You're a power user moving through the website with super-human speed. You've disabled JavaScript in your web browser. A third-party browser plugin, such as Ghostery or NoScript, is preventing JavaScript from running. Additional information is available in this support article.During this chilly time of year, we’re focused on doing everything we can to keep the air warm inside our homes. Too bad that also means breathing the same musty air over and over—and any germs and bacteria that have been hanging out in your home along with it. It’s important to refresh the air inside your home every so often, especially if anyone in your home has been sick. Homemade air fresheners made with essential oils can do the trick. Essential oils are good for more than just making your home smell nice. Many of them offer antiviral, antifungal and even antibiotic properties. Dōterra compiled a handy list of essential oils by property type. Cypress, Eucalyptus, Lavender, Lemon, Lime, Marjoram, Melaleuca, Peppermint, Roman Chamomile, Rosemary, Sage, Sandalwood, Wild Orange, Wintergreen

Cinnamon, Clove, Eucalyptus, Lavender, Lemon, Melaleuca, Oregano, Sandalwood, Thyme Eucalyptus, Lavender, Lemon, Melaleuca, Patchouli, Sage, Sandalwood, Thyme Bergamot, Clove, Eucalyptus, Lavender, Lemon, Lime, Melaleuca, Oregano, Patchouli, Roman Chamomile Any combination of these essential oils can help purify the air in your home. There are tons of ways to use essential oils to clean your indoor air. Here are easy and effective  homemade air fresheners that you can make right now. It’s easy to make your own spray to mist around your house and freshen the air. Fill a spray bottle with 8 drops each of three different air-freshening essential oils. (We recommend mixing wild orange, sandalwood and clove essential oils. Tea tree, eucalyptus and lemon also make a fragrant combination.) Also add in 1/2 to 1 cup water. Mist the spray around your home whenever the air smells a tad stale. Disinfect the surfaces in your home with this natural cleaner made using pure essential oils.

Simply combine 4 tablespoons white vinegar, 3 cups water and 10 drops of your favorite essential oil in a spray bottle. Use the cleaner anywhere that needs sanitizing—counters, toilets, door knobs—it’s a mild cleaner good for any room in your home. Add a few drops of an antimicrobial essential oil to a couple of cotton balls and stick them in your vacuum’s canister. As you vacuum, the essential oil will diffuse throughout your home, cleansing the air and making your whole house smell fresh. air duct and dryer cleaningYou can also douse cotton balls in a refreshing essential oil, like lemon, and stick them in closets and drawers to keep closed off areas fresh.intelli pro intelligent air purifier Spread a fragrant—and powerfully purifying—combination of essential oils throughout your home by using a diffuser or oil burner. best air purifier for allergies and dust

Mix a few drops of your favorite essential oils into a portable or plug in diffuser and breath in the spa-like scent. 5. Stovetop air freshener If you don’t own a diffuser or an oil burner, you can create your own using a pot of boiling water. Simply simmer a pot of water on your stovetop and add a few drops of the essential oil of your choice. The scent of this homemade air freshener will permeate throughout your house. Just remember to keep adding water and essential oil as the water evaporates. Follow Kirsten on Twitter @kirsten_hudson, Google+ and Pinterest. Related on Organic Authority 4 Natural Air Fresheners to Remove Winter’s Indoor Odors The Easiest DIY Natural Essential Oil Infuser Ever 3 Best Essential Oils For Cleaning The air inside your home can be two to 100 times more polluted than what's outside, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. And chemical air fresheners only add to the haze. For healthier ways to get rid of common odors, try these tips from green-cleaning expert Leslie Reichert.

