Thinking of freshening up your house with air freshener?

Another article on this:

www.care2.com/greenliving/exposed-the-shocking-truth-about-air-fresheners.html

Deborah, This is good and useful information.

I currently use woodwick spill-proof diffusers . They're great and very subtle.
When I first hosted I had glade plugins.. several guests would unplug them or throw them out even.

The best solution is to find the source of the odor and eliminate it.

Now, when I clean, I use microfiber cloths, an ammonia based glass/surface cleaner and a non-toxic furniture polish as well as hydrogen peroxide--I put a sprayer on the peroxide bottle so I can spray or stream it. This works well with grout and areas of the bathroom where things tend to grow and are difficult to clean, but also works just about anywhere (test for color fastness--it can have a bleaching effect) kitchen sink, and sometimes even the toilet--try to spray it so it'll get under the rim.

Linens don't need fragrances. A crisp, clean odorless set of sheets and towels will impress a guest and those with allergies will appreciate it even more.

I'm pretty sure the woodwick spill proof candles are non-toxic, but if someone finds out otherwise, I'd love to know.

I also found an insect repellant recipe which is really great.
I have a sprayer just like the one she uses here: www.theprairiehomestead.com/2013/06/homemade-air-fresheners.html
I mix peppermint oil, water, and just a drop or two of soap (the soap helps dissolve the peppermint oil into the water so you can spray it). I use that about every 6 weeks and haven't seen a spider or had to clean a cobweb since I started using it 6 months ago.
I use it every once in a while to clean the granite countertops in the kitchen too.

Another host complained they had some rats... in this case I put a solution of peppermint oil and water , soaked a cotton ball, and put it in a ziplock bag that was slightly open. Put that near the rat hole or as close to where you think they're coming in from. The peppermint is very unpleasant to them and they will move out.
I usually rotate which room I'm treating with the peppermint spray (one room a week roughly) -- if you do the whole house at once the peppermint smell might be overwhelming... but doing like one room a week or rooms on opposite sides of the house will leave a faint pleasant minty smell that won't be overpowering.