Air fresheners, whether you notice them or not, are everywhere. There will be a few around your house scattered around behind the sofas, a few Christmas trees discarded in your car glove box, the odd cannister in the kitchen in your office and one doing it’s job in the lavatory. All boasting different scents, shapes and sizes with one common goal of keeping your air space fresh and pleasant.
Like many modern day billion pound markets, the air freshener inception isn’t a recent one, and it’s certainly evolved over it scented years. In case you’ve ever wondered, here’s a brief history of the air freshener, from herbs to high-tech auto dispensing, time-tracking machines.
Au Naturel
Before modern day technology allowed us to display and design air fresheners differently, people used to simply use herbs and nice smelling plants to mask any ungodly smells. Whilst the method of using a strong smelling plant to mask a smell is somewhat rare, nowadays, the principle of it has very much stayed the same. Scents like lavender and blueberry’s are very much commonplace in modern air fresheners.
The birth of the air freshener
It was in 1948 that the first air freshener came about. It was originally produced by the military to deliver pesticides, but was soon snapped up to offer a scented service. A fine mist was sprayed out into the air, which allowed the mist to remain suspended in the air for prolonged periods of time.
As with most products and ideas, the air freshener slowly evolved it’s design and formula over the following 20 years to improve it’s performance, durability and also to make the formula cheaper to manufacture.
Our Ozone
In the 1970s, the world got more conscious of CFC (Chlorofluorocarbon) and how it was harming to the ozone layer. It was only after this environmental scare that air freshener manufacturer started to rethink their products to create a new, more economically friendly, product. Because of this scare, we can now welcome liquid wick air fresheners, scented candles, scented oils and solid gel air fresheners to our odour deterring arsenal. These are all known as continuous application air fresheners. These styles all use a form of heat activation to produce the smell. Burning oil, burning candles and heated gel that lays off a smell.
These styles, particularly heated candles, were all the range in the 80’s, as they were also believe to enhance moods and provide tranquility. You can be the judge of that one.
The Tree-Fresheners
In 1997 US air freshener sales reached $239 million. Quite a large market for an ex-military pesticide distributor. Could this be influenced by the beginning of tree-fresheners, as we call them? In 1952, the first rear view mirror tree shaped air fresheners began cropping up in cars around the world. With the growing popularity of cars, come new ways to personalise them and make them your own.
Where are we at now?
Whilst the technology has evolved to offer more creative, specific and personalised ways of clearing smells from your home, the science behind it is still very much the same -fine mists that linger in the air and over-power smells. “Don’t fix it if it hasn’t broken yet!” rings true with the air freshener prowess. Whilst additions of motion detection and timers have added to the Air Fresheners experience (If that’s a thing), they are very much a similar, but reliable, product.
Freshen up your office with our range of air fresh products!
