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Science/nature/environment

Scented candles

(45 Posts)
Teetime Tue 19-Feb-19 09:05:59

I keep reading that the burning of scented candles is bad for the environment. I'm not an expert so I believe it. I have now changed to having a diffuser in my living room rather than candles - anyone else with me?

bikergran Tue 19-Feb-19 09:13:39

Ive just bought a wax burner/lamp as I had some vouchers to spend. Not sure if that's classed as burning scented candles as there's no wick, but I suppose chemicals are present.I only leave it on until the wax melts then it's turned off.

shysal Tue 19-Feb-19 09:23:06

I have also changed to reed diffusers. I have tried many different scents but have settled on pink grapefruit which is not as sickly as most others.

MawBroon Tue 19-Feb-19 09:25:18

At the risk of advertising, may I recommend that supermarket that starts with A and ends in I for very good room fragrances which are a dead ringer for Jo Malone at one tenth of the price smile

Bathsheba Tue 19-Feb-19 09:29:22

Not just bad for the environment, Teetime, but bad for our health also, it seems.

Is there a danger from scented products?

Lazigirl Tue 19-Feb-19 09:48:44

Denmark where there is a heavy use of candles, apparently have a high incidence of lung conditions associated with candle burning. I think spray cleaning products also pollute the air in the home with a cocktail of chemicals, and air fresheners and perfumed laundry products have also been implicated. Cleaning products are invariably in plastic these days, mostly sprays, which isn't great for the environment either. Perhaps we should just open our windows more.

Alima Tue 19-Feb-19 10:10:25

Have never liked scented candles. All that naked flame as well as manufactured scent. Not sure what a diffuser is. I’m with Lazigirl. Open the windows, fresh is best.

Scribbles Tue 19-Feb-19 10:19:45

Alima, thank goodness it's not just me! I can't bear scented candles and have lost count of the number I've been given as gifts which have gone straight to the charity shop. (Never quite understood why candle light is termed "romantic", either. To my mind, it just makes things look weird!)

EllanVannin Tue 19-Feb-19 10:22:40

Why use anything at all ?

tanith Tue 19-Feb-19 10:24:22

Can’t abide the things and as others have said bad for your health. Fresh air is best for your lungs just open the windows and let the place breathe nothing worse than a stuffy house.

Nanny27 Tue 19-Feb-19 10:26:32

An open window and/or a few fresh flowers, better than any artificial scent imo.

M0nica Tue 19-Feb-19 10:43:12

Nanny27, I was about to say exactly the same thing.

Many of these house scent things can trigger my migraine.

Grampie Tue 19-Feb-19 11:57:27

Inhaling those long-chain smelly molecules is not good outside or inside, burnt or unburnt.

I steer clear of all deodorants (clean and fresh is better) and vapour emitters.

A smidge of perfume or aftershave is about as far as we go.

Culag Tue 19-Feb-19 12:05:36

But surely perfume from flowers, whether inside or out, also have smelly molecules? Do we hold our noses when we pass a fragrant bush, or lily-of-the-valley?

I find that cooking smells linger in my house over the winter. My kitchen extractor fan is useless. They get absorbed into the curtains and carpets. I try and have a window open when its mild, but also use a diffuser in the cold months.

jusnoneed Tue 19-Feb-19 12:10:25

I hate the smells they give off, even walking past them in the supermarket makes my stomach turn. Have to hurry past.

Another I cannot understand people using are those things that squirt out a puff of something smelly every few minutes. Horrible.

Teetime Tue 19-Feb-19 14:27:04

I am a big window opener winter and summer but I do love a nice perfume for myself and the house. I find such things relaxing.

Greciangirl Tue 19-Feb-19 15:30:25

Reed diffusers are a nice way of scenting a room.
But not the cheapy ones, they smell horrid.

M and S have some lovely fragrances.
If I could afford them, then Joe Malone.
In fact, the more you pay for diffusers or candles, the better they are. Don’t bother with candles myself, but have a diffuser in bedroom and living room.

felice Tue 19-Feb-19 15:49:13

I have a large Citron Geranium which gives off a lovely Lemon scent, a quick brush with your hand and the scent intensifies. It is also great for keeping the mozzies away during the summer, I cut a few leaves and put them in a vase beside the bed, not a single mozzie last year.

Wheniwasyourage Tue 19-Feb-19 18:41:29

Another one here who can't stand any of these smelly things. I hate coming across them, or even worse, the plug-in ones, in hotel or B&B rooms. Even if you unplug them or put the diffusers outside the room, it takes ages for the horrible smell to go.

Fresh flowers though, I love, although not in the winter, as I don't like them out of season. (Difficult to please, moi?)

Sounds like a great idea felice, and that is another lovely smell IMO.

MawBroon Tue 19-Feb-19 18:57:54

Try Aldi , Greciangirl
I wear Jo Malone perfume for every day and Aldi No.1 is identical to Jo Malone’s Lime Basil and Bergamot.

Lazigirl Wed 20-Feb-19 09:40:25

Unfortunately even expensive room scenters apparently give off a cocktail of chemicals, formaldehyde being one, and who wants to inhale that? I really love perfume and still use it but have given up the candles and house perfumes after researching them. I think it would be probably wise for asthmatics, people with lung conditions and those with children to avoid.

PamelaJ1 Wed 20-Feb-19 10:03:25

Culag,
I think it’s a very different thing to be outside and inhaling lovely natural perfumes than inside inhaling manufactured chemicals.
Some people have those plug in ones that emit noxious particles all the time.
Why waste money and health on something you don’t need?
I think that most people on here have heard of pollution and global warming and all the other nasties that these smelly things only contribute to.

Bathsheba Wed 20-Feb-19 10:11:25

even expensive room scenters apparently give off a cocktail of chemicals, formaldehyde being one

Exactly - well not 'exactly', actually, because it's limonene that is given off, which produces formaldehyde when it comes into contact with ozone - see my link at 09:29:22 yesterday.

jusnoneed Wed 20-Feb-19 10:51:50

It did make me wonder if they have anything to do with the reported increase in Asthma, especially in children. All the smelly fumes/sprays etc that some homes have - we never had anything like them and it was unusual to hear of someone having Asthma, now it seems every other child is inhaling some drug because of it.

gillybob Wed 20-Feb-19 10:59:37

I love ( certain ) scented candles and burn one in my kitchen for an hour or so after cooking anything with a strong smell ( fish etc) . I love nothing more than the rare treat of sitting with my feet up, glass of wine in hand , lovely music playing and a candle burning . Heaven .