Safest Affordable Essential Oils with Good Strong Smells

[slipd]

I realize I'm probably at the wrong site/forum since my question has nothing to do with soap, but this forum just seems to be one of the most active and helpful forums out there talking about Essential Oils, so I thought I'd ask here. Or if you know a better forum to ask the question, please let me know.

Anyway, after learning about how toxic most everyday air freshener sprays you find in the store are, I'm looking into making my own air fresheners with essential oils. Articles online simply say to mix several drops of essential oil and water into a mist spray bottle. So as a test, I bought 0.5 oz of 100% Tangerine essential oil, dropped all of it (about 200 drops) into 16 oz of water in a mist spray bottle, and the resulting smell after several spritzes around the room wasn't strong at all, almost no smell. Do I just need more drops of oil? Or is there something other than EO and water I could mix into the spray bottle for stronger smells?

Or are there better oils out there with more potent smells than Tangerine? If so, could you please recommend some safe and affordable essential oils with the least number of cautions / adverse side effects?

Thank you!

 

[squeakycleanuk]

It sounds like you are using plenty of EO, more so than I do in my room sprays, so quantity isn't the issue. Tangerine is notorious for not lasting very well, so do a search on this forum for anchors and you'll find some info about other EOs which can be used to strengthen the scent. The other thing which may be affecting it could be fact that you are using just water and EO. The EO is no doubt just sitting there in the bottle, it needs something to help disperse it throughout the water. I use polysorbate 20 for this purpose but if you do a search for room sprays, you may be able to find info about other emulsifiers.

Good luck