Poo-Pourri and sprays like it work to coat the surface of the water in the toilet so that so odors cannot escape! That is what makes these sprays different from air fresheners.
It is actually fairly easy and inexpensive to make your own odor-blocking spray and I am here to show you how. :-)
You will need:
Rubbing alcohol, any percentage
Purified water, NOT tap water
Your favorite essential oils
Castile soap OR regular dish soap (optional)
Food coloring (optional)
Vegetable glycerin (optional)
Empty spray bottles
Labels, ribbon, etc. (anything else you would like to use to decorate the bottle)
Funnel - to get your liquids into those tiny bottles
There are a lot of variations on the recipe but this seems to be a common combination that works well:
Place in your bottle:
5-10 drops essential oil per oz. (really you can use as much as you want)
1/2 Tbsp. rubbing alcohol per oz. (again, you can use different amounts depending on what you like)
If you are using vegetable glycerin, put in equal amounts of alcohol and vegetable glycerin
Fill the bottle almost the rest of the way with water.
Add 1-2 drops of castile or dish soap (You don't want it to foam too much when you shake it)
Shake well!
Here is how I made mine for this Christmas:
I went ahead and bought tiny plastic spray bottles since this was my first time doing the recipe. Next time I definitely want to go with larger bottles. One of the things I did like about the smaller bottles that I got was that they came in their own little kit with a funnel, a cloth to wipe the bottles with and some little droppers. If you are going to be doing this long term, I would recommend getting glass bottles that are tinted. Essential oils can eat through plastic over a LONG period of time and they can be damaged by exposure to light. Generally, though, plastic bottles are fine for most people.
I gathered all my ingredients together and started creating! I was able to make 4 of them very quickly.
There are SO many different recipes for this kind of spray online and a lot of different combinations of essential oils that people like to use. For this particular recipe, I just used 10 drops of sweet orange oil, 5 drops of lemon oil, and 5 drops of lavender oil (I know that's more than most recipes call for but I like a lot of scent). Other good combinations you can try are peppermint & orange, tea tree oil, lime, & lemon, or a citrus blend of lime, grapefruit, orange and lemon (I love this one!). Just have fun and create something that smells fabulous to you/
My favorite essential oil to use is sweet orange oil - it's just a very clean and gender neutral scent. You can find a 2 oz. bottle of Aura Cacia sweet orange oil here on Amazon.
Another brand that is really good an inexpensive is Eden's Garden. They have SO many different kinds. I was looking at all they had the other day and was totally blown away. You can get a 10 mL bottle of lavender oil for just about $10!
I put the essential oils into the bottles first and then I added the alcohol. I added more alcohol to mine than was necessary but it ended up being fine - I think it smells amazing anyway. After I added the alcohol, I shook the bottle and then filled the bottle almost the rest of the way with water.
Adding just a drop of soap helps to mix up the oils. If you wanted to get really fancy, you could buy a commercial surfactant like Polysorbate 20 that will not bubble and foam but in my opinion, dish soap works fine.
Adding food coloring does nothing but make it pretty. I used ONE drop and made my spray look totally beautiful so I was very pleased. And since the food coloring isn't going in or on my body I was 100% good with using it in the spray.
Then the last step is to add labels and/or decorations. (I mostly just did this since they were for Christmas). I would recommend getting waterproof labels in case the spray leaks out. You definitely will want labels because guests who are unfamiliar with this type of spray may think it is an air freshener. They need to know that it must be shaken and then sprayed on the surface of the water in order to be effective. Mine say, "Shake and spray 5 times before you go."
Hope that is helpful to you all! Subscribe to my mailing list below if you'd like to keep up with me!
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