Last weekend, I got a wild hair to do something (something that’s not this), and because our brains have been so caught up on the Real One lately (and therefore, leaving us mentally excited, exhausted and on over-drive), I preferred something easy. And this! This is easy.
I’d been toying with the idea of making our own fabric refresher for a while now; a DIY Febreze, if you will. Actually, every time I use our DIY suds, I think of adding more homemade products to our cleaning routine. This is almost entirely due to the (really) cost effective perks, but in addition to the environmentally friendly aspects, it’s fun, too.
Scott dubbed this recipe Febooze, since vodka is one of the 3 ingredients. I laughed; the name stuck.
Supplies needed (12 oz. spray)
1 3/4 cups distilled water
1/2 cup inexpensive vodka
20+ drops of essential oil
kraft tags + bakers twine as a label
or printer and adhesive paper (see below for downloadable labels)
What to do
add water, vodka & oil together
store in a 12 oz. spray bottle
shake vigorously (before each use, too)
add your own label
spray on upholstery, linens and curtains to freshen up your home!
I found so many variations of this recipe online – everything from half vodka + half distilled water to mostly distilled water with a tablespoon of vodka. After an extensive amount of research (I can be exhausting!), we decided to meet somewhere in the middle, settling on 4:1, water to vodka. The vodka simply acts to help disperse the oil within the water and will allow the spray to evaporate quickly on your linens, pillows and upholstery fabrics.
The same all-over-the-place variations included how many drops of essential oils to add; again, this ranged from very little (5 drops) to heavy (30+ drops). I suppose this also depends on how concentrated of a scent you’d like to get, but since we planned on using this mostly as an all-around fabric refresher (as opposed to strictly a linen spray to spritz our pillows in the evening), we went towards a heavy-middle and added 20 drops to our 12 oz bottle.
Note: with that said, all these variations can rely heavily on the size bottle you’ll be using. I mean, that’s obvious though, right?
We chose grapefruit scented essential oil (picked up at Whole Foods) for its invigorating qualities – as opposed to lavender or rosemary for a more calming effect – and we used a spray bottle left over from a cleaning product (and just gave it a good wash before its second life as a fabric refresher!). The kraft tags were picked up at World Market, but you can just as easily make your own – or bonus! – print a pre-made label from these alternate tutorials, such as this one from Style Me Pretty or this one from Restored Style.
Just like our DIY suds, there’s enough distilled water, oil and vodka (for now, anyway!) to make many, many batches of Febooze. So, spray on!
PS: Always use distilled water! Tap water allows the solution to get moldy. Let’s avoid that.
I’ve had a similar melt-down and have been so tempted to look up a recipe. Now that you’ve made it easy for me, I might just have to do it!! Thanks!
Hannah, we highly recommend it! So, so simple.
So funny that you found my blog today. I followed your link…and good timing! I have actually been thinking about wanting to find a natural refresher. Hate to spray chemicals (especially with the little guy).
Good logic using grapefruit oil…but I’d be down just for the smell! :)
Oh…and I’m such a visual person…love that you make it all look so light and beautiful with your photography! :)
Hi Henna, thank you! Yes, the smell is of course a bonus! Yum.
So how much do you have to spray to leave a light lingering scent? I find Febreeze to be really overwhelming when you first spray it and then interestingly enough it dissipates so quickly that I feel like I have to use more (what a vicious cycle!)
Hi Liz, I’ve been spraying the same amount as I would Febreze, but you’re right, the scent does dissipate pretty quickly. You could always add a little more oil, I’m sure, since so many of the recipes vary! I think the amount of oil is all a matter of personal preference. Start small, then add more to “taste”!
[…] up is from Yellow Brick Home, where they made their own “febooze” (vs. Febreeze–which I feel smells rather […]
I’ve never liked the smell of Febreeze but Febooze? I’m totally in! We’ve been trying to find natural bug repellents and everything we read says to use essential oils. Maybe this will work double duty for us! You guys are genius. And all your pics are looking more gorgeous than ever!
Melissa, you know we love anything that does double duty! And thank you! XO
Can you substitute rubbing alcohol for vodka? How about boiled (sterilized) water for distilled water. I bet you could add a couple of drops of tea tree oil to prevent molding.
Jolene, I did see some recipes with rubbing alcohol instead of vodka, but we didn’t want to take a chance with sterilized water (by boiling). I don’t know if I’d recommend it, but you could certainly give it a try with the tea tree oil!
[…] that? Drape a blanket across the back of the sofa. For A Saner Future… Treat your sofa with a light fabric refresher, then vacuum. Get a nice slipcover. They can really hide a multitude of […]
[…] that? Drape a blanket across the back of the sofa. For A Saner Future… Treat your sofa with a light fabric refresher, then vacuum. Get a nice slipcover. They can really hide a multitude of […]
[…] that? Drape a blanket across the back of the sofa.For A Saner Future… Treat your sofa with a light fabric refresher, then vacuum. Get a nice slipcover. They can really hide a multitude of […]
[…] that? Drape a blanket across the back of the sofa.For A Saner Future… Treat your sofa with a light fabric refresher, then vacuum. Get a nice slipcover. They can really hide a multitude of […]
Where did you get the spray bottle?
Hi Marisa! The spray bottle was leftover from a different cleaning spray, but you can pick up spray bottles at any grocery store or bed and bath store.
[…] Again, while the sheets are washing, freshen your mattress naturally – you can buy fabric fresheners that have been made using only natural ingredients, or find a recipe for one you can make at home. […]
[…] http://www.yellowbrickhome.com […]
[…] yellowbrickhome […]
[…] Watkins or good old vinegar + water. For our home’s textiles, we’ll spritz them with ourhomemade fabric refresher, a solution of distilled water, essential oils and vodka. And as silly as it may seem, we like to […]