Febreze was launched in 1998 as a way to control odours, and was a new way of dealing with them, as air fresheners simply masked scents with perfume. So is this a good way to go about dealing with less-than-appealing smells within the home?
Let’s take a look…
Background
How cyclodextrin captures odour in Febreze. (click for video)
A molecule of cyclodextrin
Febreze uses cyclodextrins to contain odours. These are essentially cyclic sugar molecules that look somewhat like donuts. They have some special properties too;  the outside of the ring is hydrophilic (meaning it loves water) and that makes it soluble in water. However, the inside is lipophilic (fat loving, the opposite of water loving in terms of solubility) and that means it attracts molecules that won’t dissolve in water.
Cyclodextrins are very widely used to:
- Remove cholesterol form food
- Chelate (trap) environmental toxins
- Chelate fat in diet products
- Control the release of fragrance (dryer sheets, furniture spraying)
- Used for controlled drug release
Plus more. These are very widely used, stable compounds.
The Skinny on Febreze
For a short term cover up, this is actually fine. For example, if you’re showing your house tomorrow, you might want a quick spray over questionable areas. Other than that, it’s probably best to stay away. Here’s why.
The trapping effect of the cyclodextrins only lasts so long. Sooner or later the bond breaks down (sun, heat, or another energy source) and the offending molecule is released. It was only bound up for a while. And the releasing process usually breaks the cyclodextrin down, so it can’t trap another molecule.
Also, that pleasant smell from Febreze will run out. Sooner or later all the fragrance will be used up, and then whatever you were trying to mask will reappear.  So you have to keep applying it for it to keep working. This is perfect for Proctor and Gamble, but less than ideal for consumers, because there are chemicals in the mix as well. Cyclodextrins on their own are OK, but I think most would agree that willfully adding to you chemical exposure week in and week out is not a wise idea.
So What Can You Do?
First, keep your humidity down. Maybe not nose bleed dry, but below 50% relative humidity. If you have a point source of odour, clean it, repair it, or do whatever you must to get rid of it.
Also, get an air purifier. These break down chemicals in a safe manner, and make your home smell better to boot.
It may be a little more elbow grease than the odd Febreze spraying, but so much more worth it.
Many thanks to the cyclodextrin definition on Wikipedia for the image, and to Science in the Box for the cyclodextrin video.
