to not understand why people spend money to pollute their homes with pointless chemicals?

Except that fabric softener and perfume does hurt people. When you walk around wearing scent, you trigger asthma attacks and allergic reactions for other people. If you have a tumble drier, the exhaust can be spewing scent into the air when someone is trying to just take a walk or be outside and suddenly they are sick.

shops with aisles and aisles of highly scented products mean some of us can’t even go to certain brick and mortar stores anymore because just stepping foot inside can cause an anaphylactic reaction.

buying and using these products is not a benign act.

Not keen on some perfumes females wear. Just cos they like it we don't all want to smell it so much.

I hate those freshener puffer things that scare you when they go off and blast it in your eye or hair. OTT.

There really is! Like in the news this week it was said that there is now no river in the whole UK that is free from sewage leaked from household drains. Which means, other than raw human waste, our rivers are also filled with the remains of scent boosters and other artificial crap that we rinse down our drains. This affects wildlife, as well as a million other things. I'd think that was a much bigger problem!

But it is hurting people, that's the point!

Read the thread back - lots of people talking about allergies, asthma and infertility linked to these things. Not to mention the huge damage done to the environment. So it's not each to their own when every single river in the UK is polluted with this stuff.

I have seen no answer on this thread other than 'because it smells nice' or 'because we can'. The selfishness is unbelievable.

Plug ins would be more practical in zero gravity, I'd have thought.

I don't understand why ppl like so many toxic yucky artificial scents. I find most of them harsh and unpleasant. They stress liver and kidneys and increase the risk of cancer.

When ppl want a safe and pleasant smell, use essential oils - real, not burner oils. A little goes a very long way.

Of course! He’ll definitely have a view on whether space aliens use Intergalactic Glade Plug-Ins or essential oils from the planet Stink-Alpha-2.

If your home is clean, no artificial scents are needed. They are masking but not actually doing anything. Better to find the source of the smells and do something about them.

I reckon he'll know whether they have them in spaceships.

But he also plays a mean keyboard. He’s a widely talented man. I have every faith that Brian Cox will have interesting things to say about many subjects, including air fresheners.

Christ alive girl...much bigger things going on in the UK than scent boosters..give your head a frigging wobble

Brian Cox is a physicist not a chemist so air fresheners might not be his area of expertise.

The frothing on this thread reminds me of the anti-vax days.

I am not a fan of artificial smells but I use them gladly to mask the smell of teenage boy.

Lavender is a migraine trigger and major allergen.

Essential oils aren't automatically safer or better than commercial fragrances. It's all "chemicals"

I don't use any of it because it all smells extremely strong to me!

I don't get it either. The scent boosters are pure crap - let's just add more unnecessary stuff to our water system!

Gosh you sound so 🥱 😴

Why should the age of people wearing lavender perfume be relevant at all? Do older women like lavender particularly? I can't say I've noticed that. And the bees in my garden would be surprised to hear that lavender flowers are 'disgusting', because they seem to love them.

Yanbu- I bought a Hobbs dress from marketplace, it’s lovely but I’ve washed it twice and cannot get rid of the scent it’s been washed with previously. Even when I think it’s gone, when I’ve gone to put it on and the material’s warmed up it comes through again - so overpowering.

And the plugins or squirty things - the first thing I do in accommodation is search them out and disable them.

im not against keeping a small spray in the bathroom to use when necessary (lasts about 2years!), but the auto ones that you cannot stop or do anything about make me feel quite ill.

Do you like the smell of your house ? If so fair play to you.
do you have any visitors…… who come time and time again? If so your home cannot smell that bad. 😂
I am very conscious of my home smelling like dog. I have two. The thought of it smelling doggy makes me cringe. I have candles and plug in things and wash their bedding regularly 😂 but I will add I ask all my visitors if they can smell dog and no one has said yes as of yet !!

OP you're acting like an air wick fires carbon monoxide into the room

In what way is lavender oil not also a chemical?

OP it's because not everyone is the same as you. HTH.

I ingest apples by eating them. When I do eat them I’m sure I can smell them, so I’d guess I’m inhaling something of the apple. I could be wrong about that.

Either way, so far as I know the apples are broken down by my body and the compounds from them circulate around in my blood and to my organs. Which will presumably include trace amounts of formaldehyde, as the pp said.

Last time I checked you don't inhale apples, along with a bunch of other noxious chemicals. The research also shows that combinations of chemicals is harmful.

Because it smells nice! I melt wax melts in a variety of scents, why? because I want to and I live with smelly boys, husband and a dog and I’m a clean freak. All lies in the smell. Windows are open a lot and I line dry washing. Smells clean and is clean. I’m very choosy over my washing powder and conditioner too.

I’m with you, are we talking about the same coats that are designed for those who enjoy water sports to get dry and warm after.

They seem very much all the rage amongst a certain breed of society. I assume some influencer must have warn one on instagram and the sheep must follow.

Maybe because everyone is different?

I can’t imagine why anyone would want to wear those hideous ankle length puffy coats - or why anyone would go into Tesco to do their weekly shop INSIDE wearing one, but everyone and their dog seems to wear them so it’s the same with these things 🙂 Everyone just likes different things.