To be clear: I hate air fresheners - bouquet-scented Glade sprays and the like. Yuck. I am not one of those “chemically sensitive” folks, but those artificial, sweet smells really grate on me.
But I have to acknowledge: my car is beginning to smell like Bikram Yoga. Not good.
So if I want a masking scent:
What type of scent works best that is NOT a sweet, cloying scent? Do I really want “New Car Smell”?? Is there, I dunno, a mint car freshener or something?
What brands of freshener have you found that work? Just one of those goofy scented trees you can buy in the gas stations?
Is there a different approach I should try? I haven’t gotten my car detailed in a while - can doing that deal with a bad-smelling car?
Okay - cool. So do I just buy some Arm n’ Hammer and leave it in the car, or is there a product that includes that type of ingredient anyone can recommend?
I’ve had success with just a pan of baking soda left in the vehicle; however, Arm & Hammer makes all kinds of odor-absorbing devices now. The one they make for fridge deodorizing might be worth a try (I like the little suction cup on the back).
Febreze in a closed car equals a choking smell when you open the car every time to go somewhere. The original smell is still there with the Febreze. It doesn’t mean it won’t smell better to you, just don’t believe the ad hype that the smell goes away.
I don’t know if you consider this a sweet, cloying scent, but every 3rd or 4th visit to the car wash I buy one of those trees in Vanilla. If I hang it from the mirror it’s overpowering, so I keep it in my console between the seats, with the lid on. It allows just a mild, pleasant scent to waft out every now & then.
It’s one of the few car scents that doesn’t make me sneeze.
Yeah, I was kinda thinking that if I can’t find an effective unscented approach like Febreze, then I probably go with vanilla before any of the other normally-available scents…
With Febreze - isn’t that a spray? So you spray an affected area? But how does that work in a room or car interior, where it’s just stinky because of scents trapped in the overall space? Do you spray every surface, or does just spraying the air, like an air freshener, work?
You spray all the fabric and in my opinion it doesn’t work any better than an air freshener. With an air freshner you do have the option of removing it if you can’t stand the smell. With Febreze your stuck with the smell for a long time if you can’t stand it.
I have an Aura Cacia plug-in car freshener that I really like. It plugs into your cigarette lighter and has a little pad in it that you can put essential oils on (like vanilla, lavender, etc.). I like to put grapefruit eo on it…very light, citrus scent. It’s not overwhelming, just a very subtle freshener.
