Skip to Content

DIY Gel Air Freshener (13 Recipes)

Learn how to make 13 fragrant DIY gel air fresheners with this easy home fragrance hack. These colorful air fresheners are safely formulated with essential oils, and will leave your home smelling fresh and clean — minus the questionable ingredients found in many commercial home gel deodorizers. Also included: a vegan gel air freshener formulation without gelatin that won’t melt in the summer heat!

DIY gel air fresheners

Making your own gel air fresheners is an easy and inexpensive way to make your home smell good, without resorting to using synthetic fragrance products which can compromise your health.

In this tutorial, you’ll find out how to make non-toxic homemade gel air fresheners. This DIY gel air freshener recipe is incredibly easy to make and requires only a handful of natural ingredients.

After using and testing these recipes for years now, we know they truly work! They smell great, won’t grow mold, and they last a very long time.

These colorful gels freshen the air in your home, much like store-bought gel deodorizers, but without the problematic ingredients contained in many commercial deodorizing products. We’ve also included 13 long-lasting essential oil blends for a fresh-smelling home.

Most air freshener gels use gelatin, but if you don’t have it, you’ll also find a vegan option without gelatin. This special air freshener recipe also won’t melt in sweltering summer heat – perfect for making a DIY gel air freshener for your car.

We spent a long time formulating these recipes because we wanted to solve every issue that you might come across while making your own air fresheners at home, such as mold, weak fragrance, and melting.

So, you can find a FAQ section with a list of questions and answers at the bottom of this post, which includes answers to common questions such as how to make to make your gel air fresheners last longer and smell stronger.

What are gel air fresheners?

Gel air fresheners are household deodorizing products that are used to mask or dampen odors in the air of your home, car or garage.

Unlike room sprays or diffusers, air freshener gels last a long time – they work by gradually dispensing fragrance into the air over a period of a few weeks, leaving behind a fresh, clean scent. This is because the gelling agent slows evaporation, allowing the gel’s scent to linger longer.

So, the benefit of gel air fresheners is that they last a lot longer than other scented products. Which means you don’t have to run your essential oil diffuser all day to make your home smell good!

How do gel air fresheners work?

A gel air fresheners works due to a combination of a gelling agent, a solvent, a liquid base, and of course, your fragrance.

Gelatin or agar-agar is the most important ingredient for these DIY gel air fresheners. It’s the gelling agent that forms the base of the gel, and it also acts as a vehicle for the essential oils.

When the gel sets, the essential oils’ aroma compounds are suspended in the gel. Then, as the gel evaporates, those scent particles are dispersed into the air.

When the scent runs out, you can simply top up or refresh your gel (more on this later). But with the right essential oils and formula, your homemade gel air freshener’s fragrance can easily last for weeks without needing a refresh.

Homemade gel air fresheners

Why avoid commercial air freshener gels and deodorizers?

Commercial brand gel air fresheners and deodorizers often contain a plethora of problematic ingredients, including synthetic fragrances and phthalates.

While phthalates help to distribute fragrances into the air, and can also help fragrances last longer, they can have extremely negative effects on one’s overall health and well-being.

Research has shown that phthalates can disrupt our bodies’ natural hormone levels, which can lead to serious issues such as metabolic and thyroid issues. Not to mention the fact that synthetic fragrances can trigger allergies, migraines and respiratory problems in many people.

It may seem harmless to use a spritz or two of synthetic fragrance here and there, but their daily accumulation is a more complex issue, and cutting down on synthetic scents is an important first step in lowering your body’s toxic load.

Additionally, typical household items such carpeting, rugs, upholstery, manufactured wood furniture, and cleaning products emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can further add to the issue.

That said, there is nothing that will combat bad odors in your home more naturally then simply opening a window or two, and letting in a fresh breeze.

However, when the season or the weather isn’t cooperating, homemade air freshener products using essential oils are a simple hack for safely scenting your home, without the negative effects of synthetic fragrances.

DIY gel air freshener without gelatin

In case you’re wondering if you can make a vegan gel air freshener, yes, you can. For the vegan version of these gel air fresheners, you will need to use agar-agar in place of the gelatin.

