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    Home » Household Tips » DIY Car Vent Air Freshener

    DIY Car Vent Air Freshener

    By Julie

    This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure policy for details.

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    car vent

    My car has recently had the scent of teenage boys. My son is training for a mini marathon and I have hauled him and his friends back and forth to practice. I honestly had no idea boys could smell that bad. So, to help make the car smell better I decided to make this DIY car vent air freshener.

    I love using my essential oils as an air freshener, so I figured I would try to make something with them. I immediately thought of the air vent fresheners and wondered how I could make one of those. I came up with the idea for these decorative air fresheners. They are not only cute but because they go into the vent they make the car smell better than the hanging air fresheners. Plus they only cost a dollar or two to make.

    I started with some large bobby pins. Depending on the size of your vents you might be able to get away with regular sized bobby pins, but these worked better on my vents.

    DIY-Car-Air-Freshener.jpg

    I used some old cardboard to make sure the bobby pins didn't get hot glued together when I was gluing on the ribbon. I just placed the bobby pins on the cardboard.

    DIY-Car-Air-Freshener.jpg

    Next, I cut some ribbon to the length I needed to cover the bobby pins. I added an extra finger spacing in so I could slip in a cotton ball.

    DIY-Car-Air-Freshener.jpg

    I then used a hot glue gun to glue on the ribbon. If you don't have a hot glue gun, you can use any glue that will work on both fabric and metal. I placed the glue on the bobby pin and then I pressed the ribbon onto the bobby pin.

    DIY-Car-Air-Freshener.jpg

    Once I had given it time for the glue to dry I removed them from the cardboard. I cut a cotton ball in two and added 4 drops of essential oil to each cotton ball. I used a sweet orange, but you can use whatever scent you would like in your car. Vanilla may be a great one to try too. I am not brand picky with essential oils, but I do love Fabulous Frannie essential oils. I have noticed that they are just as good as the more expensive brands but cost much less. You can head over here to grab one of their gift sets or just buy one bottle. They are usually less than $5 a bottle.

    DIY-Car-Air-Freshener.jpg

    Then I slid the cotton ball into the space at the end of the bobby pin.

    DIY-Car-Air-Freshener.jpg

    You can now just slip the bobby pin over one of the vent flaps and let the car fill up with a great scent. The best part is you can use them over and over. When the scent starts to disappear, just add another couple of drops of essential oils to the cotton ball. If you want to try a new scent just throw out your old cotton balls and add some new ones.

    DIY-Car-Vent-Air-Freshener.jpg

    I love how easy these are to make, plus I like the decorative ribbon instead of plain black air vent freshener. It adds a pop of color and scent to my car.

    You might also enjoy these other cleaning posts

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Stephanie says

      April 27, 2015 at 3:21 pm

      What a great idea!!! My car also suffers from boy stink every soccer season. I am going to give that a try!

      • Julie says

        April 27, 2015 at 3:23 pm

        Boys really stink, don't they! 🙂

    2. megan @ NoSmallLife says

      April 27, 2015 at 9:23 pm

      This is such a great idea! Pinning for later. Thanks!!

      • Julie says

        April 28, 2015 at 8:37 am

        Thanks for pinning!

    3. Carrie Groneman says

      April 27, 2015 at 9:46 pm

      VERY clever!!! Stopping by from Two Uses Tues. Link Up Party. Carrie, A Mother's Shadow

      • Julie says

        April 28, 2015 at 8:37 am

        Thanks for stopping by!

    4. Crystal Storms says

      April 28, 2015 at 10:57 am

      Julie, what a creative idea, and I love that the ribbon adds a pop of color. : ) Visiting from Titus 2sDay.

      • Julie says

        April 28, 2015 at 12:13 pm

        Thanks for stopping by!

    5. Becca @ The Earthlings Handbook says

      April 29, 2015 at 3:32 pm

      Cute and much healthier than purchased air fresheners with weird synthetic fragrances! I love essential oils for deodorizing.

      • Julie says

        April 30, 2015 at 1:31 pm

        Aren't essential oils just wonderful for deodorizing?

