When I imagined owning my own home, I knew I wanted to be the kind of person who makes DIY room sprays. I put off trying it because I was worried about the cost, time, and skills required.
But now autumn is approaching. I wasn’t going to let another cozy season go by without knowing how to make my room smell nice with my own room spray. I took a leap of faith and tried out three DIY room spray recipes.
I researched simple ones, put my own spin on each one, and incorporated some of my favorite fall scents. I was pleasantly surprised at how affordable and easy it was to customize my own room spray. And the Bourbon Rose was the winner for me.
1. Citrus Twist DIY Room Spray Recipe
(Image credit: Future / Ciera Cree)
Citrus scents are popular in many homes, especially for use in the bathroom, as they are very clean and fresh scents. Since it’s fall, I decided to combine the lemon scent with mandarin and ginger to add a layer of aromatic complexity and warming spice.
What you need for a DIY recipe for citrus room spray
The supplies you need to make DIY Citrus Twist Room Spray cost about $2.50 per bottle, but you may already have most of these at home.
method
This room spray is simple to make, but I had to remind myself not to use too much essential oil. When using several different scents, as in this recipe, it’s important not to use too much oil as the scents can overpower each other.
First, measure baking soda into a clean measuring jug, such as Walmart’s Pyrex 2-Cup Glass Measuring Cup, and mix it with 2 cups of boiling water for easy pouring later. The heat of the water will dissolve the baking soda and ensure that no sand particles remain in the final room spray solution.
Once the baking soda has dissolved in the water (stirring will help it dissolve faster), add the juice of half a lemon and a carefully measured drop of essential oil.
From this point, simply let the mixture cool to room temperature and then transfer to your favorite spray bottle. Room spray equates to about 2 cups, but a little more thanks to the lemon liquid.
Be sure to shake the room spray well before use.
My Verdict on Citrus Twist Room Spray Recipe
Citrus-based cleaners tend to be very strong and are one of people’s top choices when it comes to cleaning tips, so out of the three recipes I lined up for you to try, I think this one will give your room the strongest scent. I predicted it. However, it was the weakest of all and quite disappointing.
After waiting 30 minutes for the boiling water to cool and then another 10 minutes, the light scent from the spray mixture quickly dissipated. The jug itself with the leftover mixture smelled great, but the equally intense lemon spray with a hint of spice didn’t really fill the room.
This recipe might work better in a diffuser, but I wanted a room spray, so I tweaked the recipe to be more of a simmering pot recipe in hopes of increasing the staying power of the lemon scent. I decided to take a look. I boiled a whole lemon and a whole tangerine slice in water for 10 minutes, and after the mixture had cooled, I mixed in two tablespoons of witch hazel and a few drops of essential oil. I did not include baking soda in my recipe tweaks.
The room smelled wonderful from the bubbling of the stewpot, and the witch hazel clearly helped with the recipe. I sprayed it in two rooms and the scent lingered much longer. In the small bathroom with an extractor fan, the scent lingered noticeably for about an hour. Same thing happened in the medium bedroom with the door closed.
The scent was light, not like a lemon-scented detergent, but with a hint of the warmth of the ginger from the essential oils. If I were to make this again, I would add more essential oils as the oil scent seemed to be the first scent to disappear from the spray, but even though the scent became subtle, the air in the room I sprayed it with , it smelled fresh for hours after spraying. .
This scent is perfect for eliminating food odors in bathrooms, stuffy rooms, or kitchens. It was definitely worth the extra 5 minutes to tweak the recipe and chop the fruit and add the witch hazel.
2. Fireside Fragrance DIY Room Spray Recipe
(Image credit: Future / Ciera Cree)
When I found an essential oil called “Smoky Fireside” in the store, I had high hopes that it would make the perfect fall-themed DIY room spray. While researching simple recipes, I learned that making a spray using isopropyl alcohol would make the DIY spray last longer, so I decided to give it a try and compare the results with other recipes.
What you need for the DIY Fireside Fragrance Room Spray Recipe
The approximate cost of this bottle is between $2 and $3. Similar to Citrus Twist, this cost is lower if you already have some or all of these items in your home.
method
All you need to do for this homemade room spray is mix everything in your desired order and shake. I was skeptical that the spray would work because it seemed like a big jump from using 2-3 drops in the Citrus Twist DIY Room Spray to using 30 drops here when dripping essential oils . However, since the recipe contains alcohol, I thought it would be nice to balance the scent with the scent of essential oils.
It really seemed like the quickest room spray recipe ever, so I was excited to see how it turned out.
My Verdict on Fireside Fragrance’s DIY Room Spray Recipe
This recipe was the quickest to make, taking just 5 minutes. For a little time and effort, the DIY room spray was great, giving off a slightly spiced, woody scent, but it didn’t stay in the air for much more than 10 minutes.
