Homemade Fabric Freshener Spray

There are times when you just need to freshen things up.  Case in point: my husband's vehicle smelling like a locker room.  Between his golf bag, gym bag, climbing bag, spilled coffee and overall dirt, it was not smelling so fresh.  I thought if I finally caved and cleaned the car for him, it would smell better, but it wasn't enough.  Even after vacuuming and wiping down everything, the inside of the vehicle still had a funky odor that just couldn't be ignored (maybe my husband could ignore it, I could not!).  A good coating of Febreze on the carpets would have been great, but I refuse to use the chemical-laden fabric freshener.  I decided to do some searching for homemade fabric freshener spray, and I found quite a few variations.  I settled on the following recipe:

• 2 cups warm water (you can use cold water if you're not using baking soda)
• 1 cup rubbing alcohol (to help with evaporation and also disinfecting)
• 1/2 cup concentrated, natural fabric softener (Seventh Generation or Method, for example)
• 1 tsp baking soda (to help deodorize, but this will leave white marks on darker fabrics.  In my case, it didn't matter and I needed the deodorizing boost!)

I combined everything in a spray bottle, shook it up to make sure the baking soda was dissolved, and went to town on spraying it all over my husband's vehicle!  It smelled great, and was super-easy to make.  I even sprayed some in my car, since I liked how nice it smelled.

If you're looking for an alternative to Febreeze that's better for you, plus a lot cheaper, give this a try!