Agar-agar is a natural, vegetable-based gelatin subsitute derived from seaweed. It’s white, semi-translucent and dissolves easily in water, and is often used to thicken sauces, and to make vegetarian jellies, custards or desserts. 

The measurements for the vegan formulation are different than the recipe containing gelatin. This is because agar-agar behaves differently than gelatin and sets more firmly.

Agar also has a higher melting point than gelatin, making it ideal for car air fresheners or hot climates. If you live somewhere hot, please be sure to make the version with agar instead of gelatin to avoid a melted or liquified gel air freshener.

You can find more information on this in the FAQ section. You’ll also find a special “new car smell” essential oil blend for your vehicle below.

DIY gel air freshener without gelatin

Gel air freshener ingredients

The process of making these naturally scented gel air fresheners is fairly easy.

For your homemade gel air freshener formulation, you will first need a gelling agent. This can be gelatin, but you should choose agar agar if you live in a hot climate or if you’d prefer a vegan option.

(It’s important to note that you should not use flavoured gelatin or jello, as flavoured gelatin contains sugar and is more likely to mold.)

You will also need water, your favourite essential oils, vodka, and a preservative. The preservative is a very important step in the gel formulation – more on this below.

You can also add a natural solubilizer, which helps keeps your essential oils suspended and evenly dispersed in the gel. This is optional, and your gels will still work without it, but we’ve found gel air fresheners work best (and last the longest) when they contain a solubilizer.

You will also need a selection of your favourite essential oil blends on hand to scent your gel air fresheners. Below, we’ve included 13 air freshener essential oil blends which are all wonderful for deodorizing your home naturally.

Finally, for a fun pop of color, you can add a drop or two of natural food colouring to give your gel a bold bright hue or a soft pastel tone. However, this is completely optional.

Ingredients for gel air freshener

Why use a preservative in gel air fresheners?

If you’ve ever tried to make gel air fresheners without a preservative, you’ve likely noticed a major problem – the gels will form mold, often within days.

We fixed this by using potassium sorbate to preserve our gel air fresheners. This keeps them from growing a fuzzy layer of mold.

Potassium sorbate is a food-grade mold and yeast inhibitor that’s easily soluble in water. It’s inexpensive, effective and easy to use, and will keep your gels free of mold throughout their lifespan.

Note: we previously recommend salt as a more easily accessible alternative to potassium sorbate. However, we can no longer recommend this, as we ran into numerous issues.

For instance, too much salt can cause your gel air fresheners to melt. This is because salt weakens gelatin’s strength, stability, and gelling ability.

Most importantly, salt lowers gelatin’s melting point. So if you follow a gel air freshener recipe that contains salt, the gels may liquify when you remove them from the fridge.

How to store homemade gel air fresheners

To store your gel air fresheners, you will need a number of mason jars with wire lid inserts (otherwise known as frog lids).

You can choose small mason jars if you’d like a smaller, compact air freshener, or larger, wide-mouth jars for a larger air freshener.

But you can also use any heat resistant jar you may have on hand, such as jam or baby food jars.

Reusing jars makes for an eco-friendly solution to store-bought air freshener products. And since the ingredients used in this recipe are completely biodegradable, you can simply throw the used gel into the compost when it loses its scent, making these air fresheners completely zero waste.

Homemade gel air fresheners in mason jars

Gel Air Freshener Recipe

Tools

How to make DIY gel air freshener without gelatin

  1. Dissolve 2 teaspoons of agar agar with 1 cup warm water. Whisk well and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
    Adding agar-agar to bowl Adding water to bowl
  2. In a small saucepan, bring the dissolved agar agar and water to a boil. Stir or whisk to be sure the agar agar is well mixed. Once fully dissolved, remove the pot from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
  3. While you’re waiting for the mixture to cool, combine the essential oil blend with the natural solubilizer in a separate container. Mix well to combine and set aside. (You can skip this step if you’re not using a solubilizer.)

