Life Hack: Three ways to use cinnamon to solve problems around your home

From treating fungus on plants to ensuring your wardrobe is free of moths, cinnamon can be used for so many things around your home

Cinnamon, in both stick and powder form, is a very useful thing to keep in the press.

Insects 

Last week I wrote about deterring ants from entering your home and one of the ways to do that was with cinnamon, which they hate. Cinnamon can also be used to repel other insects. Insects are vital within our ecosystem so I always avoid anything that will harm them, instead choosing to direct them away from the indoors and back out to the wilds of the garden. Ants in particular hate the smell of cinnamon, as do many other insects, so sprinkling it around the entryways into your hours – doors, windows and any other openings – will ensure a swift u-turn. It can also be sprinkled on plants outdoors if you want to keep potential snackers away. Moths too are not fans of the scent so cinnamon can be used in wardrobes to keep them away from your clothes. Just pop some cinnamon sticks (and cloves if you want it to be super effective) into a mesh bag and hang it inside your wardrobe or place it in a drawer.

Plants 

Speaking of plants, I discovered a very handy trick with cinnamon last year when I noticed an odd fungal growth on the soil of one of my houseplants. As I have a dog in the house I wanted to avoid any harsh chemicals for the sake of my pet’s health as well as my own, so I turned to Google for some natural alternatives and stumbled upon cinnamon, which I had to hand in the cupboard. You simply sprinkle cinnamon on the soil – I gave mine a generous coating – and allow it to work its magic. Within days I noticed a marked improvement, with the fungal growth vanishing soon after. Plus it left a delicious odour in the air which I wouldn’t complain about. As it was only the soil I was tackling, a sprinkling did the trick but if you have a fungal grown on the plant itself, add cinnamon to water in a spray bottle and spritz the plant’s leaves and stems to ensure full coverage. 

Odours 

Cinnamon has such a lovely scent it makes sense to use it to freshen up your home. One tried-and-tested way to perfume your home is to ‘brew’ cinnamon on the stove. Pop some cinnamon sticks into a pot of water and bring it to a boil before dropping it to a simmer. This alone will leave your kitchen smelling great and is brilliant at covering smells like burned popcorn. You can also remove the cinnamon sticks and transfer the water (once cooled) into a spray bottle and use this to freshen up fabrics around your home, such as the couch, carpet and curtains. As cinnamon has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties, it does more than mask the smell: it cleans the air properly.