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The problem is particularly important because we often do not feel the smell of our house ourselves. Only guests can make us aware of the scale of the problem. Why is this happening?
It is a result of adaptation of our senses to the action of stimuli of constant strength – and this is most often the case with smells in our home. In the course of evolution an adaptive mechanism has been developed. This evolutionary invention made it possible to sense and interpret very strong fragrances while remaining sensitive to small changes in intensity. This quick reaction to a change of intensity determined the possibility of getting food, running away from danger or finding a partner. It had to be independent of the intensity of the sensations of constant intensity. In everyday life we encounter such situations very often.
Did you happen to take a cab where the intensity of the air fresheners used there caused a sudden headache (over the pain threshold)? – I assure you that the driver did not feel it at all. After entering such a car you were not able to smell any other smell, but the driver calmly recorded all the smells of used perfume or smelling an apple before eating it. This is how the adaptation mechanism works. It causes us not to smell any other smells of a constant intensity in order to be able to continue to register other appearing smells.
The time to fully adapt to different odor ranges from several seconds to several minutes. So if we do nothing, our guests will get used to our scents after just a dozen or so minutes (but the impression will stay for a long time)!
If we don’t smell bad smells in our own house, how to get rid of them?
Removing unpleasant smells at home
Since we are already aware of and know how the mechanism of adaptation to fixed odors works, we have to look for sources of unpleasant odors. In general, we can distinguish between two types of sources of unpleasant odors:
- Unpleasant odors reaching our house from outside, these are usually odors whose origin is difficult or impossible to remove:Any odors produced by neighbors
- Traffic related odors
- Industry and its nuisance fumes
- Unpleasant smells arising in house
- Shoes
- Pets
- Food: cooking and waste
- Body odors
- Toilet as a separate topic
- Musty, damp
In my opinion, only a solution that continuously neutralizes the above mentioned odors can be effective in fighting such a defined problem.
From the neutralizers available on the market we should choose those with continuous action. Of course, all kinds of sprays give an immediate effect and should be used as a support.
- Gels – effective and cheap solution, especially recommended for toilets
- Membranes – here the range of forms and solutions is quite large, however due to the way the odor is released and the need to pass through the membrane, specially modified fragrance compositions, mainly synthetic, are used in Membranes
- Electric Air Fresheners – I am strongly opposed to such solutions. The so-called hot evaporation causes changes in the structure of fragrance compositions and essential oils used there. I personally do not recommend
- Automatic Sprays – a very interesting solution, especially if you can find one where no pressure can is used but a regular pump spray – it will certainly be an effective and ecological solution
- Reed Diffusers / Sola Flowers – in my opinion, definitely the best solution combining aesthetics with functionality. A very wide market offer will allow you to find the right solution. Be careful only to use those that contain natural essential oils.
During our talks, the subject of neutralizing unpleasant odors at home appears very often and more and more often we meet people looking for a natural and healthy solution.
Despite having natural Sola Flowers in our offer, we decided, together with herbal medicine specialists, to create a new series of natural home odor neutralizers on a herbal basis (Relaxeen brand) to combine the beneficial effects of herbs with effective action. This is the subject we are currently working on. If you have any suggestions or proposals in this area, feel free to contact me, maybe together we will create a new interesting solution.
Author: Waldemar Stasiak – ELiX Founder
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