Create Your Own Baking Soda Air Freshener

In the video below, Reader's Digest suggests an extremely simple way to make an air freshener with baking soda. You could do this in minutes, just follow the steps below:

1. Get an old or mismatched clean sock. Those are easy to find in my house!

2. Pour about 3-4 tablespoons of baking soda into the sock.

3. Tie the sock in a knot or secure with a rubberband, ribbon, or shoelace.

4. Place the homemade air freshener in a place where odors tend to form.

Tips and Ideas: Use attractive pieces of fabric instead of socks. Add a few drops of essential oil to the baking soda. Write messages or words on them with a fabric marker. A couple of ideas would be childrens' names or names of scents.

The video below shows 5 extraordinary ways to use baking soda. Every idea is wonderful and the video is short and to the point. Check out these great ideas!

My sister and I bought this little box of essential oils from Amazon.com and we split them between the two of us. We spent about $11 each, for 3 bottles of essential oils that will last for quite a while.

• Baking soda has long been used in the kitchen as an ingredient in food recipes.
• In addition to recipes, I've always kept a box of it open in the refrigerator to absorb odors,following in my mother's footsteps as it is an effective odor neutralizer.
• Today, it has become popular to use natural ingredients such as baking soda, as substitutes for many store-bought mixtures that are now being deemed unsafe due to harmful or toxic ingredients.
• According to Care 2 Make a Difference, there are 51 fantastic ways to use baking soda, ranging from toothpaste to treating insect bites.
• Baking soda, also called bicarbonate of soda, is naturally alkaline. When it is mixed with an acidic quid, it gives off carbon dioxide, which is why it bubbles up. This makes it useful in causing dough to rise.
• According to Wise Geek, "...it acts to neutralize acids and break down proteins. This quality accounts for its usefulness as a tenderizer and a leaven.
• Its neutralizing action on acidic scent molecules makes it an effective deodorizer." This is why it is the main ingredient in the naturally made air freshener recipes below.

The video below, created by April Athena7, has a very simple recipe, which I think would be a perfect car air freshener. The steps are as follows:

1. Get a small clean mason jar, baking soda, and essential oil, a nail, and a hammer.
2. Remove the lid and place on a cutting board or other hard surface. Use the hammer to poke holes in the lid of the mason jar.
3. Fill the mason jar about half full with baking soda.
4. Sprinkle several drops of essential oil onto baking soda. Stir.
5. Place lid on mason jar and gently swirl.
6. Place jar in car under seat, or in any other place odors tend to form.

This air freshener would work great inside a car, inside a cabinet, in a drawer, in a closet, near shoes, in a basement, in a garage, near a trashcan, laundry hamper, near a cat litter box, and under a bed.

Tips and Ideas: Substitute lemon peel for the essential oil. Keep in mind, this will need to be changed after 2-3 weeks. Create these as gifts for friends or family members. Cover the inside of the lid with circle of foil or wax paper to keep the ingredients fresh.