to really like plug ins?

[RosieWithTheGoodCreditHistory]

Bought a 'sleep inducing' milk and honey one for the bedroom and a 'clean sheets' (or similar BS name) yesterday and my house smells bloody lovely!

I know they are vilified on here but please explain why?

Don't know why they are vilified but whatever is in them (and car air fresheners) give me asthmatic type symptoms so I can't breath - don't like to think of the chemical cocktail that must be being released to do that!

I think the general consensus is that real nice smells might be better than chemical ones?

I am another one who gets nausea and headaches from them so for me they are a total no-no, and I do have to turn them off if I go somewhere that has them...

I use Method cleaning products so there is always a lovely fresh smell in our house - something like that would be nicer than an artificial one perhaps?

I do completely get the nausea and headache thing because I can only have them on low but I also work 13 hour days so to have the house smelling of cleaning products, freshly baked bread etc. isn't really an option

Should I start turning them off before visitors so they're not migraine inducing?

My house is generally clean and tidy so it's not that I want to cover up smells, it's just nice to have a smell, if that makes sense.

There's a reed diffuser in Zara home that I've wanted FOREVER but the £15 price tag has always put me off. Just realised I've spent that much on bloody plug ins in the last month!

Also I do really like the 'cotton fresh' smell, it's like walking into a room with washing hanging but a damn sight less untidy looking

So long as you have asked everyone else who lives in the house before plugging them in, and you are happy to pump all those chemicals into everyone's lungs, fair enough.
Personally, I can't abide them.

There's been a few bits in the papers about them causing breast cancer - ignoring the daily fail because it thinks everything gives you cancer, this sort of thing:

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/breast-cancer-link-to-cleaning-products-and-air-fresheners-2030342.html

I don't like them myself but would use with caution rather than have loads or permanent plug-ins if I did.

I have some jo Malone reed diffusers which are lovely - v subtle :)

They are a large cause of house fires.

Was told that by a fire inspector

Ifailed it's only my own lungs at stake here

They're too strong - give me headaches and nausea too. I can cope with reed diffusers, you just get a little waft as you walk by those, but I can't cope with a whole house full of fragrance.

I'm starting to wonder now, when you go into my friends house the hall reeks of fabric conditioner (they dry clothes on a radiator there) but its so strong, maybe its a plugin. I find it really unpleasant.

Hmm scared I don't ft hunk they article (or the study) is particularly persuasive

The researchers admitted the study was imperfect because they asked cancer sufferers to remember whether they had used cleaning products and the strongest correlation was found among those who believed chemicals contributed to the disease.

'We asked 300 women with breast cancer if they'd ever used cleaning products. 289 had'; doesn't strike me as being scientifically sound.

Think the article* Jesus

Nobody hardly ever comes round here so as long as it's my own lungs/potentially breasts I'm risking I've decided that IANBU

And if a guest asked me to turn them off I would happily do so

I say enjoy your home however you like!

Rosie I like them too, especially at this time of year when the Autumn/Winter/Christmas scents start appearing in the shops!

They give me pounding headaches.

Colleagues husband is a firefighter and won't have them in the house. That's good enough for me.

I like them too, but I only have them on low and only for a couple of hours at a time. I put them on if I fancy a sweet smell in the house - at the moment I have a yankee red raspberry one. I don't leave it on all the time though as it'd be a bit much.

I think because they smell 'nice' (not in my opinion though!) people assume they're ok. If the smell was shit then the emphasis would be less on the smell and more on what is in them and what's being pumped around your house for who knows how long. I know if they smelled shit you wouldn't use them but - oh I know what I mean! Traffic fumes, for example, smell shit and everyone knows exactly what is in them that's doing you harm. Plug ins - well, it's kind of swept under the carpet isn't it?
There was a thread on here recently about Halfords being full of fumes and nobody thought it unreasonable to leave the store for that reason. Well - chemical fumes are chemical fumes - just because they smell agreeable doesn't mean they're not chemical fumes.

I am not a fan of artificial scents in the house TBH. I always wonder what they are masking.

BUT I have my eye on a Molton Brown Reed Diffuser that costs £39 because it smelt amazing. Can't justify it though.

I hate them, they stink. all these smelly chemicals are made from petrochemical derivatives, just polluting the air really. As are most perfumes which I hate too. If I want some fragrance I bring in some flowers or a bunch or rosemary. Lemon or orange peel placed on a warm windowsill or a radiator in the winter gives off a lovely smell, You can boil some orange or lemon peel in a small pan few a few minutes for an instant hit. I buy dried lavender and keep it in the airing cupboard. I use rosewater, as a body perfume. My gran did all these things, She would keep and dry orange peel to keep as air freshners.If the kitchen is smell after cooking fish I throw some fresh thyme and star anise in a pan and simmer for a few minutes.
At christmas time I use cinnamon sticks tied with ribbon as decorations, also satsumas studded with cloves, also a real tree, so the whole house smells festive.

I find them a bit overpowering and they make me feel a bit sick but as long as you're not planning on sneaking in and putting them in my house I say do whatever you like :)

There is no difference between plug in and reed diffusers, both are made from petrochemicals.

The only difference is that reed diffusers let the fragrance out far more slowly.

What about plug-ins and scented candles (the expensive ones)? Surely the latter are different? ()