glycerin - 1 tsp ;
• essential oil - 5 drops;
• food gelatin - 1 pack.

Gelatin must be diluted with water according to the instructions; if a thicker consistency is required, reduce the amount of water by 2 times. Add glycerin to gelatin, mix well until smooth. Pour everything into a prepared beautiful container, add essential oil. The air freshener is ready.

Flavoring from wooden sticks

To create a flavoring agent you will need:

• 100 ml of liquid baby soap;
• wooden sticks, thin - 3-6 pcs.;
• 1 tbsp. l. alcohol;
• glass container;
• 10 drops of ether.

Pour soap, alcohol, essential oil into a container, mix all the ingredients. After that, put the sticks in a jar, leave to insist for 5 hours. After 5 hours, stick the sticks into the container with the other side for another 5 hours. The result is unusual flavors that can be spread around the car.

Flour stones

For cooking you need:

• 100 g flour;
• 100 g of soda;
• 1 tsp vegetable oil;
• 7 drops of essential oil;
• mixing water.

Mix all ingredients in one container. Then divide the dough into several parts, give it the desired shape, put it in the refrigerator until it hardens completely. Such stones made of flour can be decomposed in the car as a beautiful air freshener. You can add food coloring to the dough to make it look more appealing.

It is not necessary to purchase expensive air fresheners for the car, because they are quite easy to make on your own with minimal costs, and most importantly, from natural ingredients and your favorite essential oil.

It's no secret that not every air freshener sold in car dealerships is environmentally friendly. But few people know that most air fresheners are toxic and, with prolonged contact, can cause certain disorders in the body.

Typical substances commonly found in many fresheners are:

• Benzyl acetate- formed by condensation of benzyl alcohol and acetic acid. It is often used in flavoring blends due to its strong jasmine scent. There are known cases of adverse health effects, and manufacturers themselves usually limit the time of possible exposure to air fresheners with benzyl acetate in the composition.
• Ethylacetoacetate- May cause adverse health effects and is flammable.
• 3.7 Dimethyloctan-3-ol- an artificial fragrance that is flammable, can cause serious eye damage and is toxic to aquatic life.
• Synthetic vanillin- is used instead of real vanilla to give the appropriate scent. May cause eye and skin irritation.

Now let's talk about what you can make your own car air freshener. The question here is not so much in the cheapness of the method and life hacking as such, but for the author of the article, for example, as in the environmental friendliness of this method. Self-made at home, the air freshener not only masks odors, but also absorbs them. The freshener fits in a cup holder, including doors, on a console - it's easy enough to find a place for it. Just shake it every few days to keep it fresh and replace it every 6 weeks.

Recipe for your own air freshener

What do you need:

1. 1 small jar with a screw cap. Suitable for baby food, for example. Either way, make sure it fits in the cup holder of your choice.
2. 3/4 cup baking soda
3. 5 drops of essential oil (scent of your choice). Essential oil can be bought at any pharmacy or in the sections of stores for baths and saunas.
4. A small piece of breathable fabric (for example, burlap, suede or any other - you can even fold gauze several times).

Instructions

1. Pour baking soda into a glass jar. It should be about a quarter full.
2. Add the essential oil to the baking soda.
3. Cut out a small round piece of breathable fabric, the size should be the same as the diameter of the can opening, plus a margin for thread thickness (0.5-1 cm).
4. Cut the middle off the cover, leaving only the threaded ring. You can simply punch holes in the cover with an awl instead.
5. Place the rag on the jar and screw the lid on so that the rag is in the thread - i.e. to keep the lid taut.
6. Place the resulting air freshener in any cup holder in your car.

Baking soda perfectly absorbs odors, and essential oil will fill the interior of your car with aroma.

