No one likes a smelly environment, and in the corporate world, it doesn’t just affect your nostrils. Unpleasant odors in the office space can chase clients away and negatively impact the employees' health. The pollutants and odors in the air can dampen productivity and even lead to sick building syndrome.  On the other hand, a simple, DIY office air freshener can lift the spirits and soothe the senses, creating an ideal office environment for everyone.

There are a lot of chemical air fresheners on the market. Most of the time, these artificial air fresheners don’t last long, have cloying scents, and contain irritating chemicals.

However, if you’re looking for natural, low-maintenance air fresheners that smell wonderful, eliminate odors, and have therapeutic benefits, this is the article for you.

Related: How To Care For Your Office Plants

Benefits Of Making Your Own Air Fresheners For The Office

Natural DIY air fresheners have a ton of benefits. They are cheaper than the alternative, eco-friendly, and free from toxic chemicals. Some other benefits include;

1. Improved Air Quality

Indoor air quality can affect the well-being, comfort, and productivity of a building’s occupants. Improved indoor air quality results in higher productivity and fewer lost work days due to sickness.

Significant contributors to poor indoor air quality are pollutants and odors. Improving the air quality with an effective DIY office air freshener is no big deal. They absorb and get rid of odors while ushering in a sweet-smelling fragrance.

2. Customizable Scents

A huge benefit of a DIY air freshener is the ability to create your own unique scent. You can customize your essential oil or herb sachet mix to create the ideal fragrance and vibe for your office. 

3. Improved Health and Productivity

With the right essential oil or herbal mix, you can create a scent that makes your office smell nice, has health benefits and also elevates your working experience. Essential oils like lavender and peppermint have excellent anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. They also boost the mood, relieve stress, and fight fatigue. 

DIY Air Freshener Ideas

1. Essential Oil Diffusers

Essential oils are concentrated plant extracts. They are used in aromatherapy as they have tons of benefits. They can boost your mood, reduce stress, increase attentiveness, fight fatigue, and relieve headaches. All of these invariably affect your productivity in the workplace.

Essential oil diffusers can be store-bought. However, you can easily make your own to create a unique scent that can help the overall outlook in the office.

DIY RECIPE

Materials:

1. Your favorite essential oil or oils
2. Small vase 
3. ¼ cup of unscented or baby oil
4. Three tablespoons of rubbing alcohol
5. Diffuser reeds
6. Mixing bowl

Instructions:

1. Mix the rubbing alcohol with the  ¼ cup of unscented oil (baby, jojoba, almond, or safflower oil). The alcohol helps the scent diffuse better.
2. Add 20-25 drops of your preferred essential oil into the bowl and mix well.
3. Transfer this to your glass vase or bottle. Ideally, the bottle should have a narrow lip but a broad base to prevent the liquid from evaporating quickly.
4. Place the diffuser reeds in the mixture.

Recommended essential oils for office use are lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, and citrus. These oils fight fatigue, ease pain, relieve stress and anxiety, support memory, and lift your mood.

2. Natural Odor Absorbers

Odors in the workplace can easily get out of hand, creating an unpleasant environment and posing a health risk to workers.

Natural odor absorbers such as activated charcoal, baking soda, and coffee grounds can help eliminate unpleasant odors in the office. These items have an absorbent structure that allows them to trap odors and remove them from the air. You can put coffee grounds into fancy containers and use them to decorate the office space. This will neutralize odors as well as release that sweet coffee scent into the air.

Baking soda and activated charcoal work more topically. So you can apply them directly to the odor-prone areas. For example, you could dust the bottom of the office trash can with baking soda before lining it with your trash bag.

3.  Herb and Spice Sachets 

Herbs and spices are great as office air fresheners. They smell pleasant while lending a cozy vibe to your office space.

They are pretty easy to make;

1. Buy small drawstring bags made of muslin, silk, lace, or cotton.
2. Choose your dried herb mixture for a customized scent. You could mix lavender, rosemary and cloves. You could add dried flowers if you like.
3. Put half a tablespoon of your chosen dried herbs into the pouch, half a tablespoon of sea salt, and a stick of cinnamon. You could add a few drops of essential oil to preserve the scent.
4. Store the herbal sachets in a warm, dry, dark spot. They shouldn’t come in contact with direct sunlight.
5. You can place them in drawers, file cabinets, cupboards, etc.

It is necessary to use properly dried herbs for longer-lasting sachets. You can dry fresh herbs by hanging them upside down in a well-ventilated area or with a dehydrator. You could also consider vacuum sealing.

Tips For Using DIY Office Air Fresheners

A. Safety Considerations

In everything, it is necessary to consider the safety of yourself and your teammates. 

• You must be aware if any team member is allergic to any ingredient you plan to use. This is to prevent allergic reactions.
• Diffuser reeds shouldn’t extend out of the vase/ bottle for more than 4-6 inches to prevent possible injuries.
• Diffuser reeds that have splinters should be replaced immediately.

B. Regular Maintenance 

Nothing lasts forever. The same goes for your excellent office air freshener. You must maintain them regularly to ensure that your office continues to smell pleasant.

Some maintenance tips include;

1. Check your essential oil diffusers monthly to add more liquid if necessary.
2. Rotate the diffuser reeds monthly so the dry ends go into the liquid. Replace them every 4-6 months.
3. Replace the odor absorber at the bottom of the trash can regularly.
4. Replace herbal sachets quarterly.
5. Don’t use plastic bags for your herb sachets as they aren’t breathable; therefore, the scent of your herb and spice mix won’t circulate.

Conclusion 

These DIY office air fresheners improve indoor air quality and have therapeutic effects such as relieving stress, fatigue, and anxiety while enhancing clarity and focus. Creating your own unique office air fresheners, with the help of the tips in this article, will tremendously boost morale and productivity in your workplace. 

As you try your hand at any of our tips, ensure to give us an idea of how it goes in the comments.