- You Will Need:
- Water
- Imitation Vanilla Extract
- Mist Bottle
Some people love those store bought air freshener sprays.
Not Me.
I think they’re too strong and they make me want to cough. I’m just not a fan. Sorry.
So what do I do if I want to add a welcoming scent to a room? I make my own vanilla air freshener spray instead!
This recipe came about quite by accident for me. I started out trying to make a spray with some essential oils but just wasn’t finding a combination that satisfied me. The more I thought about what scent I might enjoy, I realized, HEY, how about plain old vanilla? I like plain old vanilla. I like it a lot!
I tinkered around (which thankfully is fun for me) and came up with this DIY vanilla air freshener spray. It’s sooo much nicer than the fake flowery smells of the store bought sprays.
It’s super simple too! Just combine the cheap imitation vanilla extract with some water and you’re good! Be sure to use a Mist Bottle 
DIY VANILLA AIR FRESHENER SPRAY
You will need:
-
1 Cup Water
-
3 Tablespoons Imitation Vanilla Extract
-
Mist Bottle
Combine the water and the vanilla extract. Place in a mist bottle. To use, spritz some of the spray up into the air as needed to add the warm cozy smell of vanilla to the room.
How about you? What’s your favorite scent to freshen a room?
I'm Bev and I love to share ideas for living a more creative and resourceful lifestyle with homemade alternatives we can make for ourselves. 
where can I buy an empty mist bottle? this sounds great!
Hi Loretta – Sometimes it can be a challenge to find mist bottles in the store. In the past I have been able to find them at a beauty supply store (Sally Beauty Supply), but lately they have been out of stock at my local store. They can also sometimes be found in the personal care area of larger stores where the travel size products are sold, but the down side of that is they are usually a small 2 oz size. You can buy them through Amazon too. (You can click on the link up above that says “mist bottle” to see an example).
I refill a empty non-aerosol hairspray bottle for my mist bottle for my plants. You could paint or decorate that bottle and it is one more way to recycle.
That’s a great idea! That reminds me that I’ve re-used the mist bottles from the body fragrance sprays too. They’re perfect for misting, but sometimes the fragrance smell lingers in them. To get rid of a lingering smell in a bottle I’ve filled them with water and a few teaspoons of baking soda and let them soak, with good results.
My favorite scent, especially for kitchens and bathrooms, is lemon. Can you think of any reason you couldn’t substitute lemon juice?
I think this is a great idea. I have some lung issues and strong, artificial scents bother me.
Thank you!
I think lemon juice would work Barb. Good idea!
Lemon juice may not be aromatic enough. Maybe try lemon essential oil.
Can you use real vanilla instead of imitation?
Lisa – you can certainly use real vanilla in this recipe, however the real vanilla is more expensive. If you use the imitation vanilla it keeps the cost of the recipe a little more budget friendly.
Where do i buy the imitation vanilla? Does it actually says ‘imitation’ in the bottle?
Imitation vanilla is what most people are buying when they buy vanilla at the grocery store and don’t even realize that in fact it does say “imitation” on the bottle. But you can also find smaller bottles that say “real” vanilla and those are quite a bit pricier. The flavor of the “real” vanilla is a little richer, but if you’re using it for an air freshener, the flavor doesn’t matter.