Redesigning an electronic air freshener with your own hands. Automatic aerosol air fresheners penetrate into our everyday life, creating a constant smell in certain areas of the apartment. There are simple models on sale at an affordable price of 150-250 rubles (2012). At a predetermined interval of 9, 18, 36 minutes, the air fresheners activate a mechanical pusher, which acts on the valve of the fragrance bottle. The device is powered by two AA batteries. The push mechanism is equipped with a small electric motor and a simple force transmission gearbox. Only such devices have certain disadvantages. When it is on, the air freshener stupidly sends out portions of odors, regardless of the time of day and, in general, the need to deliver odors. True, there are sophisticated models of air fresheners - fragrances, but unfortunately their price is very high. It probably makes sense to somehow streamline this process. On one of the sites, I discovered a connection to the mechanics of the apparatus of a whole microprocessor (not Arduino) with a fully presented program for controlling the distribution of odors in the toilet room. The simple calculation of the purchase of components and settings did not inspire me. I decided to improve the Air Wick fragrance with my own hands easier and without any special tweaks. What came out of this, see below.

The interior of the car is very difficult to constantly keep clean, which is why, over time, the driver is forced to enjoy not the most pleasant aromas. Car air fresheners help to solve this problem and fill the space with the scent of mountains, forest or citrus fruits.

Today in stores you can find a huge number of similar accessories. Some of them retain their effect for a long time, while others "stinks" become useless additions to the interior.

Types of flavors

A car air freshener can be purchased at any store or stall. Fragrances are divided into several categories.

Cardboard

The usual "Christmas trees" are considered the most popular and inexpensive. They do not require special fasteners and can be hung on the rear-view mirror, which also serves as a decorative function. By and large, it is a piece of cardboard impregnated with a special composition, so it is not surprising that such fresheners retain their properties for no more than two weeks. But after taking the product out of the package, the car enthusiast is forced to enjoy the concentrated aroma for the first day of driving, so you can forget about the promised aroma of the "new car".

Also, do not expect that the herringbone with the smell of Everest or coffee beans will fill the interior with a natural aroma. Most often, motorists get a rather dubious set of chemical fragrances.

Gel

These flavors are small jars filled with gel that attach to a suction cup anywhere (there are models with fasteners for a fan) or bags of gel-like liquid. The latter must be pierced with a needle, depending on the intensity of the smell the driver wants to receive. However, plastic containers with gel are more often on sale. It makes sense to buy them only if they are placed under the seat, since in this case the dimensions of the product will be enough to last for several months. Smaller air fresheners will last longer than "Christmas trees", but still not enough to justify their cost (from 50 to 300 rubles, depending on the size).

If we talk about the benefits, then the gel car fragrance has a more pleasant smell. At the same time, the car owner will not have to suffocate for the first time using the "stinker". Moreover, by installing such an air freshener in a car on a fan, you can adjust the intensity of its operation.

However, it must be borne in mind that such a fragrance for a car is completely inapplicable at subzero temperatures, since the gel freezes and stops working.

Cretaceous

These "stinkers" are plastic jars filled with granules, salt or aromatic powder. Unlike “fir trees” and gel counterparts, these fresheners last much longer, since the evaporation of the fragrant composition is slower. In addition, car owners can choose from a wide variety of fragrances that are distinguished by their softness. Therefore, when buying a "stink" with the smell of Japanese sakura, there is no need to be afraid that the car will stink with something indefinite. The average lifespan of these flavors is about 5-6 months. In this case, the composition does not freeze from the cold.

If we talk about the cons, then it is worth highlighting the very high cost (from 415 rubles) and the need for "blowing".

Liquid

These car fragrances are perfume bottles filled with an odorous liquid. Thanks to a special regulator, the intensity of the freshener can be changed at your discretion. Therefore, liquid "stinks" are consumed more slowly. However, most of all complaints are caused by the composition itself and the absence of a filter. Because of the caustic components, the plastic elements of the car suffer, from which we can conclude that they are not safe for humans either.

In addition, the cost of such "stinks" is also overpriced. That is why car owners prefer to make their own car air fresheners. Some simply sprinkle their favorite perfume in the car or throw coffee beans. However, for a longer lasting effect, it is better to spend a little more time.

We make a freshener

A homemade fragrance will cost significantly less and will be safer than a purchased one. In this case, you can make both gel and other complex "stinks".

Gel

This homemade air freshener requires a small plastic container, 1 teaspoon of food grade glycerin, 2 tablespoons of gelatin, distilled or filtered water, and an essential oil (such as tea tree, lemon, or orange).

