When you take a look at your life have you noticed that you don’t receive so many visitors to your home as you used to? Maybe you don’t get so many invitations to go out anymore but you don’t know why? Perhaps you could be #noseblind.
Two weeks ago I travelled to Paris with Febreze and fellow bloggers; Karin, Kate, Alice and Christine to find out more about this silent but widespread condition. On arrival at a quaint French cafe in . . . . we met with British Olfactory Experience designer Kate McLean who explained to us how living in our home and work environments day after day our olfactory system stops responding (odour adaptation) and then our brain stops paying attention (odour habituation) and the result is we stop smelling the odours around us. This is a condition known as noseblindness.
Noseblind Stats
- 9 out of 10 people want to know if their home smells but only 64% would ever tell
- 38% of people said they avoid visiting friends and family with smelly homes
Top 3 Offensive Odours
- Rubbish bins
- Cigarette smoke
- Pets
(Results based on a 2014 global survey of over 3,600 people, conducted by Atomik Research)
Whilst in Paris, Kate took us on a smell walk where we were encouraged to put our noses to the test and see what we could smell, whether we liked the smells or not, whether they offered the smell we expected and whether those smells evoked memories. When I tuned into my senses I was surprised by how much I could smell that I would otherwise have probably just ‘ignored’. Kate also encouraged us to smell things we would perhaps ordinarily avoid, like waste bins. Our eyes and experience tell us that we wont like it but as we discovered, the waste bins actually smelt of paper and discarded fruit (thankfully we didn’t select the waste bin with dog faeces).
Of course we visited Paris in February when it is extremely cold and so odours don’t linger. Odours become more potent with warmth and moisture so in Summertime I am sure Paris would smell very different. This also explains odours around the home; sweaty trainers, cooking smells, pet beds – they all have warmth and moisture.
Back in the warmth of a beautiful French town-house we watched the fun advert which has been created by the Febreze team to further explain the #noseblind condition and then it was time to head into the kitchen for a few experiments to show just how Febreze really works.
The Science Bit
We were introduced to Pieter Hommez, the Research and Development scientist for Febreze who explained how the Malodour Elimination Technology (MOE) works;
The technology uses cyclodextrin, odour converters; buffer and duo-PSB technology to eliminate odours. The cyclodextrin captures and locks odours while odour converters and neutralising agents permanently remove odours from the air by changing the structure or pH of malodour chemicals. The du0-PSB technology also acts to trap odours and emits a time-released perfume for long-lasting freshness.
That’s why you can be sure that Febreze truly eliminates odours instead of merely masking them with scents.
Pieter had a few ‘smelly’ jars on hand, one contained a cloth soaked in ‘body odour from sweaty feet’ and let me tell you, it was disgusting!!! He also had a far with cigarette butts and a cloth soaked with the juices from a tin of tuna. Each jar or cloth was passed around for everyone to smell before Pieter set the Febreze to work. He began with the cloth of sweaty feet and sprayed it with Febreze, he then waved it around in the air for a couple of minutes before passing it around for everyone to smell. The ‘sweaty feet’ smell was completely gone and had been replaced by a pleasant fresh Febreze scent. Inside the jar of cigarette butts had been placed a Febreze car freshner, again the unpleasant odour was untraceable and had been replaced with a fresh, light scent. Finally, the fish juices. Now this for me was perhaps the worst since I vehemently detest the smell of Tuna, I can’t even be in the same room as Hubby when he is eating it but after a spray with Febreze I was able to hold the cloth to my face without catching the merest hint of tuna to send me running for the hills.
I think everyone who had gone to the event (press from 3 Countries) had approached with science with a hint of scepticism but by the end we were totally convinced that Febreze does EXACTLY what it says on the packaging.
Now own up, if you have been to my house in the past – does it smell bad??? Am I #noseblind too?
DISCLAIMER: I went to Paris all expenses paid for the purpose of this post. All words, images and opinions are my own and may not be copied without my permission.