It’s true that a synthetic air freshener can make your car smell fabulous. However, that nice-smelling product comes with a reeking secret: it can have all sorts of detrimental effects on your health, courtesy of the questionable chemicals in it.
So what’s a car owner like you need to do to keep the automobile from stinking? Go for some all-natural ways to have your car deodorized! Unlike a synthetic air freshener, it not just masks any nasty smells, but actually gets rid of them. Other than being effective and safe, it’s also something that’s easy on the pocket.
Before we take a look at some awesome ways to keep your car smelling good naturally, let us first focus on the things that make synthetic air fresheners stink.
Do you often suffer from nausea and terrible headaches while driving? Don’t put the blame on traffic jams and bad drivers right away. For all you know, the nasty symptoms you are having could be due to your favorite synthetic air freshener hanging from your rearview window or sitting on your dashboard. It fills the air with chemicals that mask any unfavorable odors — chemicals that can be bad for your health, according to experts.
You may have heard before that synthetic home air fresheners are not good for you. Well, it’s for the same reason why synthetic air fresheners for cars are bad for you, too — these products basically rely on the same set of chemicals to impress you with their air-freshening abilities. The truth is many of these chemicals found in synthetic air fresheners can wreak havoc to your health, such as:
- Phthalates. Commonly found in other products like paints and pesticides, these chemicals are known to cause hormonal imbalance and reproductive issues.
- Acetone. Studies say that acetone is a toxin to your brain, nerves, lungs, heart, kidneys, liver and others. In short, acetone can cause organ damage.
- Butane. Yes, lighter fluid is present in synthetic air fresheners, and it’s something that is known to cause serious damage to your brain and the rest of the nervous system.
- Formaldehyde. Surprising as it may sound, this embalming chemical is added to synthetic air fresheners. By the way, experts say that it can put you at risk of upper airway cancers.
- Liquefied petroleum gas. Other than being a fire hazard, liquefied petroleum gas may have all sorts of bad effects on your health, say studies.
- Perfume. This chemical may make your car smell heavenly, but it packs hundreds of manmade chemicals that can actually put your health in a hellish situation.
These chemicals and so many others make synthetic air fresheners for cars dangerous! Luckily, you don’t have to put your health and that of your loved ones at risk in your attempt to make your automobile smell nice. That’s because you can choose from many different ways to deodorize your car naturally. Try the following:
- An opened box of baking soda. Baking soda always gets two thumbs up from home and car owners when it comes to eliminating bad odors.
- Charcoal briquettes. Just like baking soda, charcoal briquettes are very good at absorbing foul odors, thus making your car smell fresh.
- A bowl of distilled vinegar. At night, place a bowl of distilled vinegar in your car and close all of the windows. The following day, take it out and open all the windows.
- Sliced lemons. Do you love your car to smell citrusy? A quick and all-natural way to achieve that is by placing a couple of lemon slices in your car.
- Orange rind. Another simple way to give your automobile a citrusy scent is by placing some orange rinds in strategic places.
- Vanilla extract. Grab a cotton ball and place a couple of drops of vanilla extracts on it. Stash the cotton ball in your car to fill the interiors with the lovely smell of vanilla.
- Peppermint essential oil. Other than vanilla extract, you may opt for peppermint essential oil. Also works great in driving away motion sickness!
- Potpourri. You may put some potpourri in an old sock or stocking. What’s so nice about this all-natural car deodorizer is it lets you come up with your custom scent.
