How do you make homemade Febreze?
By Angella
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Don't. Febreze just masks the smell despite what their amazing animations depict. You know what I mean when you have that one item, that despite being sprayed a million times, still smells. Invest in a steam cleaner. A portable one. Maybe 30 or 40 bucks. It won't leave your home smelling like flowers (candles or plug ins are a good solution) but it'll destroy the odours and most importantly, it'll actually clean plus sanitize as a bonus.
They're great for cleaning furniture as they penetrate deep down. You'll save a bundle on dry cleaning on it's own. I mean, you will have to actually dry clean items once in a while but I can wear a suit 7 or 8 times before I take it in because I steam the pants/jacket once I get home so it's fresh before I even stick it back in the closet.
Remember to keep the actually steam cleaner itself clean too. The water from your tap will leave calcium build-up and eventually start to smell. CLR once in a while will deal with that problem nicely.
It doesnt just mask the smell... but by the same token, its not designed to eliminate extreme stinky stuff that requires proper cleaning either!! Its merely to provide a fresh scent to fabric between proper cleans.
Using a steamer to steam garments is also only hygienic for one, maybe two times and should NEVER be used in replace of dry cleaning or washing on a more regular basis.
(Top tip - you do not need to dry clean a suit, wash in a COLD wash, on gentle cycle set to drip dry, hang it on proper suit hangers to keep jacket shoulder shapes etc..when its almost fully dry, use your steamer to essentially press it... you can remove any wrinkles remaining a lot quicker as its a titch damp still and you can avoid dry cleaning costs altogether!)
If you want a febreeze substitute that will be effective on moderate odour elimination as its more antibacterial in nature (even better if you increase the ratio below!) then in a 600ml spray bottle add:
2 caps of Canestan liquid (that is a wash additive thats a concentrated germ and fungal killer designed to be watered down by up to 8-9litres)
3 caps of a strong scented fabric softener concentrate (the stronger the scent, the longer it will last)
Shake gently to mix then top it up with water* to full.
This is gentle and should be safe on colours and most fabric types in my experience but I highly reccomend you Spray ONLY in a fine, evenly applied mist from a reasonable distance (30cm or a ruler's length would be ok) and always test on a small inconspicuous area FIRST for any new fabric you havent used it on before (dark or light) to be sure its ok for that one specifically.
Important: although watered down slightly this is still a fairly concentrated version, it will kill germs and last longer but some care does need to be taken as heavy saturation in random spots on some light and dark colours may show a 'ring' or 'watermark'. (E.G... I tested my recipe for this specifically and a stretch cream coloured fabric had a faint watermark appearance.)
If you do accidentally saturate a spot, blot it with a dry cloth to remive as much of the spray as you can and then hold a hand towel folded beneath the spot (hold it flat) and drip some water over that area to rinse it (i just dribble it from a water bottle with sports spout). The hand towel will soak up the water as it goes through the fabric and it will take residual spray residue with it.
*NB: it also doesnt have to be sterile water used here because of the Canestan liquid which will kill any bacteria in your water supply, however use of a filtered or demineralised water will help avoid 'rings or watermarks' if you do accidentally oversaturate in one spot especially on light fabrics.
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