We have a back bedroom that is closed off from the rest of the house, and it smelled SO musty, I just hated opening the door to that room.

One day I decided to try Febreze, and I sprayed the room with it. The musty smell has been gone ever since.

I do agree that it works. I wore a wool coat into a "dive" restaurant and when I left, it had soaked up all those greasy odors. I smelled like a big ole french fry every time I wore it.

It couldn't be washed and I didn't want it dry cleaned because they couldn't guarantee the colours. No matter how much "airing" I tried, stuffing newspapers around it in a sealed bin full of kitty litter, charcoal, and so on....nothing worked.

Then finally I threw caution to the wind (it might actually have been suggested by somebody here LOL) and sprayed it down with febreeze. I was horrified at first because the smell became STRONGER at first. But when the coat dried fully, NO FRENCH FRIES.

I cannot stand the scented stuff though.

Dances.

I LOVE the stuff! I use the air spray plus the fabric refresheners. Working at the store, I get a discount and probably have more here at home than one person truly needs.

How well does it work you wonder? I wondered that myself when it first came out. My youngest kid hating wearing socks in his runners. His runners and feet smelled so bad, we wouldn't let him bring his runners in the house, and he had to shower as soon as he came inside from taking them off. One night, I saturated them with the fabric refreshener (well, didn't 'saturate' them, but I did spray a lot), and by morning, they smelled April fresh. I've been sold on it ever since.

I am also a fan of their candles. And plug ins.

When I moved in to this house, it had the old empty stale smell all throughout. I couldn't stand it. Bought some febreeze. Yuck, that was almost worse.

Thank goodness the temps were such I could open the windows daily, and then once I started cooking here, I got both the yucky smells out.

Moni
PS, I dumped the stuff, but kept the empty bottle, cause I needed a spray bottle.

I didn't like the smell of Febreze either, forgot to mention.

But it's scent didn't last very long.

Well, a college kid once commented to me that Febreeze is just grest..."it's a washer and dryer all in one bottle"!!! it think that analogy was just hilarious!

I do use it, and it works just great to refresh sleeping bags. I do prefer to use it several days ahead of time, though to allow time for the smell to go away!

My allergies won't tolerate febreze so I use what we used when I was working with a theatre group.....vodka. Cheap vodka in a spray bottle, lightly spritz the piece and allow it to dry. Works really well on heavily beaded fabrics.

I used something called OdorCide until Walmart stopped carrying it. I finally found it on the internet and had to order at least 12 bottles. I ordered 24 so I could share it with my friends and neighbors. That is how much I like it. It is unscented, the only way it bothers me is if I use to much...like spraying the whole house. I tried Febreeze and threw it away because of the fragrance.

Fabreeze gets my asthma going.....cough cough cough cough. Can't stand the stuff.

I can't stand the smell. Some eBay sellers seem to love the stuff and I have to air things out and toss the packaging at times.

I still like the old fashioned Lysol spray to freshen a musty area. Just wish it still came n the original scent instead of all those "new and improved" ones.

I think I'll try the vodka.

We had an old dresser that had set in basement that had that old musty smell. sprayed the febreze in drawers closed them for a few days and smell is gone.

I freshen with a solution of half vinegar and half water. It'll smell like a pickle factory for a while but when it's dry, there will be no vinegar smell and it'll be fresh and clean smelling. I use it on carpets and my furniture.

It's cheap, all natural with no chemicals or allergy triggers. If you can put up with the vinegar smell for a little while, it works great.

LOL, Wildchild....HOW are you going to "try" the Vodka?? just kiddin'. When I was in Community theater, we used the Vodka trick, but had to buy a new bottle for every performance, it always disappeared!
I use the Fabreze spray occasionally when the APT starts to smell stale in the winter with the windows all closed. When the fabreze air effects first came out they had a mint scented spray and I just loved it, it wasn't cloying or fake flowery, but alas it was discontinued.

We used it in the bathroom for a while but then I noticed that it left a residue where ever the mist settled. Stopped that and went back to Lysol.

I liked that mint scented one too! It's the only spray I liked. I don't use any room spray now as I try to avoid breathing in any chemicals that aren't necessary. I don't know how harmful the room sprays are but I figure it's better to be safe!

I use Zero Odor. Doesn't leave a scent, just smells clean. I used to order it from their website, now I get it at Bed bath and Beyond.

I really like Febreeze and it doesn't bother my allergies.

I like Febreze. A couple weeks ago, I washed all my bedding, including blankets and quilt, put the pillows outside, sprayed the mattress with Febreze. It smelled great, not like a stale old winter house. I also Swiffer my kitchen floor with Wetjet liquid with Febreze. I know a lot of people hate it, but I really like Febreze. Now if they'd add it to kitty litter, I'd be happy!

lol..we once were stuck in a motel room which had smokers, yuck!!(no other rooms, sigh)

went out to the nearby store, bought some, and febreezed the entire room, it worked!

I like Oust, but look for the lighter fragrances, like Clean Scent, and I do like the Lysol lighter fragrances, because they have disinfectant.

Thanks to you all for replying. I'm asthmatic, so maybe I should try the vinegar and water or the vodka. Heck, I think I can find a way to try both; just have to be careful not to mix them up. LOL

I have used 1/4 cup of vinegar in the washer rinse cycle with good results.

I also use Zero Odor--it works really well without adding scent to the air and works well on fabrics, too.

I guess I am the odd one out. My home doesn't need that and I certainly don't need to breath it. I do use OdorCide in the bathrooms. For the food smells I use a candle. I open windows a lot, even in cool weather. At my last home I had a whole house fan that took out the odors. I had a problem with the sump pump smelling musty there. My clean laundry never smells unless I buy a laundry powder with scent, which I did last month. A $17. purchase and didn't notice it had fragrance, what a waste.

