After a long, tiring day at work, a lot of us just want to return home, sit back, and relax. Usually, having a good scent around your house can help achieve that.
Other than calming your stress, a pleasant smell is the best welcome you can get your guests if you expect any.
Luckily for you, a pleasant smell is easy to achieve.
If you want to avoid using products with harsh chemicals, a more natural way to give your house an aroma is using potpourri.
In this article, we’re going to discuss how to make potpourri smell stronger, as well as share some tips on how to maintain it.
What Is Potpourri?
Potpourri is basically dried flower petals that are rich in fragrance.
Potpourri is usually in houses to give them a not-strong-but-not-weak scent. Its aroma dances in the background, keeping your home smelling fresh without bothering you. Some people also use it for decoration.
How to Use Potpourri for a Fresh Smell
You can put potpourri inside a bowl and place it anywhere in a room as decoration/ natural air freshener. You can also put it in a small silk bag or pouch and place it inside your closet and drawers.
The potpourri will give your clothes and wardrobe a pleasant flowery scent that can last for a long time, depending on how well it’s stored.
Can Potpourri Lose Its Scent?
Potpourri can lose its scent if the essential oils contained in its petals dry. This usually happens as a result of keeping it uncovered all the time instead of only when it’s in use.
To maintain its smell, keep it covered or inside a locked place —like a drawer or a wardrobe.
How Long Does Potpourri’s Scent Last?
Depending on how you use your potpourri, its smell can last a few months up to a few years— sometimes even decades if you take care of it properly.
However, there are some cases when the potpourri will lose its scent in a matter of weeks. That usually happens if its quality is subpar or if it’s being exposed to too much direct air and sunlight.
How To Make Potpourri Smell Stronger
After using potpourri for a few months, you’ll start to notice that the smell is slowly fading. This may become inconvenient if you’re expecting guests over and you have no way to add a pleasing scent to your room.
And if it’s one of your favorite scents or if it’s a gift from someone special to you, you might even feel sad losing this smell you grew familiar with.
Here are some ways to fix that
Essential Oil Is Your Best Option!
To return your potpourri back to its previous pristine condition, you’ll need either one of two things: essential oil or rubbing alcohol.
First, for the essential oil, all you’ll need to do is find a similar scented oil to the potpourri you want to restore.
So, for example, if you have a citrus-scented potpourri, you should get a citrus-scented essential oil. The same goes for all other scents.
If you’ve successfully matched up the two scents, you can now use a couple of drops of the essential oil—the amount may differ depending on how much potpourri you’re restoring— on your potpourri.
This will allow it to once again absorb the smell and go back to providing your room or closet with the familiar fragrance.
Be careful not to use too much oil. Essential oils have radiant smells, so you should only use a couple of drops.
If you’re unable to find any essential oils you like, you can try rubbing alcohol instead.
You simply need to get some rubbing alcohol and put it in a spraying bottle—if it’s not already in one—then sprinkle a few times on your potpourri, and voilà! It should now be as good as new!
Store It Correctly
If you want to make your potpourri smell stronger, the key is storing it right.
Exposure to air could cause the smell of potpourri to disperse, so keeping it locked inside a container will allow it to preserve its scent for a longer period of time.
You can add a small cotton pad with a drop of essential oil on it inside the pouch with the potpourri, and it’ll keep the scent reserved. Make sure to keep it closed tightly to keep its fragrance.
Another thing you can try is to buy or make some new potpourri that has the same smell and mix it up with the old petals.
Clean Your Potpourri
You might notice that your potpourri looks a little dusty after a few months of use. It’s really no surprise. After all, everything requires a little clean-up after a while, and potpourri is no different!
The dust on the petals may be the reason their smell isn’t as radiant as it should be.
To clean your potpourri, all you need is a bag with a few holes for the dust to fly out of. You can do this by using either a regular grocery bag with a few small punctures or a net bag.
How To Clean Your Potpourri
Put the potpourri inside the bag and tie it tightly so as to not let any of the petals fall out. After that, stand above a basket or a garbage can and start to shake the bag.
Don’t do it too aggressively to avoid breaking the petals, but not too softly that it doesn’t get cleaned.
After shaking it moderately, you should notice a few dust particles flying away out of the few holes you have in the bag. That’s your indication that the cleaning is a success.
You might see a few petals falling out—especially if the holes are too big—you can simply pick them up once you’re done and place them back with the rest of your potpourri.
Can You Use Water to Clean Potpourri?
If you want to use water to clean potpourri, make sure to only use a few tiny sprinkles after you’ve finished getting rid of the dust. Water can rid the potpourri of its smell, so you don’t want to go all the way with it.
When you’re done, leave the potpourri to completely dry before using it again.
Store-Bought Or Homemade Potpourri?
As good as store-bought potpourri is, the quality isn’t always up to expectations.
That’s especially if you’re someone who enjoys completely natural products—as store-bought ones can sometimes contain inorganic materials.
In this case, looking for and buying the right ingredients to make your own homemade potpourri would be a perfect choice.
Can You Make Potpourri At Home?
You might’ve thought of making potpourri at home but discarded the idea because it seems complicated. Well, it’s easier than you think.
All you need to do is decide what scent you want, and you’re good to go!
Here are the steps you should follow.
Choose the Right Ingredients for Your Potpourri
Do you prefer citrusy smells, or would you like a more flowery aroma? Depending on your answer, the ingredients you’ll need will be different.
For example, if you want a citrus potpourri, you’ll need oranges/lemons, cloves, cinnamon, and so on.
Meanwhile, for flower potpourri, the main ingredients will be different types of flower petals. You can choose the ones you prefer.
Rose petals and lavender petals are popular choices. Orange and lemon peels can also be added but in smaller quantities.
Once you figure out all the ingredients you want to use in your potpourri, you can begin making your very own homemade potpourri!
How You Can Make Homemade Potpourri
There are multiple ways to make potpourri at home. The easiest way to make flower potpourri is to bring all the ingredients you choose and lay them out on a paper towel for a few days until they dry.
If you’re making fruit potpourri, you’ll have to bake the fruit slices first, then leave them to dry.
You can also add direct fruit peel to your flower potpourri for an extra tangy aroma. To do that, you’ll have to peel the fruits, bake the peels for 2–3 hours, and leave them to cool down.
Then, you just need to keep the petals in a locked container with a few drops of fragrant oil so they can absorb the smell.
You can keep the potpourri that way for a week or so, occasionally stirring its content to help the oil’s scent stick to the petals more. After that, you can finally take it out to use.
Final Thoughts
In this article, we’ve talked about how to make potpourri smell stronger, how to use it, and if homemade potpourri is better than a store-bought one.
We’ve also mentioned a simple way to make your very own potpourri at home!
Now that we’ve tackled all these points, hopefully, you’re able to once again enjoy your favorite fragrance in your home and maybe add a new one to the collection.
After all, who wouldn’t love a little change once in a while?
I have two Associate’s degrees, one in Medical Assisting and the other in Computer Technician, and I am roughly five classes from a bachelor’s degree. Though I never ended up working in the medical field, I have five and a half years of experience in IT. I recently became a stay-at-home mom to my two young boys, and I’m so excited to start this adventure with them! In my spare time, I love to bake and read pretty much anything I can get my hands on.