9 Best Air Fresheners For Home

More Recommendations & Top Picks

• Best Bathroom & Toilet Spray | Poo Pourri | Find On Target
• Best Home Reed Diffuser | Voluspa | Find On Anthropologie
• Best Room Spray | Mrs. Meyer's | Find On Amazon
• Best Odor Neutralizer | Fresh Wave | Find On Amazon
• Best Essential Oil Diffuser | Pure Daily Care | Find On Amazon

Keeping your home smelling fresh is essential for your physical and mental health. A scent can put you in a relaxed mood, invigorate your senses, or minimize the pesky odors that give you a headache.

The best air freshener will banish odor from your home, leave your home smelling fresh, and it should be made with natural ingredients. The good news is, there are a number of natural air freshener options on the market that will get the job done. These natural deodorizers rely on essential oils and plant-based ingredients to power through tough, unpleasant odors without harsh chemicals. 

Unfortunately, most every day and even some of the best air freshener for home on the market are filled with unnatural ingredients— such as toluene and formaldehyde— that contribute to indoor air pollution. Indoor air quality is critical, as people today spend up to 90% of their time in indoor spaces such as school, workplace, and home. When purchasing an air freshener for your home, be sure to read the label and learn what the air freshener contains.

In addition to smelling synthetic, these chemical-based fragrances are hazardous to your health and the environment. Studies have determined that a home air freshener emits or causes the formation of substances commonly associated with negative health effects like cancer, neurotoxicity, and endocrine disruption. These effects are compounded when other scented products, such as cleaning products or perfumes, are used simultaneously. 

To keep your home smelling fresh, we've rounded up nine of the best air fresheners that are without chemicals. With everything from reed diffusers to automatic plug-ins to room sprays, you can breathe easy knowing your family is safe from harmful chemicals. 

Types Of Air Fresheners

Spray

This type is quick and easy, and it works immediately. But the smell doesn't last very long, and you will have to spray when needed or spray frequently.

Plug-In

Slow releasing type but long-lasting. It works by slowly heating and releasing the scent into the air.

Automatic

This type of air freshener will self dispense either at an interval or when it detects motion. It is easy to use and long-lasting.

Candle

This type of air freshener not only releases infused smell, it will also light up space when burned.

Diffuser

Aromatherapy is an effective way to naturally freshen the scent of your home without any chemicals. You can create your own fresh fragrance blend.

Active Bamboo Charcoal

Active bamboo charcoal is an odor absorbing air absorbent. Instead of masking the odor, charcoal will absorb the harmful particle from the air and remove the smell. The active bamboo charcoal comes in natural air purifying bag, and you can place the air purifying bag anywhere in your home.

Gel Beads

Gel beads infused with aromatic oil can release smells into the air when it opens. The scent can last up to a few months. 

Here Are 9 Best Air Fresheners For Home

While Happy Wax's Car Cubs are small in size, they pack a major punch. Hang an air freshener from your rearview window, and you'll be hit with a wave of good smells every time you open your car door. The hanging deodorizers work perfectly in other small spaces, such as closets, mudrooms, bathrooms, and laundry rooms. Happy Wax's Car Cubs come in an adorable bear-shaped that's sure to put a smile on your face.

The air freshener gets its odor-fighting power from aromatic oil-infused, chemical-free fragrances like Grapefruit Mangosteen, Cypress Breeze, Vanilla Sandalwood and more. With over ten smells to choose from, there's something for everyone. Each pack of Car Cubs comes with four hanging air fresheners— each of which will keep your car smelling fresh for two weeks or longer.

Did you know that most commercial automatic air fresheners actually worsen indoor air pollution? Studies have found that many automatic air fresheners emit known carcinogens and chemicals with toxic effects, including benzene, formaldehyde, toluene, phthalates, and more. If you’re on the hunt for an affordable automatic air freshener for your home that isn’t filled with chemicals, look no further than Air Wick’s Freshmatic Ultra Pure Air Freshener. 

Each of the scents in Air Wick’s Pure collection contains aromatic oil that continuously fills the roof with smells like an ocean breeze, lavender, summer delights, fresh waters, and more. The compact, cordless diffuser runs off two AA batteries and emits fragrance at three different settings that can be adjusted to your liking. Each refill lasts up to 60 days when used on the lowest setting. 

If you’re someone who has trouble falling asleep, you may want to try using a relaxing pillow spray before bed. Just as the name suggests, pillow sprays are designed to be sprayed on your pillow just before you hit the sheets. It fills your pillow and bedroom with a good smell that helps calms your mind so you can drift off to dreamland. They typically contain a blend of calming essential oils— such as lavender, rose, ylang-ylang, bergamot, and neroli— that can reduce anxiety and improve the quality and duration of your sleep.

