5 Best Air Fresheners (2023 Guide)

In This Guide: Top 5 | Buyer’s Guide | Other Ways To Make Your Home Smell Nice | FAQs | Why Trust This Old House

Air fresheners come in various scents to complement your car or home’s unique mood. High-quality fresheners are long-lasting and pleasant without being overpowering or invasive.

To help you sort through your options, our team researched the best air fresheners available today. Here are our top five recommendations.

Top 5 Air Fresheners

• Best Plug-In: Air Wick Plug-In Scented Oil
• Best for Bathrooms: Poo-Pourri Before-You-Go Toilet Spray
• Best for Linens: Caldrea Linen and Room Spray Air Freshener
• Best for Cars: Febreze Car Air Fresheners
• Best Gel: Fresh Wave Odor-Removing Gel

Best Plug-In Air Freshener

Pros and Cons

✔ Comes in a pack of seven
✔ Available in a range of scents
✔ Pairs with Air Wick’s oil warmers, which feature five fragrance control levels

✘ Sold separately from Air Wick oil warmers
✘ Large rooms may require multiple plug-ins

What Customers Are Saying

According to our verified buyer research, customers said that these oil bottles came well-packaged. In seconds, they were able to plug one into their Air Wick oil warmer and adjust the scent to their liking. However, some customers felt like the bottles had an overpowering smell that didn’t last for as long as advertised.

Best for Bathrooms

Pros and Cons

✔ Comes in several natural scents and bottle sizes
✔ Features essential oils and other natural compounds
✔ Each bottle is rated for 100 uses

✘ 2-ounce bottle is small
✘ May require multiple sprays to mask strong smells

What Customers Are Saying

According to our Amazon reviewer-focused research, buyers felt like this spray did its job. They said it left a fresh scent, was long-lasting, and masked common bathroom odors. However, we also encountered a couple of unhappy customers who had issues with the nozzle, which sometimes leaked or failed to release spray.

Best for Linens

Pros and Cons

✔ Comes in an elegant spray bottle
✔ Safe for use on upholstery safe
✔ Has a fresh pear blossom agave scent

✘ May increase the flammability of fabrics like fleece
✘ Some found the scent overpowering scent

What Customers Are Saying

Our team found that customers were pleased that this air freshener required a minimal amount to be effective, came in an elegant-looking bottle, and didn’t leave streaks on their clothes. However, some customers didn’t like how long the scent lingered. Others said that the spray arrived watery and thin.

Best Air Freshener for Cars

Pros and Cons

✔ Comes in a variety of scents
✔ Can select how much scent is released
✔ Has a compact, inconspicuous design

✘ Doesn’t last as long on the highest setting
✘ Fragrance output and strength may vary

What Customers Are Saying

As per our research, many customers commented that these air freshener containers were easy to clip to vents and worked well as an odor eliminator. Negative reviews said the air freshener drained quickly from the containers, leaving customers with less than 30 days of odor protection.

Best Air Freshening Gel

Pros and Cons

✔ Comes in a large 15-ounce container
✔ Doesn’t contain harsh chemicals or synthetic perfumes
✔ Has a neutral, fresh scent

✘ Has a strong plant smell that some individuals may dislike
✘ Doesn’t come in a particularly decorative container

What Customers Are Saying

Customers said that this gel effectively absorbed a variety of odors, including pet odors and cigarette smoke. However, we also learned that some customers didn’t like the plant-based fragrance it left behind. Others said that it didn’t last for 60 days.

Buying Guide to Air Fresheners

Longevity, fragrance, and other factors vary from air freshener to air freshener. To choose the right product for your home, consider the following elements first.

Type

Most air fresheners come in a liquid form that you either spray from a bottle or plug into an outlet. Other types of air fresheners and air purifiers include gel air fresheners that sit in a container on your counter, desk, or table. Natural air fresheners made from bamboo charcoal or other natural ingredients are another popular option, They avoid using harmful ingredients such as parabens, phthalates, or formaldehyde. You can also find car-specific air fresheners that hang from your rearview mirror or as an air vent clip.

