Air fresheners are the devil’s work

They make me feel physically sick

I quite like an air freshener in my car and I couldn't be arsed with a dramatic colleague pretending their lungs were 'collapsing' while I did them a favour so I voted YABU.

I am obviously in the minority. I like air fresh fresheners, scented toilet roll, and I just wish laundry detergents and fabric conditioners were more scented, they are far too subtle for me. I have tried so many and none leave much scent for long. I don’t like it though when someone seems to literally drown themselves in perfume and you can smell their perfume half an hour after they have left the room.

There was someone on a recent thread who nearly collapsed at the “stench” of passers by wearing clothes that had been dried outside. I guess we are just an extremely sensitive society.

YANBU, OP!

I am not asthmatic (but it's somewhere in the gene pool), but a lot of air fresheners get on my chest and make it feel horribly tight.

Fortunately, I work in farming, and air fresheners would have a field day trying to cover the smells associated with cows, sheep, diesel, and so on... and it would definitely be a 'WTF?' moment if someone had put an air freshener in a tractor!

Devil's work without a doubt. Completely unnecessary use of chemicals and plastics that (mostly women) have been conned into buying by the ad men. Always suspicious of people that use them to be honest. Don't they clean their house or wash themselves regularly?

Also in the same category as fabric conditioners and those god awful scent booster things. Even after washing things bought on vinted you can still smell them - awful.

I bought some things on Ebay and couldn't have them in the house they stank so bad. I returned them because the clothes not only smell but they feel weird too, and it will not wash out.

Air fresheners, furniture polish, aerosol body spays. Wheezers should form an uprising and burn the lot of them, bring your ventolin.

Yes YANBU. I used to have to babysit in a house that had them plugged in everywhere, apparently because my friend thought her house smelled of damp. Horrible, nauseating things. I used to get a bad sick headache until I went round and switched them all off. Ridiculous to add chemicals to the environment like that

YANBU. I am allergic to ALL artificial perfumes and the cheap nasty ones in airfresheners and laundry products are the worst.
I can't walk down the household aisle in a supermarket because the 'perfumes" make me feel ill.

I work in an environment where we often have people who don't wash regularly or are heavy smokers. My colleague sprays air freshener round a lot and the clouds of air freshener make me cough and gag more than the original smell. Plus, it doesn't get rid of the smell, you just have the bad smell and artificial florals mixed together.

Migraine trigger for me. Hate them.

We are all in much more chemically laden environments than, say, in the 90s. More micro plastics, fragrance molecules in the air, air conditioning, sealed cars, houses and offices, more road pollution, fewer childhood long walks in a local ecosystem to calm our allergies, a smaller range of grains and local produce in our diets which would also calm allergies, crazy 27-step skincare regimes, hair conditioners styling sprays serums deodorants...

We need to try and reduce the chemical load where we can - this is why there is no need for air freshener. Burn a pure soy melt or something once a week and open the window in your house.

Yes they're awful! We just got back from a long period abroad and MIL with her spare emergency key has come in and filled my fucking house with air fresheners! ARRGHGHGH!

Dh is obsessed with them. The vile spray ones and the lump of gunk ones. I just chuck them out. I’ve allowed some reed diffusers as a compromise.

I hate, hate, hate them! I had to stop a taxi and get out because I couldn’t breathe due to the overpowering chemicals. I’d much rather deal with BO, dirty clothes, cooking and food smells. Air fresheners, fabric conditioners, perfumes, after shaves, scented candles, incense etc etc are pollutants and can get in the bin!

I feel better now. Thanks for allowing me to vent OP.

This!

Not if they trigger allergies or migraines, they don't

DP recently picked up a plug in while out getting groceries. I was so unwell within hours. He said it's only on medium. My head was banging and I wanted to 🤮. It's been switched off since. I just don't get them. Pointless, nasty things

I only have two diffusers in my house - the Juliette has a gun one and an acqua Parma one.

Devil's work. I get migraines from artificial scents if I have to smell them for more thana couple of minutes.

They also smell like a chemical spill, not a lovely scent. Perfumes have the same effect.

Awful noxious crap. Same for those tacky Yankee candles, scent sticks etc.

I can smell them on me for hours after being somewhere that has them and sometimes have to wash the clothes I was wearing.

God knows what's in them.

I guess next time you can just decline the kind offer?

Yanbu. They're a migraine trigger for me. It feels like they stab me in the brain!

Not if you have asthma, they don't. They have you gasping for air and reaching for your inhaler. They can also trigger migraines. And are very bad for pets. They have some serious toxins in them.