    Tip: if the mixture is cloudy, add more solubilizer drop by drop until it turns clear.
  4. Transfer the gel air freshener mixture into a large, heat-safe measuring cup such as a Pyrex cup, or another cup with a spout. This will make it easier to pour the mixture equally into each mason jar.
  5. Add the remaining 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup vodka and mix well.
  6. Next, add the essential oil blend mixture and potassium sorbate. Mix well to ensure the essential oils are evenly incorporated and the potassium sorbate pellets are dissolved. If desired, add natural food colouring during this step as well.
  7. Carefully pour your air freshener mixture into your mason jars, then place in the refrigerator to set for at least 3 hours.
    Pour air freshener gel into jar
  8. Once the gels have set, if desired, cover the jars with frog lids. Or, you can opt to use the air fresheners without a lid.

How to make DIY gel air freshener with gelatin

  1. In a small pot or saucepan, slowly sprinkle gelatin over 1 cup room temperature water and allow to bloom. After 5-10 minutes, the gelatin will swell and partially dissolve.
  2. Place the pot on the stove over medium heat, and stir or whisk until the gelatin is fully dissolved. Once the gelatin dissolves, remove the pot from heat and allow it to cool for a few minutes.
  3. While you’re waiting for the gelatin mixture to cool, combine your chosen essential oils with the natural solubilizer in a separate container. Mix well to combine and set aside. (You can skip this step if you’re not using a solubilizer.)

    Tip: if the mixture is cloudy, add more solubilizer drop by drop until it turns clear.
  4. Transfer the gel air freshener mixture into a large, heat-safe measuring cup such as a Pyrex cup or another cup with a spout. This will make it easier to pour the mixture equally into each mason jar.
  5. Add the remaining 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup vodka and mix well.
  6. Next, add the essential oil blend mixture and potassium sorbate. Mix well to ensure the essential oils are evenly incorporated and the potassium sorbate pellets are dissolved. If desired, add natural food colouring during this step as well.
    Adding natural food colouring Stirring gel air freshener mixture
  7. Carefully pour your air freshener mixture into your mason jars, then place in the refrigerator to set for at least 3 hours.
  8. To finish, cover the jars with frog lids if desired. Your gel air fresheners are ready to use.

How to use gel air fresheners

To use these naturally scented gel air freshener jars, place them in areas of your home prone to odors such as your bathroom or under your kitchen sink.

These air fresheners will also safely scent clothing closets, laundry rooms, and linen closets. We like to keep one in our garage to keep it smelling fresh.

You can also place one of these handy odor absorbing jars in your car (but be sure to use the version without gelatin).

As with any product containing essential oils, please keep your gel air fresheners out of reach of small children and pets. For more information on making and using DIY air fresheners, see the FAQ section at the end of this article.

Homemade odor absorbing gel

Essential oil blends for homemade gel air fresheners

Below you’ll find a variety of essential oil combinations for use in your DIY gel air fresheners.

Each blend also includes a fixative essential oil for a longer lasting fragrance (more on this in the FAQ section).

We recommend 60-120 drops of essential oils, depending on the size of your jar. For small mason jars, use the recipe as is. For larger jars, double each recipe.

However, this is only a guideline, and you can use as many drops of essential oils as you wish. The more essential oils you use, the stronger and more lasting your gel air freshener will be. And feel free to come up with your own blends!

Ocean Breeze Essential Oil Blend

24 drops lime essential oil
16 drops rosemary essential oil
16 drops cedarwood essential oil
8 drops spearmint essential oil

This unique oil combination is reminiscent of a cool ocean breeze at the beach, without the artificial fragrances typically associated with this popular aroma. Cedarwood acts as a fixative for a long lasting scent.

You can find each of these essential oils in Simply Earth’s Ocean Scents diffuser set.

Lemon Lavender Essential Oil Blend

25 drops lemon essential oil
25 drops lavender essential oil
10 drops amyris essential oil

Those who love this classic blend will love this floral fragrance with a zesty citrus top note. Amyris essential oil acts as a fixative with a sweet and subtle woodsy note.

Homemade gel air freshener with essential oils

Hawaiian Breeze Essential Oil Blend

25 drops gardenia essential oil
10 drops ylang-ylang essential oil
10 drops sweet orange essential oil
10 drops pink grapefruit essential oil
10 drops amyris essential oil

This air freshener blend evokes the scents of fresh island fruit and monoi flowers for a gel air freshener fragrance that will transport you to the tropics!

