I noticed my car smelt a little damp when I got in the other day.  This is not surprising considering the weather in the UK the last few months -which seems like constant rain, and my car is just a little old thing so it doesn’t cut me off from the environment outside.

Anyway, I decided that apart from a clean it needed a little freshening up with some essential oils.  When I first bought the car, I didn’t like the smell, so I chose some strong, fresh, cleansing scents -Eucalyptus, Peppermint and Lemon -because I wanted something to overpower the current smell and to make an impact.  I literally just sprinkled drops of each oil throughout the various surfaces of the car.  The beauty of these oils is that as well as the refreshing aroma, they will have a cleansing and anti-microbial action in the car.  Later on I got a little lavender bag to hang from the mirror, this is a bag filled with lavender flowers which hold essential oil in them and produce a beautiful scent).  When I turn the car enough for the bag to swing, I get a little whiff of lavender from it.

After quite a while I stopped noticing the scent, so I sprinkled some lavender essential oil on to the bag to refresh the smell. Every so often, as the scent fades, I repeat this and will generally choose different essential oils depending on how I feel. I keep a  couple of bottles of essential oil in the glove box and on a long journey I might sprinkle 2 or 3 drops of peppermint or eucalyptus on to the bag, as this will keep me refreshed through the drive.

Caution: Make sure you avoid any essential oils that have a sedating properties as this will obviously not support driving, avoid valerian, carrot seed, clary sage and vetiver. And if lavender essential oil makes you feel sleepy, avoid this too and try lemongrass or thyme.

Using essential oils to freshen the smell of your car is a lovely way to look after you and your environment, and I would say it’s preferable to the usual car trinkets as some of the ingredients I have come across include nasty chemicals.

You can also use lavender bags to freshen and scent your home; I have them in my wardrobe, and various draws and cupboards throughout the house.  Use the same technique of adding drops of essential oil every now and then to freshen them up. For more details read my blog on How to Take Care of your Clothes with Essential Oils.