Room & Linen Spray

[docMT]

I would like to give linen and room sprays a shot. I want to do these as favors for a shower I am hosting. Does anyone have a good recipe or know where I could find a good recipe? Thank you so much.

 

[girlishcharm2004]

Do you want to make it with essential oils or fragrance oils? Are you going to use alcohol? Floral water?

 

[docMT]

Fragrance oil. I had a recipe once once that used distilled water. I also remember a recipe using vodka.

 

[AustinStraight]

I like to just use somewhere around 30 drops essential oil in 4 ounces distilled water. I don't know much about fragrance oil blends, but here's a list of blends you could try. You might try something like rose + bergamot, or vanilla + lavender, just to give you a couple of more relaxing blends specific to linen sprays.

 

[DeeAnna]

About 1/2 and 1/2 water and vodka (40% alcohol) works okay for me. The fragrance separates out, so you have to shake well before use, but I think the alcohol helps the mixture stay mixed a bit longer. The alcohol also acts a preservative in a 50:50 mix with water. I wouldn't add anything to the mix other than water, vodka, and fragrance for reasonable long-term safety. If you want to solubilize the fragrance so shaking is not needed, look into adding polysorbate 20 or polysorbate 80 to the mix.

 

[squeakycleanuk]

I also do a 50 / 50 mix of alcohol (vodka) / water, I'm only making for personal use at the moment though. I would like to start selling but also want to keep it natural so would like to avoid the polysorbate if possible. Do you sell yours DeeAnna, how long do they last without another preservative? Are they popular, I'm concerned that people may not like separation factor but if I could keep out chemical stuff, that would be preferable

 

[DeeAnna]

No, I do not sell. If I did, I would use something like polysorbate 80 to solubilize the fragrance. It's one thing to be "super crunchy" with a product I make for myself, but consumer products need to be reasonably easy and convenient to use. A solubilized or emulsified spray meets those goals. Furthermore, there's a safety issue with the super-crunchy version. I would not want an unsuspecting consumer to get to the bottom of the spray bottle and possibly end up spritzing concentrated fragrance into the air or on the sheets. That is not reasonable or safe. Not only that, but I would also use a proper preservative. I would be far more concerned about keeping my customers healthy than playing into their idea of what "natural" is.

I'm more sensitive to these issues today than I usually am. I went to my local organic foods store this morning and was browsing through their toiletries section. They are selling a cream (oil + water product) produced by a small local business. I checked the ingredients list and found the product is "emulsified" with just beeswax. That was bad enough, but there was NO preservative included in the list. After digesting this for a moment, I gingerly opened the well-used tester jar and saw droplets of water weeping out of the product and puddling on the surface -- proof that the beeswax is a failure as an emulsifier. There was no mold or bacteria blooms to make the ugly picture complete, but I'm positive all that will appear in good time. I cannot fathom why someone would willingly and knowingly sell an "all natural", "no chemical" product like this. It is falling apart before it's even been sold, and it poses a potentially serious health risk to the user. Ugh, it gives me the creeps.

...I'm going to stop.... I could say a lot more, but I think this is plenty. Obviously you can see where my bias lies. :think:

 

[FlybyStardancer]

I think I'm in a similar boat as you, DeeAnna! Things for me? I might fudge a bit. Something to put out for the wider public? I'm going to be much more cautious!