Citrus Burst Essential Oil Blend

10 drops sweet orange essential oil
10 drops lemon essential oil
10 drops lime essential oil
10 drops bergamot essential oil
10 drops grapefruit essential oil
10 drops amyris essential oil

Crisp and refreshing, this blend will release an uplifting citrus aroma into any room of your home. Instead of each individual oil, you can also use Simply Earth’s Citrus Burst blend!

Cotton Candy Essential Oil Blend

20 drops ylang-ylang essential oil
15 drops Peru balsam essential oil
15 drops grapefruit essential oil
10 drops amyris essential oil

This blend will freshen your space with a sweet and sugary cotton candy scent.

Fruity Floral Essential Oil Blend

20 drops sweet orange essential oil
15 drops grapefruit essential oil
10 drops geranium essential oil
10 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops amyris essential oil

Equal parts fruity and floral, this delicate aroma is perfect for those who love floral scents with a twist.

Vanilla Latte Essential Oil Blend

30 drops coffee essential oil
25 drops vanilla oleoresin
5 drops amyris essential oil

This unique air freshener blend smells like a warm, delicious vanilla latte.

Woodsy Essential Oil Blend

10 drops cypress essential oil
10 drops patchouli essential oil
10 drops cedarwood essential oil
10 drops Peru balsam essential oil
10 drops sandalwood essential oil
10 drops mandarin essential oil

Alternatively, you can use:

60 drops Simply Earth Timber essential oil blend

This tenacious air freshener blend is perfect for men or teen’s rooms. The scent lasts for weeks thanks to its combination of long-lasting fixative essential oils.

Lavender Eucalyptus Essential Oil Blend

25 drops lavender essential oil
25 drops eucalyptus essential oil
10 drops amyris essential oil

Potent and herbaceous, this essential oil blend is said to help ease congestion and headaches.

DIY essential oil gel air fresheners

Pumpkin Spice Essential Oil Blend

15 drops vanilla oleoresin
10 drops copaiba oleoresin
10 drops cinnamon bark essential oil
5 drops cardamom essential oil
5 drops ginger essential oil
3 drops star anise essential oil
2 drops nutmeg essential oil
2 drops clove bud essential oil

Make your home smell like autumn with these pumpkin spice gel air fresheners. This fall favorite evokes the sweet and spicy scent of pumpkin pie!

Alternatively, you can also buy a pre-made pumpkin spice essential oil blend.

Pumpkin spice gel air fresheners

Wildflower Essential Oil Blend

34 drops ylang-ylang extra essential oil
10 drops lavender essential oil
10 drops geranium essential oil
5 drops ho wood essential oil

Floral with an undertone of ho wood, this blend is perfect floral fragrance lovers. You can also find these oils bundled in Simply Earth’s Wildflowers set.

Defender Essential Oil Blend

20 drops cinnamon leaf essential oil
10 drops rosemary essential oil
10 drops lemon essential oil
10 drops eucalyptus essential oil
10 drops clove bud essential oil

Alternatively, you can use:

60 drops Simply Earth Defender blend

Made with a collection of antibacterial essential oils known as Thieves, this blend is purported to help purify the air.

New Car Smell Essential Oil Blend

30 drops juniper berry essential oil
10 drops patchouli essential oil
5 drops cedarwood essential oil
5 drops pine essential oil
5 drops fir needle essential oil
5 drops lavender essential oil

This essential oil blend was a happy accident, and it’s perfect for freshening the air in your car.

We made a gel air freshener with this blend for our car. Not only did its fragrance last the entire hot summer, but also gave our vehicle that crisp, “new car” scent, without the chemicals!

Juniper berry, pine and fir needle essential oils are key for the smell of a fresh, clean car, while cedarwood and patchouli help anchor the fragrance.

Pina Colada Essential Oil Blend

30 drops massoia bark essential oil
20 drops blood orange essential oil
10 drops ylang-ylang essential oil
10 drops amyris essential oil

With notes of creamy coconut and tropical fruit, this pina colada air freshener is a tropical treat!

