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

[tomorrowisanotherdate]

scent boosters, to go in laundry, air fresheners that squirt puffs of pollutants at you - the tv is full of adverts for these things, so presumably someone is buying them. I just don't get it though. Loading your family's home atmosphere with a load of unnecessary and unpleasant air pollutants, and paying for the privilege? Why?

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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)

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In what way is lavender oil not also a chemical?

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

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

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 !!

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.

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.

Gosh you sound so 🥱 😴

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