While many pillow sprays claim to help you fall asleep, thisworks’ Deep Sleep Pillow Spray can prove it. In a sleep study with 200 subjects, 89% fell asleep faster than normal after using thisworks’ pillow spray, and 98% felt more refreshed in the morning. The best-selling air freshener uses a blend of lavender, vetivert, and camomile essential oils that calm both minds and bodies. Additionally, the pillow spray is vegan, cruelty-free, and contains only natural ingredients.

Unlike most plug-in air fresheners, which are filled with synthetic fragrances and toxic chemicals, Botanica by Air Wick’s plug-ins rely on aromatic oil and other natural ingredients. The Botanica line is responsibly sourced and manufactured without chemical propellants, dyes, phthalates, or animal testing, making them a safe choice for families with small children. 

The plug-in air freshener is an ideal way to add continuous scent to an office, hallway, bathroom, or bedroom. With five fragrance levels to choose from, you’ll never find their nature-inspired smells overpowering. When used on the lowest setting, each refill provides up to 60 days of continuous fragrance.

While most bathroom air fresheners can only cover-up odors, Poo Pourri’s best-selling Before-You-Go Toilet Sprays leave your bathroom smelling fresh and clean by preventing odors in the first place. The unique product earned itself People Magazine’s Worth the Hype! Award and Good Housekeeping’s Seal of Approval for its unconventional odor-fighting power.

Simply spritz 3-5 sprays into the toilet bowl before you go, and the natural essential oil creates a barrier that traps odors before they enter the air. Poo Pourri’s award-winning fragrances are made with an aromatic oil blend containing no harsh chemicals, parabens, phthalates, aerosols, or formaldehyde. Each 2 oz bottle contains enough fragrance for 100 uses. Place one in each bathroom of your home to ensure pesky odors never leave the room.

For a luxurious scent experience, place one of the Voluspa Limited Edition Japonica Reed Diffuser on a shelf, counter, or side table. The stylish design features a glass vessel and reed sticks that add fragrance to your room while complementing your home decor. When inserted into the glass bottle of scented oil, the reeds soak up the fragrance and naturally disperse the aroma into the air. Whenever you want an added boost of fragrance, simply flip the reeds to release more of the scent.

The sleek reed diffuser comes in six nature-inspired scents: french cade & lavender, panjore lychee, mokara, goji tarocco orange, and santiago huckleberry. Each diffuser holds 3.25 fluid oz of perfume, enough to last for four to six months.

Mrs. Meyer's room sprays are a convenient way to instantly freshen up a room's air. The non-aerosol bottle (made from at least 30% post-consumer plastic) is filled with a unique blend of aromatic oil, natural fragrances, and plant-derived ingredients. A few spritzes of the potent spray is enough to refresh an entire room, meaning one 8 oz bottle will last for months to come.

Good news! If you fall in love with one of Mrs. Meyer's garden-inspired scents, you can also purchase candles, laundry detergent, dish-washing packs, scent sachets, and more! They're made without propellants, phthalates, parabens, or artificial colors. Try spritzing one of the invigorating scents— such as basil, geranium, honeysuckle, peony, or lilac— in every room of the house for a singular scent.

If you’re looking to neutralize odor straight from the source, try the odor removing packs from Fresh Wave. Each compact deodorizer is packed with odor-fighting essential oil instead of synthetic perfume. Fresh Wave’s plant-based products are phthalate-free, paraben-free, and non-toxic, making them safer for your family, pets, and the planet.

Each package comes with six individual odor -removing packs that last 30-60 days. Their small size makes it easy to fight odor right at the source. Simply, toss one in your gym bag, shoes, diaper bag, bagless vacuum, trash can, or inside your car. While the packs can be used independently, they can also be paired with Fresh Wave’s peel-and-stick pods.

Can’t decide what scent you want? With an essential oil diffuser, there’s no need to pick just one! The Pure Daily Care Essential Oil Diffuser allows you to mix your own unique scent with the twenty different 10 ml essential oils included with the set. Choose from popular scents like lavender, eucalyptus, tea tree, orange, peppermint, lemongrass, sandalwood, grapefruit, bergamot, rosemary, and more.

The compact diffuser is made from BPA-free plastic with a wood grain design that compliments any decor style. With its seven different light modes and two intensity settings, you can create a total of fourteen different light combinations to set the mood however you choose. The diffuser also has four timer settings and automatically shuts off when the water level is low. 

Summary

Can’t decide what scent you want? With an essential oil diffuser, there’s no need to pick just one! The Pure Daily Care Essential Oil Diffuser allows The best air fresheners for a home should be able to eliminate odor, keep your home smelling fresh, and all without using chemicals. There are plenty of natural options available on the market, and the mentioned above are some of my favorite.

No matter which style of natural air freshener you choose, you can breathe easy knowing your home is filled with non-toxic scents and aromatherapeutic essential oils.