Did you know that you can create an instant air freshener out of natural ingredients that are already in your kitchen?
The best time to use the boiling water air freshener method, also called a stove top potpourri, is when having guests over that are going to be in and around your kitchen and dining room. This means that dinner parties are the perfect time to bust out this fragrance technique.
For normal household use, I usually recommend other air freshener methods that provide longer-lasting solutions. However, for dinner parties in particular, this is a great way to impress your guests. This method is also very fast, easy, and a great way to cover up other strong cooking smells that take over your kitchen while you’re making dinner.
How To Do It
The process is extremely simple. I’ve outlined it for you here:
- Put your scented ingredients into a medium sized pan or see-through spouted teapot on the stove.
- Fill the pan or pot about 1/2 to 3/4 full of water.
- Bring the water to a quick boil. You should start to smell the scent now. If it’s not strong enough, add more scented ingredients of your choice.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer.
- Let it sit while you enjoy time with your guests.
- Check the water every so often to see when it is running dry, and replenish the water as it boils away. The more water you add to begin with, the longer it will last before needing to be replenished.
Cleaning Up Afterwards
- After your dinner party is done, you can store the scented ingredients along with the remaining water in a mason jar or Tupperware for later. Many natural ingredients can be re-used a few times before losing their scent.
- If you store them in a mason jar, you can display it somewhere in your house. It will make a good conversation piece for guests on another day. If they ask you about it, you can even bust it out by boiling it on the stove again, showing off your creative air freshener.
It’s as simple as that!
The simmering water will fill your kitchen and nearby rooms with your chosen aroma while you and the guests are eating. Just be sure to keep the water topped off, or the ingredients could run out of water and burn, which would probably produce a pretty bad smell instead of a good one.
Can I Use A Slow Cooker?
Yes, you can. Just heat up your chosen ingredients in a slow cooker with water. Heat them up on high heat at first. Then, when it begins to produce steam, open up the slow cooker and reduce the heat to a simmer.
Using a slow cooker can actually be better because it’s more safe than leaving an unattended pan that is boiling on the stove.
There are also some people who say they’ve had success putting their scented ingredients into a fondue pot. A fondue pot typically takes up less space than a slow cooker and thus could even be displayed on your kitchen table, or the counter top nearest your table, during your dinner party.
What Ingredients Should I Use?
You can use any scented ingredients you want. The most popular ingredients to use are are of the following types:
- Herbs
- Lavender petals
- Rose petals
- Thyme
- Rosemary
- Basil
- Sage
- Mint
- Bay leaves
- Spices
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Fruit or fruit peels
- Orange
- Lemon
- Grapefruit
- Lime
- Apple
- Scented extracts
- Vanilla
- Almond
- Citrus extracts
- Scented oils – any fragrance you want.
- Scented tree carvings
- Pine needles
- Pine bark
- Eucalyptus carvings
- Any pleasantly scented plants that you find in your yard or garden
As you can infer from the list above, almost any scented ingredient that exists can be used for your boiling water air freshener. The steam from the water will naturally spread the scent all through your kitchen and dining area. The only hard part of this method is choosing the scent that you want to use!
This method is great for using when you grow your own herbs, as you’ll always have a fresh supply of something that smells great.
Let’st take a look at some recommend scent combinations below that other people have come up with:
Scent Combinations To Try
- The Smell of Fall
- Orange
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Orange Creamsicle
- Orange
- Vanilla
- Citrus Supreme
- Orange
- Lemon
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Apple Pie
- Apples
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla
- Minted Lime
- Lots of lime
- Peppermint extract
- Vanilla
- Vanilla Mint
- Mint leaves of your choice
- Vanilla
- Rosemary Deluxe
- Lots of rosemary
- Lemon
- Peppermint
- Holiday Spice
- Cinnamon
- Pine sprigs
- Peppermint
- Vanilla Spice
- Vanilla extract
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Winter Woods
- Juniper berries
- Thyme
- Rosemary
- Coconut Adventure
- Coconut extract
- Lime
- Gingerbread Man
- Lots of ginger
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla extract
As you can see from the list above, creativity and a sense of adventure is your friend when making your own boiling water potpourri. You can add anything and everything that’s scented to a pot of boiling water and see how it turns out.
For any scent you want more of, just add another dash of that ingredient to your boiling water.
You may be looking at these ingredient lists and thinking, “I don’t have any of those!” Then perhaps now is the perfect time for you to get your own kitchen spices starter kit. There are tons of options for starter kits out there that come with any number of spices you could imagine.
