Please stop Febreezing everything

[Helenahandkart]

Every time I buy something from eBay it stinks. The item itself stinks. The packaging stinks.
If it stank of dog hair or mould or something natural then I could clean it, but no, everything stinks of Febreeze or Zoflora or one of those awful odour remover sprays.
It makes me feel sick, and it’s impossible to get rid of. If I can’t put it in the washing machine I have to put the offending item in the garage for months and hope that the smell will eventually dissipate. I bought some secondhand boots today and now the whole house smells of Febreeze, despite me immediately taking all the packaging out to the bin and putting the boots in the garage.
Please stop covering everything with revolting chemicals. It’s so unnecessary.

Squirting Febreeze over something that smells of wet dog is doing nothing to remove the smell, it just covers it with another, arguably worse, smell

It’s all a matter of opinion.
‘Natural’ smells : damp, mould, dog, cat, urine cannot be shifted with charcoal.
I actually like the smell of febreeze and zoflora and would prefer that to any of the above.

@TinselTitsAndGlitteryBits No. Some people do have a real physiological reaction to synthetic smells or even natural smells. I get proper headaches, migraines and nausea from many artificial smells. My sister is so sensitive to smells she can smell illness sometimes before someone feels it. She says it's sometimes a curse. There was a study a few years ago looking at super sellers because of this ability to smell disease.

@NinaDefoe
That’s what I thought too. But honestly the charcoal is a miracle. It was a bit of a faff making all the sachets but it works. My lovely boots are testament to the fact that it works. They smell like new leather again and they were thick with mould and stank so strongly that they were unwearable.

Maybe it's to disguise the 'I'm on my period' smell of freshness-system, artificially and distinctively odoured, santitaryntiweks?

A sort of battle of the smelly chemicals?

Someone suggested vinegar and bicarbonate of soda to me once. I tried it and the whole place smelt of vinegar. It was horrible.

It’s all a matter of opinion.
‘Natural’ smells : damp, mould, dog, cat, urine cannot be shifted with charcoal.

Yes they can. I’ve done it with multiple items. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact.

You enjoying the smell of Febreeze is fine. That’s your business. But you absolutely can remove natural unpleasant smells without resorting to covering them with Febreeze.

@SarahAndQuack you are right. And old teacher of mine used to say our bonding as human being is likely negatively affected by our inability to fully experience pheromones due to synthetic smells. I don't know if he was right but noted for example what people think mango, Shea butter, cocoa butter, peach, coconut etc is nothing like what they smell in nature. Even lemon!

@NinaDefoe
I guess it all depends on how much you like the smell of vinegar. Some people might prefer it to Febreeze

[quote Helenahandkart]@NinaDefoe
I guess it all depends on how much you like the smell of vinegar. Some people might prefer it to Febreeze [/quote]
True! And some might prefer febreeze to vinegar!

I think I've discovered why Febreze is more prevelant. They actually put it in the Ariel pods now:

www.ariel.co.uk/en-gb/shop/type/pods/ariel-all-in-1-pods-febreze

I hate having a sensitive sense of smell. When I had covid and my sense of smell dimished for a few days it was honestly bliss.

I’ve begged my MIL not to wash the kids’ clothes because she douses them in Lenor plus fuck knows what else. She uses “feminine odour products”, so she’s probably all over the zoflora.

The kids come in through the back door, strip and it goes straight in the machine. Vile.

Totally agree with the OP. A few years ago I stayed in a B&B where the owner had apparently doused the mattress in some vile stinky chemical—think industrial strength febreze. I barely slept a wink and felt really I’ll by morning. Dread to think what happened in the bed that she felt it necessary to do that, as well. 🤢

I used to love Ecover laundry products as they were unscented but now they all stink apart from the ‘zero’ range, which most supermarkets do not sell.

Ill not I’ll

By the way these artificial fragrances don’t only cause headaches and nausea—they can have serious effects on health. Some ingredients are known carcinogens. thebergerbungalow.com/what-is-artificial-fragrance/

@NinaDefoe

Someone suggested vinegar and bicarbonate of soda to me once. I tried it and the whole place smelt of vinegar. It was horrible.

Yeah it's vile 🤢

@DrNo007 Waitrose sell it as do Sainbury's sometimes, or you should be able to order direct from them. We also sometimes manage to find the washing powder they do which I really like.

I don't know why they felt the need to change the other scents though, which were quite nice before. I guess as they were taken over by Unilever...

Someone suggested vinegar and bicarbonate of soda to me once. I tried it and the whole place smelt of vinegar. It was horrible.

Yep, I tried a vinegar spray and the house smelt like an old chippy. Rank. The Febreze soon sorted that problem out.

The idea of buying and wearing shoes that smell like someone else’s feet though 🤢 how can anyone possibly say that’s preferable to Febreeze?

I’ve begged my MIL not to wash the kids’ clothes because she douses them in Lenor plus fuck knows what else. She uses “feminine odour products”, so she’s probably all over the zoflora

The kids come in through the back door, strip and it goes straight in the machine. Vile

Oh, no dramatics here. No siree.

Just had a dress delivered today from eBay. First piece of clothing I've bought from there for years. It doesn't smell of anything.

I think I've discovered why Febreze is more prevelant. They actually put it in the Ariel pods now

That was when I stopped using Ariel. It's just really hard to avoid the strong fragrances though, the best, imo, is Fairy Non-Bio.

@ItsCanardBruv

I’ve begged my MIL not to wash the kids’ clothes because she douses them in Lenor plus fuck knows what else. She uses “feminine odour products”, so she’s probably all over the zoflora.

The kids come in through the back door, strip and it goes straight in the machine. Vile.

Not an over reaction at all

@ParalysisByAnalysis :) Get a grip springs to mind.

‘I like the smell of Febreeze, therefore it’s ok for everyone buying secondhand clothes to have the smell of Febreeze forced onto them’

‘I like strong chemical fragrances, therefore anyone who doesn’t is a drama queen’

‘I buy things on eBay that don’t smell, therefore smelly clothes are not a problem’

As ever, the concept of differentiation is completely absent on Mumsnet.