Question, ever had this happen to you? You come in from a hard day's work, open your front door, and wonder, "who's cooking fish in my tennis shoes?" Or you invite company over and obvious discomfort is seen on their faces. Well I'm going to offer some inexpensive tips to prevent that. I'd like to begin by saying, because I have a strong sense of smell, I personally have some inventive ways to eliminate or better yet prevent household odors, or rather I think they are my inventive ways, who knows, with My Phenomenal Memory, I might just be remembering somethings from long ago. Although, a couple of these I've never seen anywhere else. Oh yes, since I'm so sensitive in the olfactory department, I've also had to invent ways to shield myself when I'm not at home. One thing that I do is to, always carry a bottle of lavender oil in my purse, for headaches. I also try to carry a cotton ball or two, to saturate it with the oil for sniffing. Ah, I'll bet you know where I'm going with this. Well, yes, when I smell an unpleasant odor, I'll just pull the saturated cotton ball out and sniff it, discreetly, and voila, my olfactory senses are shielded.

These are not in any particular kind of order. The first one is something that I just discovered, came up with, or invented, whatever, here it is.

• I found a good use for the wax of scented candles. I let the wax melt onto a plate, and when it's cold, I scrape it off the plate, and break into small pieces and place in receptacles around the house. The candles must to be the kind that are truly scented, not just on the surface. The candle that I used came from "Yankee Candle." I used the inexpensive votive candles. My fragrance of choice is Sweet Honeysuckle. The fragrance lasts indefinitely, it's been two weeks and counting and the fragrance is still going strong.
• Another air freshener, not mine of course, is, using white vinegar. Pour the vinegar in a few receptacles and place them around the room. This works particularly well when there's a smoker in the home, (however it's not just for the smokers household). I can testify that it works, because my mother was a smoker, and I used this method in her home.
• For a warm a fuzzy feel in the winter when the house is closed up, drop a few sticks of cloves or cinnamon in a pot of boiling water on the stove and simmer.
• Oh yes, and for the unused fireplace, a few branches from a cedar or pine tree placed in the fireplace provides a very pleasant fragrance.
• For dresser drawers, I use fabric softener sheets, the sheets must be placed in an opened ended plastic bag, as they are oily and might cause stains. Something that I started when I first set up housekeeping, was, after I finish using a bottle of cologne or perfume I place the empty bottle in my unmentionable drawers. You can also place these empty bottles between the mattress and box springs. I just read this on the Internet, when you have a musty closet, or chest of drawers that's been out of use for awhile, crumple up newspaper and place in the drawers or closet, and close and leave for a few days, repeat as needed. This can also be used for musty books, crumple newspapers, place in a bag with the books and leave for a few days.
  
• For an always fresh trash can: Cat litter poured in the bottom of the trash can, does the trick. Another trick is to put fabric softener sheet in the bag before use, the sheet can also be placed under the bag. Also under the bag you can use a fragrance saturated cotton ball, that can be left as long as the fragrance lasts.
• Now to the carpet and vacuum cleaners: Pull out the trusty box of baking soda and sprinkle on the carpet, and let stand a few minutes, then vacuum. The baking soda can be poured in the new vacuum cleaner bag before you use it for the first time. Okay here goes the lavender oil again. Use those saturated cotton balls, place them in a new bag, with or without the baking soda, although the baking soda will make the lavender lasts longer.
• If you, or a family member, suffer from foot odor, and every time you open your closet door you're hit with the results. Well my solution is to pour baking soda in the offending shoes after each wearing. Don't forget to pour the baking soda out before you wear them again.
• One more, for now. The garbage disposal: Instead of throwing away your lemon peels, run them through the garbage disposal. Another tip I found on the Internet, freeze one cup of vinegar and, enough water to fill an ice cube tray, after the mixture is frozen, run the cubes through the garbage disposal.
  

After giving all the tips above, my best suggestion is to do the obvious. Clean regularly, and thoroughly. Offensive odors from cooking, smoking etc, settles on everything in the house, so a good cleaning can remove or prevent most unpleasant odors. Another often missed step is to open windows for a good airing, you'd be surprised, at the difference that alone can make.

I guess you can see two staples that I have in my home at all times, are baking soda and lavender oil. One other thing, since I am partial to lavender, while passing by a lavender plant I can't resist snapping off a few flowers and dropping them in my purse.

So these are my inexpensive tips to freshen your home. If you have any, please feel free to leave them in your comments.

Just a little aside, you can always purchase the trusty "Febreze," which does the trick on cleaned surfaces and air. There are also various and sundry other room deodorizers, stick-ups, plug ins, sprays etc. I actually use some of these products, however I find prevention is always best, and my tips are mainly used as preventative steps.