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

I've dabbled with lots of the smellies mentioned on this thread but as soon as I started keeping animals I stopped. Many people here have said they need the air fresheners because they have smelly pets, which I understand, but I was concerned about how it might be affecting my animals. Fish and birds are sensitive, and when we consider how much better dogs' sense of smell is compared with ours I couldn't justify using them any longer. I have the choice, but they don't, and they can't escape these scents if they don't like them.

But none of this is new, it's just the technology is different now.

Even going back to medieval times (and probably longer), people would hold bags of dried herbs in front of their noses to disguise bad smells, and some were even thought to be a remedy against catching plague.

Perfume has existed for centuries too, and was popular with the wealthy in Elizabethan times, especially with the importation of new, previously unheard of spices and scents. Make-up was often made by crushing animals or using toxins like lead.

My childhood (eighties) was full of things like potpourri and other "smellies" around the house.

My point is, people have always used "pointless chemicals" to make them and their homes smell "nice", it's just what's considered "nice" changes from one generation to the next, and as technology becomes more advanced, these things have just become more affordable and easier to obtain.

Each to their own lovelies, it’s not hurting anyone.

I don’t particularly like spicy food as it gives me terrible toilet problems, but you don’t see me asking why people add chilli powder to their food or ranting my opinion about it.

I doubt an airwick plugin is going to cause global warming or suffocate someone, but it might make someone who likes the scent happy. In the same way someone wearing a nice perfume will get enjoyment. A home is an extension of oneself. If someone chooses to scent it then so be it.

I have a friend who’s house stinks of German Shepard, Id much rather smell cotton fresh coming from her plug sockets when I call round.

Totally agree. I used to use all kinds of crap till I developed asthma then eczema. I react to so much all I use on my skin, home etc is all natural. Even DH has to have natural stuff to stop me reacting. Rarely go to Boots etc as it reeks and sets me off coughing. We talk about reducing environmental pollution but then add unnecessary toxins to our homes.

Someone I know ended up with a tumour in her facial sinus that I am convinced came from inhaling constant chemicals with her obsession with candles, air fresheners, cleaning products and scent boosters

I guess for me the issue is it’s just part of the ‘more and more and more’ culture - it’s not enough to just clean/do laundry, you have to take it to the next level and make sure it all smells like an Interflora warehouse as well. It isn’t enough to just shower and brush hair, women are expected to do the whole fake tan/nails/lashes shit as well. It’s not enough to give your kid an Easter egg today, you have to do a display with helium balloons and bunting and baskets and all that shite.

Yes I know ‘it’s all optional’ but when it seems to be the norm in society, most people will want to adhere to that - it’s perfectly understandable that people don’t want to appear smelly/ugly/boring, even if they’re not it’s only because our standards now are so ridiculously high.

It’s all bad for the environment, costs a fortune and just ups the ante to yet another level when life is already busy, expensive and really stressful.

Dh used to be obsessed with shake n vac, but it wreaked havoc on my skin. He also believes in the magic of bleach, even when what he actually needs us washing up liquid. Too much bleach makes it hard for me to breathe though, so he's toned it down.

Like I said earlier though, artificial scents in the house aren't new. I'd forgotten the must teenage years of joss sticks and joss stick ash. If anyone grew up near Chester and visited the rainforest shop, those smells take you right back.

And thanks to the pp who mentioned the shake n vac lady putting the freshness back; I can't get the song out of my head now.

What a way to live!

Life is about sensing as much as possible.

(although, for me, that doesn’t include scent boosters and artificial air fresheners)

I’ve noticed a huge increase in the advertising of air fresheners, laundry scent boosters etc etc. What’s interesting to me is that they are tapping into the paranoia that seems to exist around smells. There is a lot of money to be made from the burgeoning home fragrance market.
Who cares whether these products are bad for you or the environment-as long as they smell good right? 🤔
I think if people looked at the labels properly they would be shocked at all the chemicals they contain.
Im allergic to a lot of these things as they contain linalool so I use natural air fresheners and laundry products.

I'm a biomedical scientist. I know what a toxin is. It's a lot of anti-vaxers and conspiracy theorists that don't.

Completely agree. These products smell disgusting and really degrade the air quality. And the people who use them seem to have no qualms about inflicting them on others.

More pollution is caused by their manufacture, transport, packaging etc. All completely unnecessary.

Exactly this. Water is also toxic in large doses. So is oxygen.

It’s all about the dose.

Nicotine is a toxin. But it occurs in nature, obviously. Including in tomatoes and potatoes, in tiny quantities.

Chanting “toxin! toxin!” is meaningless without a full picture of dosage and other relevant facts.

Lots of posters on this thread.

It's commonly used out of context by companies wishing to greenwash and/or scaremonger.

PP didn't say she didn't know what a toxin is, she said it's annoying when people use the term out of context.

Some perfume smells like urine on me!

Rive Gauche, Daisy and a fair few others smell like tomcat's piss on me after a few minutes.

But, but, but...meeting him is one of the credentials for being able to say you're a scientist! Did he smell nice?

I've met Brian Cox. I was hoping his extremely superior intelligence and scientific knowledge would rub off on me just by meeting him, but sadly it didn't.

Very very nice guy, though.

I like the smell so I use them 🤷‍♀️

The internet is terrible for the environment too, but you are using it to post about air fresheners.

People like what they like. You don't have to use scents in your home if you don't like it but It's a bit silly to claim you don't understand why people might like their house to smell (what most people think is) pleasent.

I use fabric conditioner, but because I can't bear the feel of anything that's rough or scratchy, and we have very hard water, which makes clothes feel scratchy if you don't use conditioner. Some of them smell vile though, and I always buy whatever's cheapest, so can sometimes be found standing in the laundry aisle of a supermarket sniffing fabric conditioner bottles to see which smell's least overpowering or offensive.

A lot of strong scents make me feel a bit nauseous, especially stuff that purports to be lemon-scented, but smells nothing like an actual lemon, or vanilla scented, also nothing like the real thing. And I can't bear plug-ins or reed diffusers.

The only time I use anything like that is when I cook bacon. I light a candle then, and open the back door and window nearest the cooker, otherwise I find the smell of bacon really lingers. Otherwise, the house just smells of fresh laundry, unless it's been dry enough to hang washing outside, wax spray polish, the window cleaning spray, and whatever I clean the kitchen and bathroom floor with (currently Method wild rhubarb). I use a very weak dilution of general liquid cleaner for most things, anti-bac spray for the kitchen worktops and Flash in the bathroom. None of them have a lingering smell.

I remember being told not to use bleach on urine- google says

"Bleach is great at disinfecting, but not so great on eliminating odors. You'll be left with a clean, but still smelly problem. Urine already has a high ammonia content, so adding more ammonia is only going to exacerbate your problem. And whatever you do, NEVER combine bleach and ammonia"