Febreze Aerosol Thai Orchid > Reviews (8)

‘Leave Behind The Chaos Of Odours’
I am fortunate to live in a house with three bathrooms – well, strictly speaking, cloakrooms. Without being too explicit, there are times when there is a need to disguise less than pleasant smells – we are a household of 3 adults after all! Whenever possible I prefer to do this by opening the appropriate window and letting the fresh air in. This is hard to do in the downstairs cloakroom because of how and where that window opens out, and, as this is the one most likely to be used by guests, I’m quite keen to make sure it always smells pleasant. For the upstairs bathrooms I’m often content to settle for supermarket own brand air fresheners, but I was prepared to pay more for downstairs for that reason.

Why Thai Orchid
I live in a small market town and my main stores are limited to a Tesco’s and a small Sainsbury’s. For breadth of choice I usually shop in Tesco’s, and that’s where I found the Febreze Thai Orchid Air Freshener on sale for about £2, I think. It was just after Christmas and I think I must have felt in the mood for something a bit exotic to brighten the dark days of winter, in the smell department at least! I hadn’t tried it before but thought I’d give it a go. I have grown a few orchids, and one in particular smells gorgeous, so I was intrigued to discover what this one was like.

A Little Enlightenment
Febreze Thai Orchid air freshener comes in a 300ml pressurised canister, lively pink in colour with a pink plastic top and white trigger. It claims that it ‘eliminates odours and freshens’ and is for ‘a moment of pure relaxation and zen’. The idea is that it eliminates odours without masking them, and leaves behind a pleasant scent. Apparently it’s a non-flammable propellant but 5% by mass of the contents are flammable, so care needs to be taken about storage in high temperatures and it shouldn’t be pierced or burnt, even when empty. On the reverse are the usual warnings about solvent abuse dangers, keeping away from children, and what to do if you inadvertently spray it in your eyes. The parent company is Procter Gamble and a helpline number is provided, but no website or email contact address.

A Fragrant Experience But Not Quite As Expected!
The first thing I noticed when using this product was that I seemed to have to pull the trigger mechanism quite hard before I noticed anything happening. A fine mist was dispensed, with a subtle, sweetly floral aroma which I found delightful. However, I soon found that when I pulled the trigger hard I sometimes found the mirror very badly stained where the mist had presumably settled on it. Now it’s a very small room so I can understand that this might happen, but it puzzles me as to why it happens when the spray is pointed in the opposite direction. Then I began to notice that I couldn’t smell much when trying to spray, and was having to pull harder. It got to the point where I was convinced there was something wrong with the hole the spray comes out of, but I can’t see anything wrong.

Today I tried to use it and noticed that my hand was getting wet, so it clearly has a problem somewhere as it was leaking all down my hand! I think I will have to discard it with over 50% left. It’s not safe to tamper with a pressurised container.

It Wasn’t a ‘Breze’ For Me

Now I have considered taking it back, but it seems a bit late after it was purchased. I really don’t think I can be bothered. I think perhaps I was just unfortunate, because I have seen one in use in an office at work and there don’t seem to be any complaints there. I feel it’s been impossible for me to evaluate the actual product adequately because of the faulty container. On that basis, I cannot in all conscience recommend it, although if you were to buy it you would probably find it fine. For that reason, and that alone, I’m going to be tough in scoring and award it two stars. I think it probably is a good product, deserving of a high rating, but I don’t think I will be buying it again because I’ve never had a problem like this with a similar product and there are many others from which to choose. What a pity.