Massoia bark essential oil has a unique and buttery aroma that smells like coconuts. It’s also one of the most long-lasting essential oils we’ve ever used in an air freshener – its scent lasts for weeks.

Blood orange adds notes of tropical fruit that emulate fresh pineapple, and ylang-ylang adds a creamy, banana-like aroma that completes the tropical fragrance.

DIY gel air fresheners FAQ

How long do DIY gel air fresheners last?

Your gel air freshener jars should last approximately one month, at which point they will dry out and harden. Their longevity also depends on the weather, which can affect the gel’s rate of evaporation.

When the scent is gone, you can easily make a new batch. Simply scoop the gel mixture out of your jars and place it into the compost. Wash and soak your containers in hot, soapy water, then remake the gel formula to refill your jars.

While these gel air fresheners are inexpensive to make, they’re not meant to last as long as store-bought options. To make a very long lasting air freshener, you would need to use aroma chemicals such as fixatives and phthalates.

That being said, there are a few ways you can make your natural gel air freshener last longer, which you can find below.

How do you prevent gel air fresheners from going moldy?

The best way to prevent gel air fresheners from going moldy is to use potassium sorbate to preserve them. Potassium sorbate is a safe, non-toxic, inexpensive, and effective mold inhibitor.

If you follow our recipe, your gels should not grow mold. In fact, with enough potassium sorbate, your gels will dry out before they ever form mold.

We don’t recommend omitting the potassium sorbate. If clean is your goal, you don’t want to risk creating a product that grows mold or bacteria.

Besides, there’s no point in going to the trouble of making homemade air fresheners if you’re not going to preserve them. Without a preservative, your gels will last a few days at best.

Salt is frequently touted as a natural preservative for gel air fresheners. Unfortunately, we’ve discovered that salt is not an effective alternative to potassium sorbate. It may work well as a natural mold inhibitor, but it isn’t compatible with gelatin and can cause your gels to melt.

How do you make gel air fresheners last longer?

You can make your DIY gel air freshener last longer by rehydrating it every so often. One way to do this is by using a homemade vodka room spray with essential oils.

When your air freshener’s scent begins to fade, spritz it generously with a room spray in your desired scent. This will help rehydrate the gelling agent and lengthen the life of your gel air freshener.

Alternatively, simply mix 1-2 tablespoons of vodka with your choice of essential oils, and pour the mixture onto your air freshener gel. The gel will reabsorb some of the liquid before it evaporates, replenishing your air freshener’s deodorizing ability.

If placing an air freshener in your car, it may help to use a small splash of vegetable glycerin in your air freshener formulation to slow evaporation. This can also be helpful in hot climates.

Glycerin is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs water from the surrounding environment. This can help prevent your gel from drying out too quickly, helping prolong its lifespan in a hot environment.

Finally, yet another way to make your gel air freshener last longer is by using fixative essential oils. Fixative essential oils are heavy essential oils (such as resinoids) that evaporate slowly. Which brings us to our next question.

Can you use these air fresheners gels in your car?

You can absolutely use a homemade gel air freshener to freshen the air in your car. However, you’ll need to use agar agar to stop DIY gel air fresheners from melting in high temperatures.

Gelatin melts at 31.7–34.2 °C (89.06–93.56 °F), a temperature which is easy to reach in a hot car or in hot climates. This will cause you air freshener gels to liquify and melt, making a mess.

On the other hand, agar-agar melts at 85 to 95 ºC (185–203 ºC), so the gels made with agar are in no danger of melting.

One caveat: essential oils evaporate quickly in high heat, so your air freshener’s scent may dissipate faster in a hot car. One way to combat this is to use base note essential oils in your blend. Or, you will can simply refresh your gels more frequently.

However, we found that the scent of our “New Car Smell” gel air freshener made with juniper berry essential oil lasted all summer!

How do you make gel air freshener smell stronger?

The best way to make gel air fresheners smell stronger is simply to use more essential oils. However, it also matters what kind of essential oils you use.

In perfumery, each note of a fragrance is given the classification of base note, middle note and top note. This has to do with a fragrance’s weight and evaporation rate.

