Home-Made Fabreze

Home-Made Febreze Recipes

I just brought home a very old sleeping bag from my mom's house that I remember from my childhood.  It's 40+ years old, at least!  It was in the garage, up in the rafters, getting very dusty and musty.  Seriously, it smelled so bad, I washed it, took it out, and washed it again after letting it soak for a couple of hours.  It still had a musty smell to it a little bit, so I thought what better way to try the home-made Febreze.  

There are a lot of different versions, so pick the one you think you would like to try.  There are too many for me to try them all; but I started out trying two of them (small batches). 

I'm not so sure about the ones with alcohol in them.  I'm not sure if it is safe for all fabrics? 

I tried these first two recipes.  I added lavender oil to both, 1/8 tsp.  For the second one, I didn't like that I could still smell the vinegar after it dried [see update below]; so I like the first one best.  I realized I wasn't crazy about the scent of the fabric softener I had and remembered I had made my own home-made fabric softener, so I did a third batch and used that; and that was my favorite one.  I think the one with lemon juice probably smells good, but I don't associate lemon with fabric.  I think of that as more of a kitchen thing.

I figured out what the cost would be per ounce:

Febreze - 20 cents

Home-Made Febreze - 1-2 cents


2 cups warm water
1/4 cup liquid fabric softener
1 Tbsp. baking soda 

1 cup fabric softener
1 cup vinegar
2 cups water

2 cups water
1 cup fabric softener

1-3/4 cups water
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 cup alcohol or witch hazel

3 cups water
3 Tbsp. fabric softener
3 Tbsp. rubbing alcohol or witch hazel

2 cups hot water
1/8 cup baking soda
1/2 cup lemon juice

Add some lavender oil or other scent if you would like.  Some people use up to 1/2 to 1 tsp. of it, but I thought 1/8 tsp. was enough. 

If you want to try your own fabric softener:

1 cup conditioner

1-1/2 cups white vinegar

3 cups hot water

Poor old sleeping bag.  :P

UPDATE:  It's the day after I sprayed my old sleeping bag, and the area where I sprayed the vinegar recipe smells good.  I don't smell the vinegar anymore so I like that recipe as well.  Actually, I think it did better in the long run than the baking soda one!

 Please feel free to leave a comment, tip, or suggestion below. 

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