The Smelly Home Conspiracyby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 23 Feb 2008 06:41 AM There is a huge market out there for home fragrance products, all of them vying for your hard earned money. The advertisements seems to tell you that if you don't buy all of this stuff, your home will smell and you won't have any friends. If your child's room doesn't smell like the scent of pineapple or a summer breeze, then you must be a bad parent. And only dirty housekeepers don't have a home that smells like a fresh lemon or a spring day. Out of the good of their hearts, they will even give their little machines away, so you can be saved from embarrassment (of course, you have to pay for all of the refills yourself). Well, let me tell you. It isn't too hard to have a nice smelling house without all of the sprays, spritzers, fans, plug ins, oils, machines and deodorizers that look like miniature works of art and cost nearly as much to maintain. How did we all get by without these devices? Common sense will tell you that there are better and more frugal ways of going about having a nice smelling home. Here are some ideas on what you can do all for free or nearly free. If you want your home to smell like a spring day, then open the windows! Doesn't this make sense? Fresh breezes will work quickly to air out your home and make it fresh. You would be amazed by the difference. In today's sealed and climate controlled home, we sometimes forget this. Find inexpensive or free fresheners for stinky places. Perfume ads in magazines can be put in a variety of places, such as the bottom of a garbage can. Dryer sheets also make nice fresheners. Add a drop of essential oil to the bathroom tissue roll and fragrance will be released whenever the paper is used. Keep your home clean. Regular cleaning and washing of linens goes a long way to keeping a home smelling nice. Don't forget to wash slipcovers and clean the carpets, two places where odors can linger. Don't let food scraps sit in the garbage can. What ideas do you have to share? Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here. Related Articles: The Color of Your Sheets Can Save You Money 9 Frugal Ways to Use Your Computer One Simple Way to Lower Your Heating Cost Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments jonesx6 (1606) 24 Feb 2008 02:15 PMSometimes I will put a pot of water on the stove and throw in some cinnamon sticks and cloves and let it simmer all day. It smells so good. I used to do this when we ran our kerosene heater all the time. It also helps put moisture into the air. Laura Community Tags frangrance, frugal, home, smelly, thrifty Discuss this article
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