Years ago, my Mom used to use a product called Airwick "stick" which was a dark green liquid in a glass bottle, with a metal stick inside attached to a fabric "wick". You pulled the stick up and left it in the air to draw the green liquid up and destroy odors from cooking, smoking, etc. At the time my sister was really into riding horses and she'd come home smelling like a horse barn. Airwick liquid smelled awful, like super intense pine, but still a lot better than that awful tobacco/horse smell in our house. Airwick still makes lots of air-freshening products but not this "stick." I wonder what was in it? I personally like Febreze (no allergies here) but my favorite method for making things smell nice is good old fresh air. Hard to do when it's 4 degrees out, as it was here a couple days ago (Long Island.)

I am a also a vinegar and water person. Can't handle any of the scented products - very allergic. The headaches from any form of scented product, be it laundry detergent, fabric softener, scented candles (not likely anyway because of my dog) are a nightmare. It is not easy in Toronto to find unscented he detergent - so when I see it I buy 6 bottles. Sells out very fast. I have a major problem with botanicals so that does not help - neither does being allergic to anti-histamine. Re candles I have some lovely ivory colour battery operated ones that people think are real. I think the ivory colour makes a big difference. And they can be set to run for 5 hours.

I also hate Febreeze. The smell of it makes me sick. I hate most added scents though. If I have to use a scent or spray, I usually try and stick with an all natural citrus smelling one.

I like Frebreze, usually get it with coupons so it costs less.
Also like the Frebreze candles, after I burn them I wash out the glasses, they make nice drinking glasses.
(I had written that they made nice heavy drinking glasses,
but that didn't sound right...LOL)

I like the smell of Febreze and use it for upholstered furniture and curtains as well as the Febreze air freshener. Good or bad? It must be for each of us that our nose knows best.

Oh yes, with two football players and large bags of SMELLY gear (spending way too much time in my car) I LOVE that stuff.

I used Swiffer Wet Mopping Cloths with Febreze for the first time yesterday when cleaning a friend's apt. Even with the windows/doors opened, it gave me a headache, my lips got tingly, my eyelids were swollen by the time I finished mopping the kitchen floor, my throat was scratchy and my nose was congested. When I got home I thought about using my epi-pen but decided I couldn't afford an ambulance ride to the hospital, so I laid down instead and asked a neighbor to check on me in an hour. I will never use those sheets again! That Febreze stuff is definitely not for me. Don't know why they had to mess with the Swiffer mopping cloths!

I don't use a lot of it. Summertime I use the windows and fresh air. I've only used Febreze once, but it was OK. Got a deal on Oust and bought several cans so I haven't bought any in a long time. I like that you can get an unscented version in it. Lysol has always been good and I too like the disinfectant aspect so I carry a can to hotels and spray the places down. I think I'll try the jug of vodka. Probably should pick up some orange juice too... Probably won't smell much after that.

For room odors, a couple bowls of vinegar really absorb odors. Burn a candle or two also works well, but not those stench filled petri dishes, plain old paraffin wax el-cheapo candles.

The other product was Nilodor. I still have a 1/2 bottle of it and LOVE the stuff. Not sure if it kills the smell, but I love the smell of the stuff so I use it.

As for Febrese: when my youngest son was 11 or 12ish, he refused to wear socks in his runners. Boys will be boys and their feet sweat especially when it's hot out and they're running through puddles. Febrese had just come onto the market so I bought a bottle of the extra strength. Anyways, the kids runners smelled so bad, he wasn't allowed to bring them in the house and he had to take a shower as soon as he walked in the door. The house would reek.

I decided to try the Febrese on his runners. I brought them in the house and sprayed the begeebies out of them, and sat them in his bedroom window withe the window open. Next morning I could stick my nose in his shoes and the horrible odor was gone.

I believe it works.

I hate the smell of the stuff. I noticed that all most of the laundry detergents have Febreeze in them, and so now does Mr. Clean (I think it is).

I once bought some OUST neutralizer stuff, and it stunk so bad I took it back to the store.

Vinegar works for me in the rinse cycle, and a small burning candle gets rid of any frying odours. I got some wooden bedside tables given to me, and they smelled musty.
I kept them closed with a margarine dish of kitty litter and some crumpled newspapers and all odour was gone in a few days.

I don't like perfumes, smelly stuff at all, and both hubby and I avoid walking down the detergent aisles and baby aisles of grocery stores.

I can't stand the smell of Febreeze, I buy Oust in the lightest scent I can find and only use it when I absolutely have to. I'd rather burn a candle or melt some wax in a warmer if I have an odor in the house. If I have to spray a thing, I do it outside and it stays out until it's dry and relatively scent-free.

It worked great when the kids all had a stomach virus at once! I rarely use it but its good to have on hand for emergencies like burnt popcorn from the microwave scent in the air!

I love Febreeze in the winter when it is too cold to open the windows. Now that it has warmed up here, I love the fresh air from open doors and window. I, too, have asthma and allergies but Febreeze does not bother me.

This post is cracking me up, I guess some people forgot they responded a couple of months ago. At least you're all consistent! :)

Flamingo, you're right. I replied three times! And this makes it four!

Febreze does the job very well but why must they put it in EVERYTHING?? From fabric softener to anything else they can think of. It's just too much and if Febreze is in it and it isn't the freshener I refuse to buy it.

Linda

I see that although I asked the orignal question, I never got back to you about what I did with the musty pillows.

I used the vinegar and water on them and set them out on the lanai to dry. It worked!

The KT comes through yet again!

once on vacation we got a non-smoking room that was smoked in (couldn't change) went to the local store and febreezed the heck out of it..

it worked! so anytime we go away, i take a bottle with us, lol...