AFTER A hard day at work, everyone loves to return to the cozy warmth of home where everything not only looks clean, but smells like it too. For some, the smell of clean is not enough.
Sharon Lowe of Sharon's Interior Décor on Red Hills Boulevard notes that many use pot-pourri, incense and other scents in the home's interior to create aromas which are pleasing to the senses.
"Even ancient Egyptians, she says, "would constantly have pure incense burning in their rooms or meeting areas. So, the tradition of using different methods to get a wonderful smell to surroundings continues."
Dried petals
Pot-pourri, which can be bought at many home centres and bath stores, is an aromatic mixture of dried petals and spices which brings to the interior fragrance, as well as colour.
There are numerous brands and fragrances to choose from such as honey dew, melon, Victoria rose and floating water lily.
Make your own pot pourri by getting cones, dried flowers and wood chips. Spray fragrances unto them. Another method is to gather rose petals in dry weather, and dry in shade by spreading out well on paper. Damask roses are said to be best.
When the petals are quite dry, place in a covered ceramic container, adding one handful of salt to the rose leaves. Let it remain five days, turning twice a day. Then add allspice and cinnamon. Let it remain a week, turning from bottom to top. Then add your aromatic oils. At this point, you can add fresh dried leaves of marjoram, sweet balm, verbena, tuber rose, orange blossom, gardenia clove carnation, violets, etc. Stir with a wooden spoon at intervals.
Keep your pot pourri in a basket or muslin bag. Preserve the scent by including in the mixture fixatives such as myrrh, sweet woodruff, or orris root is the most commonly used. Some ingredients, including spices, are strong and long-lasting enough to hold their scent without a fixative.
You can use scented sprays and refresher oils to refresh old pot pourri.
Refresher oils
Pot-pourri refresher oils can also be added to the light bulb fragrance ring which is present on fluorescent electric flower pots. When turned on, they exude the fragrance of flowers.
This fragrance oil is a concentrate and comes in many different aromas. 'Dragon Blood', for instance, is much more appealing than its name and exudes a lovely fragrance. Don't be turned off by the name. Open the bottles and sniff before purchasing. You might be surprised by the aroma emitted. The Night Queen and the Rain Forest are lovely scents too.
To change the smell of your rooms from musty to garden fresh, there are also fragrant sprays such the 'Delight Sense'. Spray two or three pumps in the air. For stronger and longer lasting scents, spray two to six pumps directly into your air-conditioning vent. This will cover the area quickly.
For a fresher scent, stick-on fresheners are useful in hard to reach areas. Be discreet if you wish by hiding them behind drapes. They will last for up to four weeks.
Yet another option for you are scented night lights which have perfume oils that provide fragrances that last for a long time.
On the shelves anywhere you will also find air freshener sprays. Sharon Lowe's favourites are Airwick Airneutralizer. It does not disguise smells, but freshens the air and eliminates odours.
There is also the good old camphor ball, notes Lowe, which is quite inexpensive and which when placed in locked draws and musty places, eliminate odours and freshen air. Camphor balls are also good for motor vehicles. In your drawers, camphor balls add a wonderful fragrance to clothes.
- Outlook Team
