DIY Febreze With No Fabric Softener
on Jun 24, 2013, Updated Oct 20, 2020
DIY Febreze With No Fabric Softener. Our home has been one that consumes bottles and bottles of Febreze Fabric Enhancer, ha ha! Febreze seems to be one of those items even when using a coupon it is still outrageously expensive. I seen some tips online on how to use Fabric Softener to create DIY Febreze at home. After reading the comments and seeing a trend, I decide to not use the Fabric softener route as it seems to leave a residue behind.
A few weeks back, I received in a trial of the Febreze Unstopables Fresh Scent. The thought immediately popped into mind at giving these a try in making some Homemade Febreze.
I had some who had been sick recently and was going to need to purchase more Febreze as they had my carpets smelling quite stinky ha ha. So, I whipped up this quick and easy batch of DIY Febreze without Fabric Softener. Made with quick handy ingredients, and at a fraction of the cost of normal Febreze and I would be a happy camper.
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Ingredients
1/4 Cup of Downy Unstopables – You can use less but I had some nasty odors lingering
4 Tablespoons of Baking Soda
1 Cup of HOT Water
In a mixing bowl or measuring cup combine all the ingredients and stir. Allow them to dissolve for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. After the 30 minutes, your beads and baking soda should be dissolved. Add your mixture to a spray bottle. My spray bottle is 14 ounces. Then fill the rest of your bottle with water.
After spraying my furniture, rugs and drapes last week I noticed that I had no film or residue left behind and it left everything smelling great. I love knowing that I can whip up a fresh batch on the fly. I did notice that I do not have to use quite as much as I did with real febreze. I lightly misted everything one time vs two times with Febreze. So, this will last much longer for sure.
This DIY project will save me and I’m glad I decided to give it a try. One container of Unstoppables was sale priced at $4.50 and I used a coupon for additional savings. I figured this one container of DIY Febreze will cost me about $0.60 instead of the high Febreze price. But, I REALLY liked the price of my first bottle FREE.
Tried it Baking soda didn’t Dissolve and when I poured it in the bottle it clogged up Waste of money!
Curious as to why the baking soda is needed
Please don’t do this! It’s VERY DANGEROUS!!! It will coat your house in flammable wax and because the substance was not meant to be made airborne and inhaled, the risks of breaking in those substances are unknown. Furthermore, this is an off-label use of the product which voids any possible warranty or protection you may have should your house burn down/ someone gets sick/ etc. Proctor and Gamble specifically states that there may or may not be health hazards directly related to using these as an air freshener when dissolved in water. The wax can coat surfaces and is therefore a risk for dogs and children because they aren’t meant to be ingested and when the wax coats the surface, they may accidentally be ingested. This is a dangerous post, please do further research before recommending things like this. In this case it’s MUCH better to buy the febreeze that smells the same way.
I’m in Australia, we don’t have Downy Unstopables…is there another product I can use or substitute?
I will try it, I hope it works. The comment I read said it didn’t work so I am Leary of trying it, need more feedback.
Awesome ideas thank you
is this stuff safe to inhale???? Commercial grade fragrances are supposedly dangerous and long-term exposure may be cancer causing! I would suggest using essential oils instead of the Downy product,
I mix it with (cheap) vodka, distilled water and spray wherever necessary.
It evaporates fast and leaves a fresh scent.
No way will this dissolve on its own. I put mine in the microwave for 10 minutes then let it cool down and then poured into a spray bottle. Be sure to shake the bottle overtime you spray to mix the ingredients because they settle.
I have mixed up the ingredients but I have a question. I had already purchased the lavender crystals so I thought I would use those for this awesome idea. But my dlilemma is that the water mixture is a pinkish-purple. Will that stain my carpet?????
I can’t wait to try this. I love DIY home cleansers and air fresheners. Thank you!
use febreze all the time this will save e a bundle. Thanks for t information.
Good day
I live in South Africa, and we dont have those beads, what can I use instead.
Kind regards
Berinda
1/2 cup white distilled vinegar
1/2 cup distilled water
1/4 cup liquid fabric softener (Homemade or store-bought…your choice)
Pour each of the ingredients into spray bottle and give it a shake.
Or you can use a lavender oil/extract or any other herb such as mint/cinnamon/etc… mix with equal parts of white vinegar and water.
Or you can soak a laundry softner/static sheet in equal part vinegar and water overnight and then shake, remove sheet and spray away.
I am wondering how safe this is. Unstoppables are flammable. They are designed to be used in the washer and rinsed away before going into the dryer. Wouldn’t spraying this mean it would make your stuff super flammable as well since it is going directly on items without being properly rinsed? Also, I worry about the long term effects of breathing this in. I hope I am not a debbie downer, just was wondering.
With the water and baking soda added and the Unstoppables disolved completly, no chance of a fire so good there.
Why baking soda?
make sure the liitle unstoppable beads dissolve, they have been known to leave stains on clothing
Why do you need to use the baking soda?
Hoping to try soon
I’ll try this! I did try the other method with fabric softener, and the spots were a bit annoying.
From my experience, the four tablespoons of baking soda might’ve been waaay too much. It didn’t dissolve – even after two hours – and left white sediment spots on the car interior I sprayed. I even watered it down more hoping to resolve this issue. Didn’t work. :-/ Luckily, the spots brushed out fairly well.
Hum? I wondered about that myself. Especially on darker fabrics.
I had white residue on my furniture as well. I think I will try to remake it and use less baking soda.
Use 2 tablespoons alcohol works better than baking soda and dissolves faster.
I MADE IT A WELL AND LOED IT UNTLi SAW ALL THE WHITE BAKING SODA EVERYWHERE.
Very same thing happened to me. Then the next day the spray bottle was clogged Had to wipe everything down that I sprayed. May be okay for carpets, but not furniture.
Agreed, I had the same problem, even clogged my sprayer. Next time I may try 2 tablespoons.
My spray bottle clogged too.
Same thing happen to me! What a mess! White spots everywhere!
Wish I had read this before I made it. The baking soda did not dissolve. I heated the water again and it still didn’t dissolve. I think I’ll mix another batch using ½ the baking soda and combine the 2 just to see if it’s any better about dissolving.
I just tried it. I looked back I have white spots on everything, floor if it hit the wood or walls spots I guess from the soda. Now I have to go clean off everything. All over my wood floors. Everything wood….walls. Does this have too much soda?..
2 tablespoons alcohol instead of baking sida. Works magic.
I’m finding the same thing. There is alot of sediment left in the mixture. The baking soda is still thick at the bottom of the bowl. Smells nice but I will have to leave the bakiing soda at the bottom of the bowl instead of putting it in a spray bottle.
What is the baking soda for, i didn’t use it.
I ad the same problem. Whatever I sprayed it on had a white haze.
I had the same thing happen with the baking soda. Was thinking it should be a teaspoon not tablespoon.
As a stay at home dad I really love this idea.. Thank you!
Just checked as of this comment Dollar General’s website is offering a FREE Tide Plus and Unstoppable samples. Get yer free on while supplies last :)
I made up this spray exactly as the recipe says and I am very dissappointed, It left white spots on everything I spreayed it on , they disnt show up until they dried, I nmade my own spray without the Baking soda and it is better !!
Me too!! So I made it w/o baking soda!!
I made some without baking soda but I still have the white residue