Please Please No More Febreze

I’m one of those people who can’t tolerate products that have heavy or overpowering fragrances, and there are a lot of people out there like me. While many cleaning products have some sort of fragrance, I can tolerate them if the fragrance isn’t heavy and doesn’t assault my nose. I do buy products that have no fragrance – laundry detergent for example – whenever possible.

Many people must either be obsessed with smelling like perfume, or too many people have smelly homes, because it seems as if Febreze is being added to everything. I am waiting for them to start adding Febreze to toothpaste and mouthwash so people can have nice fragrant breath. Don’t laugh, I bet if they could do it, they would. I go a little crazy when I see commercials with someone spraying Febreze all over their house, their car, their closets, etc. If a person has to spray so much Febreze all over everything, this should signal that they have some sort of cleanliness and odor problem that shouldn’t just be covered up.

Before you reach for that Febreze to spray all over your home, think first about what is causing the smell and address that issue only. Have a kid that is a slob? Don’t spray Febreze all over his/her room; make him/her clean it up. Have leftover cooking smells? Open a window – or keep a box of baking soda on your counter (it’s good for cleanups and some boxes are made with open panels to help absorb odors). Does your house smell of pets? Keep them off the furniture and have your upholstered furniture and rugs vacuumed often. If you don’t have a dog, don’t get one – dogs can really stink up a house. (Cats, not so much, as long as the litter box is kept clean). Do you smoke? There isn't enough Febreze to cover the smell of cigarette smoke, period. Don't smoke or don't smoke indoors. I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

Here’s another clue – if you spray Febreze all over your house so someone can’t smell an odor, they will smell the Febreze and know you are just covering up something. Address the source of the odor because it really is obvious when someone sprays something to just cover it up – you’re not fooling anybody.

Before you buy that product with Febreze, think twice about why you feel you need it. If possible, buy products like Method cleaners which are gentle and non-toxic and have natural, light scents – or no scent at all.

So quit covering odors with perfumey chemicals – your nose will eventually thank you for it.











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Death By Fragrance

Like many women, I enjoy shopping. There are a few times, though, when I hate to shop. One example is when I am looking for something very specific and I can’t find it anywhere. Another is when I do find something I like but it is only stocked in size 2 or 4.

But the one thing that brings me to my knees is when I walk into a store and I am immediately assaulted by fragrance. This used to happen frequently in departments stores in the makeup and fragrance department, when sales clerks would spray the latest fragrance over anything that would walk by. Many stores have cut back on doing that to some extent, and now many hand out little cards with the scent du jour on it. Around the holidays, stores have Christmas scents around – like pine, or cinnamon – which are a somewhat more tolerable if they are not sprayed all over the place.

But today I was almost gassed to death when I walked in the local Bed Bath and Beyond store. The entire store was bathed in a heavy, perfumed smell that literally caused me to gasp for air. (We used to cause this kind of scent “eau de maggot gagger” because even a maggot would be repulsed by it.) After walking through the store, coughing and sneezing the entire time, and not finding what I needed, I left. My nostrils are still burning.

I come from a family with lots of allergies – myself included – so anything with a heavy fragrance was not welcome in the house. To this day, I buy unscented products when I can find them. I admit that I may be more sensitive to fragrance than many people. But, I am also not one of those people that wants to ban the wearing of perfume in the office because I understand that some people really do like it and it can be pleasant if done with a light touch. Some people need it, frankly, to cover up the odor of either cigarette smoke, an evening of drinking, or body odor, or any combination thereof.

Do we need to smell flowery perfume shopping in places other than a perfume department? No. In fact, too much fragrance is the one thing that drives me out of a store faster than a fire alarm. So I make my plea to retailers - please ditch the heavy fragrances. Your customers’ respiratory systems will thank you.

PS - Still coughing, 2 hours later.

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