If your kid's room smells like a sweaty locker room or your kitchen smells like a greasy spoon, there are ways to naturally deodorize your home and not just mask the odours. Leslie Garrett, 'The Virtuous Consumer' came by to show us how!

All of the examples Leslie is showing are significantly cheaper than buying store-bought air fresheners. And many of these things are already in your home, not to mention they are safe to use (no harmful or toxic chemicals). And these truly DE-odorize. They don't mask any odours.

Charcoal actually absorbs odour. It's extremely 'multi-purpose.' You use it before you're going to clean something. If you're putting it in your fridge, then definitely clean the area, because it can stain. You buy activated charcoal-which looks different from the kind you use on your barbeque. You can get it at many big box hardware stores. You can actually buy them in discs, making them less messy but slightly more expensive. It gets out really stubborn smells like fish or that awful rotten smell in your fridge....it's stronger than baking soda. The miracle deodorizer.

Baking Soda is Leslie's favourite stand-by for deodorizers. The scientific name for baking soda is "sodium bicarbonate" and this neutralizes acid odours. So it's great and super CHEAP for cleaning all sorts of surfaces. And unlike charcoal, it doesn't stain. Use it in your fridge, on your carpet and upholstery, even in your shoes.

Cedar is Leslie's choice for removing unwanted odours in closets and drawers. Benefits of Eastern Red Cedar: Naturally aromatic, eastern red cedar has been scientifically proven to provide many benefits ranging from repelling moths, carpet beetles, cockroaches and silverfish to providing a safe and natural alternative to chemical repellants and sprays. This cedar is also a great, all-natural defense to combat against mustiness and mildew in storage spaces, closets, in the kitchen and other areas of the home.
Natural cedar can also play a vital role in protecting stored fabrics and shoes from moths or mildew, Aromatic Cedar Shoe Trees, Hangers, Hangups, Blocks, Balls and Sachets can be used to de-odorize with a pleasant forest-fresh scent. Cedar & Lavender products bring you the freshness of cedar with the added soothing scent of natural lavender.

Leslie says Essentials Oils are ideal for deodorizing fabrics-everything from upholstery and curtains to clothing. These oils are highly concentrated and can be diluted with water in a bottle, stretching their use. Her favourites are vanilla, lavender and she also likes tea tree oil. These are not just pretty fragrances, these actually work at deodorizing because they change the chemical properties of the odour.

Lemons and other citrus fruits are fantastic deodorizers in the kitchen. They're not only pretty to look at, but extremely functional. There's a reason you see so many cleaning products made with lemon and orange-it's because it works. Great for cleaning cutting boards, as well as countertops, lemons cut grease.

Matches - leave a bowl for your guests to use in the bathroom! Upon lighting the match, the fire oxidizes the sulphur dioxide which then absorbs smelly substances into the smoke. So light the match, then blow it out and allow the smoke to billow.

Visit Leslie online at:
http://www.virtuousconsumer.com/