Aromatherapy has borrowed this terminology and applied it to essential oils. Top notes like citrus oils dissipate quickly, while base notes take far longer to evaporate.

Base notes are also sometimes called fixatives, as they help “fix” or anchor a fragrance and increase its tenacity. They also have a heavier, more viscous texture, like resinoids, balsams or oleoresins.

Patchouli oil, for example, is known as an excellent fixative for other scents. In this study, 2% patchouli oil was used as a fixative in a gel air freshener formulation.

So, you can make your gel air freshener last longer by using more base note essential oils in your blend.

Base note essential oils include:

  • Sandalwood
  • Cedarwood
  • Vanilla Oleoresin
  • Patchouli
  • Cypress
  • Peru Balsam
  • Frankincense
  • Copaiba Oleoresin
  • Ylang-Ylang
  • Amyris

We can vouch for the efficacy of using heavier essential oils. The woodsy air freshener gel made using Simply Earth’s Timber blend creates a tenacious, long-lasting air freshener gel.

This makes sense, considering the Timber blend is made up almost entirely of base note essential oils: cypress, patchouli, cedarwood, Peru balsam, and sandalwood, with one top note of mandarin. The scent lasts for weeks.

DIY gel air fresheners
Yield: 4 air freshener gels

DIY Gel Air Freshener (13 Recipes)

Cook Time: 20 minutes
Additional Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes

Learn how to make DIY gel air fresheners! This easy tutorial also includes a vegan recipe without gelatin. These mason jar gels are inexpensive, natural and safely scented with essential oils.

Ingredients

Tools

Instructions

How to make DIY gel air freshener without gelatin

    1. Dissolve 2 teaspoons of agar agar with 1 cup warm water. Whisk well and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
    2. In a small saucepan, bring the dissolved agar agar and water to a boil. Stir or whisk to be sure the agar agar is well mixed. Once fully dissolved, remove the pot from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
    3. While you’re waiting for the mixture to cool, combine the essential oil blend with the natural solubilizer in a separate container. Mix well to combine and set aside. (You can skip this step if you’re not using a solubilizer.)

      Tip: if the mixture is cloudy, add more solubilizer drop by drop until it turns clear.
    4. Transfer the gel air freshener mixture into a large, heat-safe measuring cup such as a Pyrex cup, or another cup with a spout. This will make it easier to pour the mixture equally into each mason jar.
    5. Add the remaining 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup vodka and mix well.
    6. Next, add the essential oil blend mixture and potassium sorbate. Mix well to ensure the essential oils are evenly incorporated and the potassium sorbate pellets are dissolved. If desired, add natural food colouring during this step as well.
    7. Carefully pour your air freshener mixture into your mason jars, then place in the refrigerator to set for at least 3 hours.
    8. Once the gels have set, if desired, cover the jars with frog lids. Or, you can opt to use the air fresheners without a lid.

How to make DIY gel air freshener with gelatin

  1. In a small pot or saucepan, slowly sprinkle gelatin over 1 cup room temperature water and allow to bloom. After 5-10 minutes, the gelatin will swell and partially dissolve.
  2. Place the pot on the stove over medium heat, and stir or whisk until the gelatin is fully dissolved. Once the gelatin dissolves, remove the pot from heat and allow it to cool for a few minutes.
  3. While you’re waiting for the gelatin mixture to cool, combine your chosen essential oils with the natural solubilizer in a separate container. Mix well to combine and set aside. (You can skip this step if you’re not using a solubilizer.)

    Tip: if the mixture is cloudy, add more solubilizer drop by drop until it turns clear.
  4. Transfer the gel air freshener mixture into a large, heat-safe measuring cup such as a Pyrex cup or another cup with a spout. This will make it easier to pour the mixture equally into each mason jar.
  5. Add the remaining 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup vodka and mix well.
  6. Next, add the essential oil blend mixture and potassium sorbate. Mix well to ensure the essential oils are evenly incorporated and the potassium sorbate pellets are dissolved. If desired, add natural food colouring during this step as well.
  7. Carefully pour your air freshener mixture into your mason jars, then place in the refrigerator to set for at least 3 hours.
  8. To finish, cover the jars with frog lids if desired. Your gel air fresheners are ready to use.

