Aren't We Fresh and Clean?

I admit to being mystified. Do we all stink? Do our houses smell bad? Do our cars emit sickly odors whenever we open the doors? Would people 10-15 feet away melt at the stench of each of us as we passed in a hallway without use of cover-up scent? I'm curious, because it seems that odor cover-up scents and air fresheners are starting to dominate our lives. 

Body odor can indicate illness, not just poor hygiene.
Here's a link to a small article about body odor you
might find interesting. 

There are scents to add to the washer. I guess it doesn't matter that most detergents already have their own scent, we have to add cap-fulls of crystal scent bombs into each load of laundry. I have a front loading washer, and I do add a VERY SMALL - like itsy-bitsy amount of smell to each load. BUT it's because I have a front loader and I use scent free laundry products. I know that even though I am meticulous about keeping my washing machine aired out and wiped down, it's going to have a slight odor that I really don't want on my clothing. 

There are a LOT of different laundry scent boosters on
the market today. Most of them recommend HUGE amounts
of crystals to mask normal human odors. There are people
I've known who would benefit from huge amounts, but
not very many. To be honest. I use a bare minimum - just
to keep my washer drum and door seal fresh. 

I'm scent sensitive. I have become more and more scent sensitive as I've grown older. Scents on my clothing can cause me to break out in an allergic rash. Heavy scents and perfumes on others can pull me into extreme sneezing fits or, in rare cases, make me nauseous. I rarely wear perfume, and when I do it's an essential oil blend from a local perfumer. I use scent-free detergents and softeners. If I could find a scent-free wash freshener crystal, I'd switch to it, but I'd still use a barely-there amount. 

There are multitudes of different bathroom air fresheners. I do use
one when Sharon visits. I like her to have a bathroom that
smells nice. But I usually let it rest until her next visit. DH has
one specific style that he likes in his bathroom. So I get
that style for him when I see it is available. 

Commercials center around making things smell fresh. To do that, you don't open your windows to get a blast of fresh air. No, you affix a freshener to the air ducts in your car, or you grab a spray can of a freshener and spray it around. You also use scents in the bathrooms because ... well, it's a bathroom and sometimes excrement will stink. 

Fainting students? We really don't hear about it often, not
even in the athletic locker rooms. 

With all of the publicity about how bad teen-aged boys stink, I'd expect to see the halls of any average middle or high school replete with prone bodies as these young men walk past, wafting their stink over the clueless hordes. I haven't seen this happen, even though I haven't been inside of a school building for years. I suspect I would have heard about young Jonathan Hardwick causing the entire geometry class to faint from his stench. 

I saw this Fabreze commercial last night - probably the
inspiration for today's post, as well as the foundation
of my query. That room looks sparkling. Does it really
need a spray air freshener? 

So, I ask once more. Are we really that smelly? Are we unsanitary? Do we not shower or bathe if we are able? Does the key to a wonderful day lie in a can of air freshener that we gleefully spray around our living room before stretching out on the couch with a contented sigh? If an alien race ever wanted control of our modern population, putting chemicals into our air fresheners should do the trick. 

Have a great Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow for the Super Blue Blood Moon. What fun! Enjoy your day.