The Nose Knows the Difference Between a Deodorizer and a Neutralizer

Last week I went to my local pharmacy to scope out some new odor eliminating goodies.

I’m in Canada right now. And even though I’m a stones throw from the US border, there’s still a fair selection of products here that they don’t sell in the States. So every few days I go try something new from the smell good aisle.

Anyway I picked up a bottle of this stuff called Fresh Ayre.

From first glance it sounded interesting. According to the directions on the packaging, you put a drop on a lightbulb… turn on the light… and it helps to freshen the air.

I’m all about quick and easy odor elimination, so I dropped it in the shopping cart.

I decided to give this Fresh Ayre a test yesterday. But when I opened the package, the smell of a clean public restroom rudely insulted my olfactory system.

Mind you, I didn’t even open the bottle. I just pulled it out of the paper packaging.

The problem? Fresh Ayre isn’t a neutralizer. In other words, it doesn’t get rid of odors. It’s a deodorizer. Like a can of air freshener, it just sits on top of the odor.

I guess it wouldn’t have been so bad if it was a scent I liked. But clean public restroom smell isn’t something I easily vibe with. So I threw it in the trash.

The moral of the story… read the packaging.

Deodorizers = Bad odor + Artificial smell

Neutralizers = Bad smell gone

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