7 D.I.Y. car air fresheners and how to make one at home

Getting inside a car that has a good welcoming scent is one of the few simple joys we have in life. Nobody wants to go on a trip while having to endure bad scents from an unwashed car or smells from leftover food.

Good thing, Do-it-yourself crafts have been a common trend these days with the help of online platforms. DIYs encourage its viewers or readers to be as creative as possible with only the things they have at home.

A good DIY air freshener can prevent you from buying air fresheners from the store.

The humble tree air freshener we are all familiar with cost an average of Php 70 and it lasts around a good five days – that’s Php 4,500 a year if you are consistent in replacing your tree air freshener weekly.

Natural DIY Car Air Freshener

Making a DIY air freshener can save you some cash and your trips will feel good knowing it’s your own craft used.

Another benefit of making a DIY air freshener for your car is that you can refrain from using artificial fragrances that can cause health problems over time.

These types of fragrances emit hazardous air pollutants that can damage your liver, central nervous system, and kidney. As much as possible, use a natural scent.

With all that being said, here are seven DIY air fresheners you can craft to make your car smell good and also refrain yourself from using hazardous air fresheners.

1.  Wooden Car Freshener

Source: Lemons, Lavender and Laundry

What you need:

• Thin Wooden Ornament
• Twine
• Stress Away Essential Oil
• Glass Dish
• Small Paintbrush
• Sandwich Size Ziploc Bag

Directions:

• Drop reasonable amounts of essential oil into a small glass dish.
• Using a paintbrush, brush the essential oil onto the wooden ornament.
• Place the wooden ornament into a Ziploc bag so that it will thoroughly absorb the essential oil.

>>> Related: Car air fresheners: 8 Pros & 5 Cons

2. Car Air-Freshener Bag

Source: Naehmarie

What you need:

• Thin cotton fabric (approx. 10x25 cm per pouch)
• Dried herbs, spices, tea, incense cones, essential oil
• Thin cotton or leather strap (approx. 60 cm per pouch)
• Sewing machine and thread

Directions:

• Cut the cotton fabric to 10x25 cm and trim around it in a wide zigzag stitch.
• Fold the edges on the long sides slightly diagonally inwards, then iron them.
• Stitch down the four edges in a straight stitch.
• Fold the two short sides approx. 2 cm inwards and stitch the edges in a way that a wide tunnel for the cord forms
• Fold the fabric right side on the right side in the middle. Sew both sides together. The seam has to stop right before the tunnel. Secure the seam at the beginning and the end with a backstitch. Turn the pouch inside out.
• Cut the strap in the middle, then pull the straps through the tunnels in a reversed manner. Knot the ends on each side together and check if you can close the pouch.
• Now you can fill the pouch with aromatic tea, dried herbs or incense cones. Put the pouch in the glove compartment or under your seat. If you want to, you can add a few drops of essential oils to the fabric in order to intensify the effect.

3. Felt Lemon Car Air-Freshener

Source: Courtney's Sweet

What you need:

• 1 sheet of yellow felt
• 1 sheet of green felt
• Scissors
• All-purpose craft glue
• Twine
• Hole puncher
• Essential oil

Directions:

• Cut the yellow felt into a lemon shape and cut a small leaf out of the green felt.
• Make a small hole punch to put some twine in to make a loop to hang
• Glue the twin knot down on the felt as well as the leaf to the lemon. Allow it to fully dry before hanging in the vehicle.
• Once the yellow felt is dried up, you can drop on some essential oils.

>>> Related:  6 best car air freshener ideas for Filipino drivers

4. Felt Balls Car Air-Freshener

Source: Designer Trapped in a Lawyer's Body

What you need:

• Wool felt balls
• Quilting thread
• Large sewing needle
• ¼-inch ribbon
• Essential oils

Directions:

• Thread your needle. Tie a knot at the end of the thread
• Begin threading felt balls onto the thread. For a larger circle, add more balls.
• Sew the two end balls together and time them off.
• Add two drops of your essential oil.
• Tie a 10-inch to 12-inch length of ¼ ribbon to your circle of felt balls.

5. Bottle Car Air-Freshener

Source: Oh, The Things We'll Make

What you need:

• 5 mL alcohol or vodka
• 5 mL essential oil

Directions:

• Open the air freshener bottle and remove the small plastic stopper underneath the cap.
• Pour the alcohol into the bottle. The alcohol should fill around half of the bottle.
• Fill the rest of the bottle with the essential oil of your choice.
• Put the wooden cap on the bottle without the plastic stopper. Tip the bottle over to wet the cap with alcohol and essential oil mixture.
• Hang the bottle from the rearview mirror of your car.

6. Bulky Donut Felt Car Freshener

Source: Chana Dawn Designs

What you need:

• Felt of any color
• Embroidery floss
• Embroidery needles
• Battling or cotton balls
• Scissors
• Pen
• Essential oils
• Toothpicks
• String, stretchy strings, or rubber band

Directions:

• Print stencil and cut out the shape.
• Outline the donut shape of the felt in pen and then cut exactly on the pen lines to reduce the chances of the pen show.
• You can add detail on one or both pieces of felt with the embroidery floss, do that before sewing them together. If you can still see pen marks, make that the “inside” of the donut. 
• Now sew the 3 layers together starting on the inside circle using a blanket stitch around the edge.
• Stitch a dashed line around the frosting attaching it to one layer of felt. Once you finish attaching the frosting, attach the front and back pieces with the blanket stitch.
• Stuff the piece every inch or so as you go around the donut shape, you can use scissors or a capped pen to tuck the batting in.
• Once you closed up the edge, add a small loop at the top so you can attach an elastic or string and hang from your rearview mirror.
• Choose an essential oil or fragrance, dip a toothpick in, and insert it into the bottom between the two pieces of felt. Make sure that you can still see the tip of the toothpick so that you can grab with tweezers and add more oil when desired.

>>> Related: Tips & Tricks to get rid of bad smell in your car

7. Lavender Heart Car Air-Freshener

Source: What No Mints

What you need:

• About 1 tablespoon of dried lavender buds
• Two 3x3-inch pieces of fabric
• Scissors
• Sewing thread
• Sewing needle

Directions:

• Cut two identically-shaped hearts from fabric pieces.
• Align the fabric hearts on top of one another and use a running stitch to sew them together.
• Before finishing the stitch, fill the heart with lavender buds and sew it closed.
• Attach a loop of thread for easy hanging.

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