Notes

Health & safety tips

  • It's your responsibility to practice kitchen safety. Never heat vodka on the stovetop as this will cause a fire. Be sure to remove your gel air freshener mixture from the stove and allow it to cool before adding the vodka.
  • Please keep out of reach of small children and pets.

Tips & tricks

  • This air freshener recipe makes approximately four small 4oz mason jars, or one large 16oz mason jar with a little bit of extra.
  • Using gelatin will create a clear gel, while using agar-agar will create a gel that is slightly cloudy.
  • For information on shelf life and how to make them last longer, see the section in this post called "questions about DIY gel air fresheners."
  • You can use a single essential oil or a blend of essential oils in your air fresheners. Each jar (depending on size) requires approximately 35-60 drops of essential oils. The more essential oils you use, the longer the scent will linger.
  • For fragrance ideas, see the section on essential oil combinations.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

Other ways to deodorize your home naturally

Deodorizer jars with baking soda

Another natural way to freshen your home naturally is by using baking soda. You likely already have a box of baking soda in your fridge or near your kitchen trash can to absorb odours.

Baking soda is a natural odour absorber. In fact, we have a simple recipe for creating baking soda and essential oil air freshener jars. These jars can be displayed or placed under your kitchen or bathroom cupboard to absorb odours and to keep those spaces fresher.

Natural DIY room sprays with essential oils

Homemade room sprays are yet another natural way to keep the air in your home smelling good. But again, be leery of commercial room sprays, as they also contain synthetic fragrances.

It’s far safer to simply make your own room sprays using vodka and essential oils. We have quite a few recipes for vodka based room sprays on the blog.

We also have a seasonal chocolate and roses room spray recipe as well as a vast variety of holiday room sprays

Have you given up commercial air freshening products? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

For even more natural home ideas, follow us on Pinterest! You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Pin it for later

DIY vegan gel air freshener
Gel air fresheners
DIY pumpkin spice air fresheners with essential oils

Gig

Thursday 18th of May 2023

Made this exact and it got hard but when temperatures 🌡 warmed it turned to liquid and spilled all over....huge mess ....is there a way to make it stay solid?.. glad gel air freshener in my car in 112 degrees holds up .

Kyla

Sunday 11th of June 2023

Hi Gig, I'm sorry to hear that your gels melted. But it sounds like you followed the recipe with gelatin. The DIY gel air freshener with agar-agar is more suitable for hot climates and hot cars, as agar has a higher melting point. We did mention this in the post, but I just updated to help make it even more clear that you should use the agar-agar version in hot temperatures. I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any more questions!

Adam

Tuesday 17th of January 2023

Initiative Idea Kim! Thanks for your effort.

You know sometimes we really need fragrance especially when our mood switched off! That's why recently I bought splendid air freshener from Intercare. And for my car I bought a gel fragrance from a discount store but its not working next time I will definitely try your idea.

Kim

Tuesday 21st of March 2023

Thanks for your comment, Adam! We hope you enjoyed the recipe if you tried it.

Naomi

Sunday 14th of November 2021

Fantastic post ! Thank you so much, it is detailed and very informative plus its rasy to follow. I am definetely going to try try this.

Kim

Sunday 14th of November 2021

Thank you, Naomi! We hope you like the recipe.

Kat

Thursday 23rd of September 2021

Can you use these in cars... will it last or just melt?

Kim

Monday 27th of September 2021

Hi Kat, we haven't tested these in cars but they can melt in very hot weather or high humidity and cars tend to be very hot in the summer. They might be fine if the weather is cold though but we recommend our air freshener jars for use in cars when it's warmer. Here is the link:https://alifeadjacent.com/diy-air-freshener-with-essential-oils/

Jane Chiang

Friday 27th of August 2021

Can sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) be an alternative to potassium sorbate for your recipe?

Kyla

Saturday 28th of August 2021

Hi Jane, we haven't tested this, so I don't know for sure. However, I'm not sure baking soda is as powerful of a mold inhibitor. I also think its high sodium content is likely to stop the gelatin from gelling. But if you end up testing it, we'd be curious to hear the results.

Skip to Recipe