Energy Clearing Room Spray

With Just 3 Ingredients!

A few years ago, I made the decision to reduce the amount of chemicals in my home and life. When I made that decision, I became overwhelmingly surprised at how many chemicals were in my home that I had to replace! One of the products that I had to replace was my air freshener.

Why make your own room spray?

Many of the name brand air fresheners on the market (Air Wick, Glade, Febreze, Renuzit and Yankee Candle, to name a few) do not even include their ingredients on the labels. That is a big clue that their ingredients include toxic chemicals.

What’s In That Stuff, Anyway?

Many air fresheners are currently made using carcinogens, volatile organic compounds and known toxins such as phthalate esters, in their formulas. A Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) study of 13 common household air fresheners found that most of the surveyed products contain hormone-disrupting chemicals that can aggravate asthma, provoke allergies, affect reproductive development and may pose a particular health risk to babies and young children.

In addition, the University of Bristol’s Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) found that exposure to volatile organic compounds, through frequent use of air fresheners and other aerosols in the home, was found to correlate with increased earaches and diarrhea in infants, and with increased depression and headaches in their mothers.

Another study done by The Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs (BEUC) in 2005 found that many air freshener products emit allergens and toxic air pollutants, including benzene, formaldehyde, terpenes, styrene, phthalate esters and toluene.

The most astonishing study was published by Anne C. Steinemann of the University of Washington in 2008. Top-selling air fresheners and laundry products were studied and found that all products tested gave off chemicals regulated as toxic or hazardous under federal laws. These chemicals included carcinogens with no safe level of exposure. None of these chemicals were listed on any of the product labels or Material Safety Data Sheets. Chemicals included acetone (the active ingredient in paint thinner and nail-polish remover); chloromethane (a neurotoxicant and respiratory toxicant); and acetaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane (both of which are carcinogens). A plug-in air freshener contained more than 20 different volatile organic compounds, with more than one-third of the chemicals being classified as toxic or hazardous under federal laws. Even air fresheners labeled as “organic,” “green,” or with “essential oils” emitted hazardous chemicals, including carcinogens.

Changes abound!

It is positive to note that, in 2020, makers of air fresheners (as well as cleaning solutions and products used to clean cars) will be required to list any of their ingredients which are on California’s list of 2,300 harmful chemicals, based on a California law passed in 2017. Thank goodness for California Law!

However, until then and with studies like these being done, how do you know what you are buying is safe? Well, you don’t’! That’s why I love making my own room sprays at home. I can be rest assured that none of these harmful toxins and carcinogens are present. My recipe really is all natural, free of toxins and carcinogens and quite effective, if you ask me! They are not hormone-disrupting and will not give you headaches, etc. And it’s really easy to make.

What is in Energy Clearing Room Spray?

My recipe includes only the following 3 ingredients:

Essential Oils (Grapefruit, Lemon, Orange & Clary Sage)
Vodka
Water, filtered or distilled

Essential Oils

I always use 100% therapeutic grade essential oils. Although there are several brands on the market (doTERRA, Healing Solutions, Plant Therapy & Young Living), I really love the Edens Garden Brand. They are reasonably priced and smell really good!

Alcohol

You will notice that my recipe includes an interesting ingredient, Vodka! It is actually my secret ingredient. Without the addition of alcohol, the essential oils mixed with water do not smell as good and the scent doesn’t last as long. The ethanol in grain vodka combines the oil and water together to create one unit. This causes the scent of the oils to be stronger and hang on the air much longer. If you don’t want to use a grain alcohol, you might be able to substitute rubbing alcohol or witch hazel. However, I have not tried this.

Note that a natural room spray will never smell quite like the store bought artificial air fresheners. However, if made well, they will clear the room of smelly odors and bring a nice scent to the room. All without the toxic fumes and chemicals!

How should you store your room spray?

You should always store natural room sprays in amber, cobalt blue or green glass spray bottles to protect the essential oils from damaging light. It is also important that glass bottles are used. If essential oils are placed in plastic bottles, they will leach the toxic plastic chemicals into the spray blend, which will defeat the purpose of making your own naturally healthy room spray. However, if stored properly, the natural room spray should last for months.