Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with freshener

Unconventional air fresheners

cazoo — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:16:33 -0800

Coffee beans as an air freshener? I read somewhere on the net that coffee beans are good to leave around the house as their scent helps to clean the nasal palate and eliminate other odors.

What other natural ingredients may be used in this same way? Conventional air fresheners like candles, flowers, and sprays make me physically ill for some odd reason.

Alternative Air Freshener for My Car?

mrgoldenbrown — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:40:45 -0800

I am soliciting crazy ideas for alternative car fresheners that smell good but not of chemicals. I have a hatchback, so there is no separation between people in the car and the trunk, where I often put smelly hiking boots and/or climbing shoes and/or sometimes sleep. I have been told by a friend that my car smells and that I should fix this problem before offering to drive a potential girlfriend anywhere.

The standard pine tree type thing hanging from the rearview mirror smells too chemically for me. Short of planting a pine tree in my back seat, is there any way i can get a natural, nice smell into my car? I would love my car to smell like a pine forest, fresh baked cookies, an italian restaurant, or a campfire. googling for "car sized fireplace" has not gotten me far.

So I'm contemplating (and soliciting) crazy ideas. Is it practical to grow basil or mint in my car? Should I just try burning incense in there once in a while? if so, has anyone found a brand of pine incense that actually smells like pine? would putting a box of baking soda in there absorb odors?

PS: I am also investigating ways to keep my shoes/boots from getting so smelly in the first place. But in general, I shower at least once a day and am not rank myself, when not on the way home from some sweaty activity.

Gold Power - the search for the Golden Fist Air Freshener

suitcase — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 09:04:40 -0800

Some dollar stores in Chicago used to sell these golden fist shaped air fresheners which were meant to be mounted on the dashboard. They put out a powery fresh scent were dead serious cool. The fist was clenched in the "power" position, made of gold colored plastic, and each finger had a gem ring. Can someome PLEASE help me locate this item, or at the very least, a picture of it?

Stinky Sickly Air "Freshener" Situation

Fat Guy — Sun, 21 May 2006 08:33:16 -0800

I believe that another tenant has place an air "freshener" in the hallway out side of our apartments in violation of their lease. I want it removed. What should I do? I guess this is the inverse of this post.

Recently, new neighbors moved in across the hall from me. A couple and a baby. Soon afterward, I noticed a Glade Wisp Air Freshener on the landing of the stairway immediately outside our apartment doors. I can't say the other tenant placed the device there, because I don't know that for a fact, but it is certainly likely. Maybe the landlord placed it, but I think they would have said something to me if they did.

The hallway now smells like a men's room, and I don't have the world's greatest sense of smell. Aside from the foul odor from this device, it is designed to emit a aerosol of "combustible" material "every 9 to 36 seconds". According to the product packaging, the aerosol is "hazardous to humans and household pets." I am concerned for myself, and my two cats. I am also concerned about the build-up of combustible gas at the top of the stairwell.

Full disclose: I smoke cigarettes, but not "every 9 to 36 seconds". Though not prohibited by lease, I have never smoked or carried lit tobacco products in the common hallway. I'd like to avoid restricting a legal activity that is not prohibited by my lease, but I'd being willing to compromise as long as the device is removed from the hallway permanently.

I believe the device is in violation of terms in the other tenant's (mine too) lease which prohibits items that "could damage the leased premises or harm tenants or others" and forbids "hazardous material from being stored in or around the leased premises". I want the device removed immediately. I'm ready to fire off a certified letter to landlord asking for that, but I figured I would google "smoking bothering apartment neighbors", and post a question here.

I haven't met these people, and I don't really care to meet them. I'm really mad that they would move in here and almost immediately do something to bother another tenant, they are obviously inconsiderate people. They must have toured our complex and looked at empty units before they moved in, if the hallway smelled like smoke then, they should have rented another unit.

Have any renters (smokers especially) been in a similar situation? From what I've seen online, the problem and resolution is typically told from the non-smokers perspective. While I welcome that here, POV from smokers might be more helpful in this particular situation. I've already checked out Tenants Rights.net. I don't really want to become the test case for smoking and tenants legislation, I just want to be able to walk up the stairs to my apartment with walking through a aerosol of foul-smelling hazardous material generated by a device placed there.