Instant Air Freshener For Small Spaces

Yesterday we were flying back to LA from Seattle and had to take a series of smaller airplanes with just the one compact bathroom in the back. Normally these get pretty...stuffy early on in the flight and the people sitting close to it definitely have a worse flight. But on one of the flights we noticed that upon entering the bathroom it smelled kind of nice, but not like an air freshener, it just smelled pleasant. Shutting the door, we realized what it was:

There, hanging on the back of the door were 4 tea bags (Good Earth Spiced Tea to be exact). Because of the spices they held, it filled the tiny space with a natural aroma that wasn't overpowering but just enough to absorb/mask the other smells. One of the flight attendants must have put the tea bags there to make it more pleasant for everyone. We loved how simple a solution it was using what they probably already had on hand. We plan to raid our tea drawer and try out some mint or chai tea in a hall closet or our own bathroom. Have you seen/used this trick before?

And if this is old news to you, check out everything Gregory uses loose leaf green tea for around the house.

(Image: House Tour: Scott's Silver Lake Bachelor Pad and S. Baker)

Comments (36)

unused or used tea bags?

This is great I'm going to try it with maple maple tea! Thanks for the great idea!

I thought that this post was going to be about plants and how they clean the air.
Good idea though! Maybe I will try it at work because the bathrooms here are not well ventilated at ALL.

I haven't seen this before but will definitely be trying this out for myself! Mint tea would be nice...

Brilliant - I love drinking Good Earth Tea and am often complimented on the aroma it gives here in the office.

Hey, I have that same piece of tile artwork by Harris Strong! It's supposed to hang horizontally but I like it that way as well. I might have to dig it out of storage!

I have some tea that has a wonderful smell but only so-so taste. Maybe I will cut some teabags open and pour them into a small bowl for the bathroom.

Anyone know where the bathroom shelves are from?

I've heard that tea bags also help cut that awful fridge smell.

target

I'm all about Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer myself :)Unused bags are perfect little sachets at home. At work, I tend not to throw my used bags out until close to quitting; the used bags have a great, strong scent.

Same as bepsf - my coworkers love my Good Earth tea!

what a great idea.
i will definitely be trying this in my tiny bathroom!

My coworkers always comment on my Chai...and one day I had a bag in my purse that ripped open and the inside of the bag still smells so good, even though I cleaned it out!

Many years ago I visited the Celestial Seasoning factory in Boulder, CO. They kept a separate room for the peppermint tea, so that it would not 'infiltrate' the other spaces ... when we were in that room it was very powerful ... especially if your sinuses were blocked!

That's a great idea.
I'm wondering if anyone out there has tried using the tea bag's to get rid of funky cat odors...

I'm having a heck of a time getting rid of the smells—inside a teeny bathroom that my guests also have to share with the cat :P

Genius!

Great idea, I will definitely be trying this out!
http://notyourgoddess.blogspot.com/

Several years ago I flew on a number of flights that used those pre-measured coffee pouches for this purpose, but I've never seen tea bags used. It makes perfect sense, though. In fact, I'm going to toss a couple into my freezer right now and see if they help with the weird smell that's emerged in the last day.

On my last couple of flights, I've wondered why they didn't have coffee pouches in the lavatories. They certainly needed them!

You can also put a few drops of essential oil on a cotton ball and stuff it inside the cardboard tube on your toilet paper. It refreshes the air each time you grab some t.p.!

What a great idea... can't wait to try it out....

I'm an ER doctor, and you can imagine that we get some pretty unique odors; the tea-bag-in-the-face-mask trick is an old one that works really well for all manner of funk!

I have a plant on my bedside table and for the past few months I have been adding some used tea leaves to the soil, most recently lemon tea. Maybe I'm weird but I find fresh, clean citrus scents to be soothing and relaxing and it's nice waking up and smelling that.

I'll see if I can incorporate some tea into my bathroom. I don't have any tea bags but I'm sure I could rig something up and retire the lavender that's currently in there.

Cheryl, my dad is a master-gardener type, and he swears that coffee grounds and tea leaves are magical for plants.

I do this already with Constant Comment. Mmmmm.

Wow, great idea. There's a couple tea bags going over the cat litter in 5 seconds.

What a great idea. Love that little hallway and bathroom as well. I also use natural oils (tea tree, peppermint) for cuts and scrapes, cleaning, etc. Like one post above, I put a few drops on a cotton ball and stash in my bathroom and it lasts really well. I've even dropped a bit on the light bulbs (make sure they're off and cool) and when you turn the light on the heat really activates the oil. I'm all about aromatherapy!

Give that flight attendant a raise! ...oh, wait.

Very cool! I hate potpourri and typical air freshener scents, so I'll definitely be trying this.

I have allergies and the artificial scents destroy my sinuses so this sounds perfect for the kitty litter bathroom.

also, thanks, Brandyjane, i thought coffee grounds were good for the plants but couldnt remember where i heard it, so now you are verifying it.

Never heard of. But I definitely will give it a try.
We hate those artificial odors which should cover bad smells but only make it worse.
Many thanks

Masala Chai teabags smell divine! I have the spices at home but I'm currently away, mum-sitting (!!) and bought a box of these teabags a few weeks ago. How such a subtle aroma managed to mask the less-than-subtle odour that occasionally wafted from the cat litter tray amazed me, although, obviously I'd bought them with the intention of making tea. That said, there's a traditional teacake made in Wales called Bara Brith that requires cold tea in the recipe and I was thinking of making some with the chai bags but I've since run out and can't remember where I purchased them. All that I have left is the empty packaging, the scent still clinging to it, and the all-too-frequent reminder that my mother has pets...

I see this now that I just spent $10 on basic Glade air fresheners a couple days ago...

I'll be trying this soon.

I used the same concept except I filled a pretty bowl full of french vanilla whole coffee beans & put 3 different size pillar candles in the middle creating not only something that helped mask some of the "bad kitchen odors" that can sometimes linger, but also made a nice simple centerpiece on the table.

Nice idea on the tea bags...but where can I find the over the toilet storage shelves?

Thank you,
Shaunon

I'm going to mention this idea to my mom. She's a flight attendant, and a while back she mentioned how she always carries small air freshener sprays to use after the lavatory becomes too smelly. This idea seems like less effort.