DURING the colder months of the year we tend to keep our homes closed-up tight to prevent warm air from escaping and cool air from entering them. This may leave us with snug and cosy environment, but it can also leave the air stale and often offensive smelling.
Herbs and spices can be used in many different ways to combat unwanted odours and leave your home smelling fragrantly fresh.
What better way to freshen up a room than with sweet-smelling, homemade incense. You can burn scents like frankincense and myrrh, which dates to the time of the ancient Egyptians, or sweet spices like cinnamon, quassia, cloves, allspice and nutmeg.
To make your own incense, thoroughly together mix one tablespoon of very fine sawdust with one tablespoon of ground spice or herb of your choice. To this mixture add one tablespoon of water in which one teaspoon of gum Arabic has been dissolved.
Gum Arabic is available from artist suppliers and some hardware stores. Shape the mixture into small cones and allow them to dry. Place the cones on small metal dishes, or other suitable objects, and light - the incense will smoulder, filling the room with fragrance.
Other unpleasant odours, such as stale cigarette smoke or smoke from the winter fire, can be removed from a room by placing a few slices of lemon in a shallow dish of water.
To get rid of cooking odours and other nasty kitchen smells, burn a few sprigs of southernwood, rosemary or other dried fragrant herb on a little metal dish.
Disagreeing smells in garbage bins can be neutralised by scrubbing and rinsing them out with a solution of bicarbonate of soda and water, then splashing vinegar or lemon juice in the bottom of the bin.
Herb bags - little sachets made from scraps of leftover coarse material, gathered across the top and tied with a ribbon - filled with fragrant herbs will also combat kitchen smells, freshen up a broom cupboard, and eliminate mustiness from a duster and odds-and-ends drawer.
Hang them around the room, over the backs of chairs and in cupboards, squeezing them whenever you walk past to release their scent.
A delightful smelling herb bag blend can be made by combining 75g of dried lemon verbena, 25g each of dried lemon-scented geranium leaves and dried peppermint, two pieces of dried and powdered lemon peel, and two tablespoons of orrisroot powder or dried oak moss.
Essential oils can also be used to remove unwanted odours. Just add a few drops of your favourite fragrant oil to a shallow dish of warm water set on a sunny window sill or radiator. As the oil evaporates, its aroma will fill the room.
