We’ve had an email from Bala:

Can an aftershave which is nearly 3 years old be used as a car freshner??

This sent me down two research routes: 1) do aftershaves/colognes/perfumes expire? and 2) how to make a car air freshener. In answer to the first question, general not: they might lose their top notes or the scent distort in other ways after around five years but otherwise the alcohol will preserve it pretty well, especially if the bottle is pretty full (so there has been less exposure to the air). Some might separate slightly but at three years old, it should be fine.

As for making the freshner, Planet Green suggests a dangly scrap fabric/scrap cardboard/fabric sandwich, but I worry about the suggestion to soak the fabric with the scent – I would have though a few spritzes, refreshed regularly, would probably suffice in a closed car (a little scent goes a long way!).

Anyone got any ideas for making other types of freshner?

Or any other ideas for reusing or recycling old aftershave/cologne?

We’ve had an email from Jenny asking:

I have some old perfume bottles, they are so pretty they shouldn’t just be thrown in the normal glass recycling.

Is there anything I can do with them, other that just display as an ornament. I don’t want to do this, as I hate clutter. Any ideas?

For starters, some of what to do with old Tabasco sauce bottle ideas might apply here too – since both are small, pretty glass bottles with a tiny-teeny neck.

For sprays, I also like DJ’s idea on the pump action spray bottle page – fill the bottle with water to use as a cooling spray mist on hot days.

Taking that a step further, you could refill the bottles by making your own scented body or room sprays using essential oils – if that’s not your sort of thing, you could maybe offer the empty, clean bottles on Freecycle to someone in your area who would like to do that.

What else can you do with empty perfume bottles? Do you have any special ways to reuse them?

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