I tried adding a few more drops of essential oil and it had little effect, but after some experimentation I found that this scent works better when used as a DIY linen spray, and when sprayed on cushions it lingers faintly for an hour. I found that it lasts longer. Imagine spraying this solution on your living room curtains and making your home smell like fall. However, if you don’t use a significant amount, it becomes very subtle, although pleasant.
This recipe might have worked better with witch hazel or a stronger, more expensive brand of essential oil. Alternatively, if you want to create a reed diffuser, you can keep the scent throughout the room by constantly having this delicate mixture in your space.
3. Bourbon Rose DIY Room Spray Recipe
(Image credit: Future / Ciera Cree)
With the roses in the garden still clinging to the last rays of sunlight before fall gets into full swing, we felt it was the perfect time to try a natural rose home fragrance. Adding hints of bourbon and vanilla via essential oils sounded like a cozy and ideal home fragrance combination.
What you need for the DIY Bourbon Rose Room Spray recipe
Approximate cost is $2 worth of materials per bottle. If you have fresh rose petals in your garden, you don’t need to incorporate them into your overall cost. However, if this is not the case, or if the bouquet of roses is not in bloom at the moment, buy a cheap bouquet of roses at your local store.
1 spray bottle Fresh rose petals: You can use 2 tablespoons of dried petals instead, but a handful of fresh rose petals will create a better scent. Online shops tend to sell display bouquets and gift bouquets, so it’s more affordable to buy them in-store for a few dollars instead. 2 tablespoons witch hazel: Available at Walmart 3 drops essential oil: I chose Bourbon Vanilla. The Craft Premium Fragrance Oil on Amazon comes with two great scents, one of which matches my scent perfectly. But if you want something super powerful, Amazon’s Pure Vanilla Essential Oil is a great choice.
method
Petal spray methods tend to take longer to prepare than other recipes, as they require patiently infusing boiling water with the plant’s scent and then allowing sufficient time for the liquid to cool. . But when it comes to the techniques people use all the time to make their homes smell good, I like to put time aside.
First, boil a handful of rose petals in water on the stove for about 10 minutes. By the end of boiling, the water should begin to take on a yellowish tint. The petals also appear translucent.
Next, strain the petals from the rosewater and add the solution to a clean measuring jug. Then add 2 tablespoons of witch hazel to this mixture and stir. Adding essential oils is optional, but if you like to add them like I do, add drops of those at this stage as well.
Once the mixture has cooled to room temperature, pour it into a spray bottle. Shake well before use.
My Verdict on Bourbon Rose DIY Room Spray Recipe
This spray is my favorite so far and I like to keep it on hand so I can use it over and over again. It’s sweet, light, and gentle on the nose. I tested the spray in a small bathroom with an extractor fan and in a bedroom with the door closed. Even with the extractor fan in use, the rose, bourbon, and vanilla combination lingered noticeably in the bathroom for about an hour and a half, then subtly for several hours after that.
The odor lingered noticeably in the bedroom for hours, but to some degree for most of the day. Although optional, I recommend layering the fragrance with a few drops of essential oil in this spray, as the bourbon and vanilla notes really come through without overpowering the rose scent.
At first, the 30 minutes it took for the water to boil the rose petals to cool down felt like a long time. But considering its effectiveness, it’s definitely worth the total 45 minutes it took to boil and make this room spray. I’m looking forward to making this again and experimenting with different essential oil add-ins.
my conclusion
From left to right, my DIY room spray: Fireside Fragrance, Citrus Twist, and Bourbon Rose.
(Image credit: Future / Ciera)
Here are the main lessons I learned from my first DIY room spray making experience.
Don’t doubt natural ingredients like witch hazel until you try them. It may come as a pleasant surprise, but this type of recipe has been around for a long time historically, and for good reason. If you like experimenting with different scents, do what I do and find an inexpensive scent to try. However, if you know what you want, invest in a bottle in a higher price range. The set of 6 essential oils I bought was about $6, but it’s worth the money to buy one of the better oils. This is because the scent can linger in the air for a long time. Anthropologie’s Campo Manifesto Pure Essential Oil Kit includes amazing scents such as lime, mandarin, cedarwood, and mulberry. If a recipe you find online doesn’t work for you, feel free to tweak it unless it’s working for you. It is not a safety hazard. If you want a stronger scent, add more natural ingredients to your essential oil, such as a second lemon or a handful of rose petals.
Now that you have the key to making your own simple room spray, it’s time to think about which room you’d like to use it in and some tips on how to make your room smell great. These things that people with nice-smelling mudrooms do all the time are easy to incorporate into your life and will eliminate shoe-related odors in no time.