Fragrance

Air fresheners come in a huge range of fragrances. Most air freshener scents fall into one of the following categories:

• Citrus
• Floral
• Fresh
• Fruity
• Spiced
• Woodsy

Coverage Area

Some air fresheners are powerful enough to serve as entire apartment or room fresheners, while others are designed for small spaces, such as cars, bathrooms, or offices. To avoid having to use multiple fresheners in one room, look closely at the product descriptions to find a freshener that has enough coverage for your space.

Longevity

The longevity of an air freshener refers to how long it fills your room with its scent. Most spray fresheners are designed to give instant relief from unpleasant odors, so they don’t last longer than a few minutes or hours. However, car, plug-in, and gel fresheners can release their scent for a few weeks or months.

Brand

Some of the most trusted brands that make air fresheners include:

• Airwick
• Caldrea
• Febreze
• Fresh Wave
• Glade
• Mrs. Meyer’s
• Ozuit
• Renuzit

Other Ways To Make Your Home Smell Pleasant

Using a spritz of air freshener is an easy way to mask or eliminate bad odors in your house and give it a pleasant scent, but it’s far from the only step you can take. Here are some other tips to make your home smell how you want it to.

Don’t Let Trash Linger

Take out the trash as soon as the bag is full so that the smell of old or spoiled food doesn’t linger and make your kitchen smelly. If your bag contains rotten produce, spoiled dairy, or raw meat, it’s best to throw it away immediately instead of waiting for it to fill up.

Use Candles

Candles help you relax and unwind, but they also release fragrance. Candles come in thousands of aromas, so you can purchase several and burn the one you’re in the mood for.

Disperse Dryer Sheets

You can use dryer sheets in more than just your dryer. Distributing them throughout drawers, cabinets, and closets can give you that fresh smell of clean laundry everywhere in your home.

Leave Out Baking Soda

Baking soda is a common household ingredient that absorbs smells. If you don’t want to buy anything extra from the store, you can place an opened box of baking soda in your fridge, pantry, or bathroom.

Clean Carpets

Carpets can be a haven for bad smells if you aren’t diligent about cleaning them. Hair, dander, sweat, dirt, dust, and more can seep into your carpet, making your home smell foul.

Open Windows

Keeping the windows open when the weather is nice can air out a space. This is particularly useful for musty or stuffy rooms.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my air freshener safe to use around my pets?

It depends on what the air freshener is made with. Fresheners with artificial fragrances and harsh chemicals can cause allergy-like symptoms for both humans and pets. If you own pets, choose an air freshener that uses natural ingredients and specifies it’s pet-safe on its label.

Where should I use an air freshener?

You can use an air freshener wherever there’s a smell that you’re trying to mask or eliminate. Your best bet is to use one near the source of the smell. For example, you can spray or plug in an air freshener near a dirty laundry basket or a kitchen trash can.

When should I replace my air freshener?

Gel, car, and plug-in air fresheners release scent for a certain amount of time. The manufacturer usually tells you what this time frame is. You can replace your freshener around then—or sooner if you don’t smell it anymore.

How We Selected the Best Air Fresheners

To provide our readers with the best recommendations possible, we rely on several key sources of information to help guide our selection process.

Initial Research: Our research process began by generating a list of fresheners with a significant number of verified buyer reviews and an average customer review rating of 4–5 stars. We looked at positive and negative reviews alike, focusing on information from both satisfied and critical buyers. 

Expert Insights: Through our years of experience, we’ve learned that listening to what others have to say is key to building accurate, well-rounded articles. To complement our in-house expertise, our team looked at reviews and videos from trusted publications and independent testers, spoke with subject matter experts, and drew insights from reader contributions.

Final Product Selection: We then began fine-tuning our list by replacing older models with the latest versions and eliminating any discontinued models. From there, we pared the list down further by comparing each model’s feature set and selecting the best-in-class options for various buyers, budgets, and scenarios.

Why You Can Trust Us

This Old House has empowered homeowners and DIY-ers for more than four decades with top-notch home improvement advice in the form of television programs, print media, and digital content. 

Our team focuses on creating in-depth product and service review content. To date, we’ve published over 1,600 reviews on products in the home space, from doorbell cameras and backyard fencing to pool vacuums and snow blowers.

Once we conclude our research, we craft a comprehensive, user-friendly article of recommended products and additional information to help our readers make the right purchase.

Questions or Comments?

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