        • Margaret says

          June 15, 2016 at 10:07 am

          Ms. Julie, I'm a full-time caregiver to my husband whom is a wounded warrior. My caregiver group just had an Essential Oils demonstration. Your little idea is huge! I'll share this with my ladies. There are oils that calm and with Posts Traumatic Stress Disorder a soldier can really have problems riding in a car. So thank you.

          • Julie says

            June 18, 2016 at 6:31 pm

            So glad I could help. Thank you to your husband for his service!

    6. Julie @ Logger's Wife says

      April 30, 2015 at 1:30 pm

      That is seriously such a great idea! I'm going to be trying this as soon as I get my car cleaned out from our long winter here. 🙂

      (visiting from Thrifty Thursday)

      • Julie says

        April 30, 2015 at 1:32 pm

        Glad I am not the only one with a dirty car! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!

    7. Bonnie says

      April 30, 2015 at 3:10 pm

      Haha Boys totally stink! lol This is a great idea to unstick the car. I haven't gotten into essential oils but this idea makes it worth checking them out.
      ~Bonnie

    8. Audrey says

      May 01, 2015 at 12:24 pm

      Cute... I wonder what scent my hubby would let me put in his car? Stopping by from #sitsblogging

      • DebWV says

        November 03, 2016 at 5:40 pm

        Something pine? And use camo ribbon! If he doesn't want it seen, maybe clip it under the seat where the floor vents are?

        • Julie says

          November 08, 2016 at 2:48 pm

          Great suggestion! Thanks!

    9. Susan says

      May 04, 2015 at 7:45 pm

      What a brilliant idea! I'll be making my own tomorrow. Thanks for sharing at the This Is How We Roll Link Party on Organized 31.

    10. Elise @frugalfarmwife.com says

      May 04, 2015 at 9:58 pm

      What a brilliant idea! Aren't essential oils amazing?

      Thanks for sharing at Waste Not Want Not Wednesday!

    11. Danielle @ Poor and Gluten Free says

      May 05, 2015 at 5:39 pm

      What a great idea! I hate synthetic air fresheners (they're so bad for people with asthma and allergies!!), but I love using essential oils in my home diffuser. Thanks so much for sharing this on Waste Not Want Not Wednesday, I'm featuring it this week 🙂

      • Julie says

        May 06, 2015 at 7:11 am

        Thank You! 🙂

    12. Lorelai says

      May 05, 2015 at 8:31 pm

      Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty - We hope to see you again next week!
      ~Lorelai
      Life With Lorelai

      • Julie says

        May 06, 2015 at 7:11 am

        Thanks for hosting!

    13. Laci Carlson says

      May 05, 2015 at 10:41 pm

      I am so doing this !!!! asap now this i really love ! #homemattersparty

    14. Pulan says

      August 23, 2015 at 6:34 am

      How often do you put in drops of essential oil?

      • Julie says

        August 24, 2015 at 1:56 pm

        I try to put new drops in about every 2 weeks.

    15. Darin says

      September 08, 2015 at 7:04 pm

      This is a neat idea, but I was just thinking...what you made is almost the same as a bandaid (except more classy with ribbon 🙂 I think I might try using a bandaid then you can stick it on a vent much like how you positioned your pretty air freshener. Less work, but we'll see how it goes!

      • Julie says

        September 09, 2015 at 7:29 am

        I hope it works for you. Let me know if it does.

      • Lisa says

        January 18, 2016 at 2:06 pm

        I was thinking about using washing tape

        • Lisa says

          January 18, 2016 at 2:06 pm

          *Washi

        • Julie says

          January 18, 2016 at 6:50 pm

          That's a great idea! I would love to know how it works.

    16. Shirley Fenstermaker says

      September 27, 2015 at 12:06 pm

      Love this. My hubby always spends way too much on air fresheners.

    17. Loren says

      November 06, 2016 at 10:31 am

      About how long would the scent last with the initial 4 drops?

      • Julie says

        November 08, 2016 at 2:51 pm

        Mine usually lasts for about 2-3 weeks. It depends on how strong you like the scent to be.

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