If your kitchen smells like the grilled salmon you cooked hours before, try this fix: Boil 2 of cups water, add 2 or 3 tablespoons of baking soda, and toss in a lemon peel. )—even chefs swear by it. Rotting food can cause a foul smell that lingers on a plastic can. Remove the offending trash, then place 1 tablespoon of coffee, a few cloves, and 1 tablespoon of baking soda in the center of a coffee filter. Close with a twist tie to make a sachet, and put it at the bottom of the can to eliminate unpleasant odors. An open box of baking soda should do the trick for routine smell maintenance. But if you've got a truly stinky fridge, chances are you've got food that's gone bad or spoiled-milk or meat-juice spills on a shelf. Put a spray attachment into a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, spray down your shelves, then wipe. For that nasty ring around the toilet, make an abrasive scrub that's 1 cup of baking soda, 1 cup of borax, and 1 cup of salt. If you want a scented scrub, add a few drops of essential oil.

For really bad bowl stains, turn off the water supply and drain the toilet, then add the scrub so that it can sit on the stain undiluted. If your cellar smells like mildew, it's probably damp, so run a dehumidifier. Mix a few drops of tea-tree oil—a natural killer of mold spores—with either rubbing alcohol or inexpensive vodka and spray on anything that smells musty. The alcohol evaporates quickly, leaving the tea-tree oil to neutralize the odor.When I first heard about the CritterZone on Hauspanther, I was intrigued. Kate Benjamin calls the air purifier and odor eliminator a “game changer. ” Kate has 12 cats of her own, and combating odors is something that she deals with on a daily basis, so I figured she knew what she was talking about. I wanted to learn more about this air cleaner, and contacted the company. When I received the two sample units they sent me, I couldn’t believe my eyes: they’re tiny!The CritterZone Air Purifier is only 4.5″ tall by 2.75″ wide by 1.75″ deep.

The wall plug in unit protrudes about an inch from the wall in the back of the unit.  The cord that comes with the corded unit protrudes less than .5 inch.I have to admit, I was skeptical. How could something so small really do anything to reduce odors?I plugged the unit into an outlet in my kitchen after I had reheated some split pea soup, which has a pretty strong smell. I’m funny about cooking smells – I love them before and while I eat, but I want them gone as soon as I finish. I can’t stand lingering odors. By the time I finished my bowl of soup, the kitchen no longer smelled like soup!But I’m sure what you really want to know is how it works on pet odors. I tested the unit near one of our litter boxes. Ruby is a vertical pee-er, and before I got the NVR Miss, the only litter box I’ve been able to find with high enough sides to eliminate this problem, we had some accidents. Even though I had used numerous cleaners around the box (it sits on carpet), I’d still occasionally get a faint whiff of urine odor.

I only had to run the unit there for 10 minutes, and the remaining faint odor was completely gone. I haven’t smelled it since.October 2014 update: I had a chance to use the Critterzone on a urine stain on our carpet when some of Ruby’s urine spilled over the sides of our high sided box because I had filled it with a little too much litter. After blotting the stain, and putting the Critterzone upside down on the damp area for about half an hour, there was absolutely no odor left.The Critterzone produces a natural ionic flow to give indoor air the energy it needs to restore itself. This process virtually eliminates pollutants in the air, on surfaces and even in fabrics, providing odor and germ control. The unit uses very little energy and cleans your air 24/7 for less than a penny a day.The unit is said to eliminate spills, urine and odors from carpet, upholstery, mattresses and more. They say that it can virtually eliminate human or pet urine from fabrics within 30-60 minutes. 

It can be used on spilled milk, gasoline and other germ or odor concerns in your home, business or  vehicle (it comes with a car adapter that plugs into the cigarette lighter).My only concern about the CritterZone was the issue of ozone. The unit emits a faint ozone smell when it is in operation, similar to what you would smell during a thunderstorm. Some air purifiers on the market are ozone generators, and there are safety concerns around the levels of ozone these machines generate. The FDA requires ozone output of indoor medical devices to be no more than 0.05 ppm. The Critterzone produces less than 0.01 PPM of ozone.I absolutely love this unit. I’ve shied away from larger air cleaners because they require frequent cleaning, as well as purchasing replacement filters, not to mention that they take up space. This small, efficient unit gets the job done!At $99, this is a bit of an investment, but it will save you from having to buy bottles of odor eliminator, and remember that you will never have to buy replacement filters.