The cooking algorithm is as follows:

• Dissolve gelatin gradually in heated filtered water, after which glycerin is poured into it.
• Put a few drops of essential oil into the container (15-20, depending on the size of the container) and pour the prepared mixture into the jar.
• Mix all components thoroughly and put into the refrigerator until the mixture freezes completely.
• Make small holes in the lid of the container.

If you are using a clear jar, you can add a little food coloring to the freshener mixture to make it look nicer.

From hydrogel

In this case, in addition to essential oil and distilled water, you will need to purchase a hydrogel.

To prepare a "stink" for a car interior, you yourself will need:

• Drop essential oil into the container.
• Pour ½ jar with lukewarm water and mix thoroughly.
• Add 35-40 hydrogel beads.
• Add water and leave the mixture overnight.
• Drain off the rest of the liquid that has not been absorbed into the hydrogel.

Citrus

Buying flowers and fruits, many do not even suspect that they can be used to make natural car fragrances with their own hands. This will require:

• Dry 15-20 carnation flowers or use ready-made seasoning.
• Stick them into the surface of the orange to create a kind of hedgehog.

Such a "stinky" will smell for about a week, after which it is better to throw the orange away. However, this type of fragrance is considered the best, as in this case, you do not have to inhale the chemicals.

Aromatic pendant

In order to make an air freshener that can be hung on a rear-view mirror, it is enough to prepare a small bottle with a lid and fill it with flower petals, small branches or ordinary sand. After that, it is enough to drop 2-3 drops of essential oil into the mixture and let the substances brew. When the mixture is ready, just make a few holes in the lid and enjoy your favorite scent.

Felt

To make a flavoring agent, you need a piece of wool felt, which must be cut in the form of a square with edges of 10-12 cm.After that, all you need to do is:

• Draw on felt any figure (tree, star or something else), trace it around the contour, cut and trim it.
• Apply a little ether component to the material.
• Attach a string or string to the edge of the product and hang the product in the machine.

Such a "stinker" will do its job well for several weeks. After that, it is enough just to update it with a drop of fresh essential oil (2-3 drops are enough).

When making homemade "stinks" there are no strict rules, the main thing is to choose the right flavoring composition and not overdo it.

Which smell to give preference

If we talk about the simplest version, then you can use any seasonings that can be found in the kitchen as a "stink". For example, you can put some cumin, cinnamon, vanilla, or anise into a linen bag. In this case, you can combine aromas and select those that have increased volatility.

You can also use whole fresh coffee beans as a filler for the "stink", which have a lasting effect.

Essential oils are often used in the manufacture of car air fresheners. They are notable for their low cost and variety of choice. However, not all of them are suitable for use while driving a motor vehicle.

You should not buy those essential oils that have a relaxing effect. Breathing in such fragrances can easily lead to loss of concentration. These components include primarily floral aromas. For example, chamomile and jasmine dull the brain, and a rose makes you sleepy. You should also give up lavender and vanilla.

It is better to use those essential oils that help to invigorate and improve concentration on the road. These "stinks" include citrus and coniferous compositions, as well as liquids with the smell of mint or cinnamon. However, overdoing it with such "attention activators" is also not worth it, as long inhalation of such essential oils can cause migraines or overwork the driver. In this regard, you need to focus on your preferences and perceptions of flavoring agents.

Ready-made flavoring or homemade?

If we talk about which flavor is better to choose, then, of course, you should give preference to "stinks" made by yourself. There are several explanations for this. First, there are always a lot of chemicals in store versions. Daily inhalation of such components can adversely affect health, especially if the car owner is allergic. Moreover, according to the research carried out, the so-called phthalates are contained in the ready-made "stinkers". These substances disrupt the functioning of the endocrine and reproductive systems.

Secondly, it has long been proven that natural essential oils have a positive effect not only on human health (they help with allergies, improve heart function, stimulate brain activity and much more), but also on his psyche.

Thirdly, thanks to the huge selection of essential oils, you can create any fragrance yourself.

In custody

Thus, the car "stink" can be made in a few minutes on their own. Before making a product, it is enough to choose the right essential oil. However, it is important to ensure that the smell of the accessory does not drown out other fragrances in the car too much. For example, if exhaust gases suddenly begin to penetrate into the passenger compartment, the driver must recognize them in a timely manner.