I use a candle warmer. The great thing about them is the candles last longer since they don't "burn" they just warm the candle. I've had this terrible habit of saving old candle to "someday" make new ones. Well I was about ready to toss them the other day and had what I think was a brilliant thought. Put them in a glass jar and melt them in my warmer! They'll last forever!

I'm another fan of candle warmers. It's amazing the life you can get out of a candle without burning it.

I also like WoodWick reed diffusers.

I do use candles of all sorts and kinds -- and incense too!

I can recommend those "battery" type candles that smell nice -- got a couple in the main bathroom -- very nice!

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

The Glade plug in rumor is false and has been around for years. You can read about it at snopes.com.

Here is a link that might be useful: snopes

Glade plug in rumor is false...

But they can develop a leak. Happened to me.

where do you buy candle warmers.

lyban, I've seen candle warmers at Walmart, JoAnn's, Michael's, Bed Bath & Beyond just to name a few.

I use Febreeze (linen & sky scent) as an air freshener. I'm also a fan of candles either lit or used with a warmer.

For right now my entire downstairs is open floor plan with 10ft ceilings. Nothing stinks it up like ScentSationals (they have a website) that I purchased from Walmart. The wax is melted with a large light bulb (we have 5 cats). There are six cubes in a box for $2.00. The warmer is on the large size though but they hold alot of wax without much danger of spilling. I only have to leave it on for an hour to get a good scent going!
Cheers!
KAT

I love candles and usually have one lit in the kitchen. However, what I like best is using the scented sheets you place along side the furnace filter. They're supposed to last over a month, but not usually. What I do is add a few drops of air sanitizer and when the heat or air clicks on, the whole house has a light, clean smell. People coming into the house always ask what smells so nice.

Here's a perspective from the other side of the coin as I don't use permanent air fresheners ever. I've tried the kind you plug into the walls but always end up removing them within a day or so. I keep a can of air freshener spray in the bathrooms but for the most part I hate perfumey smells; some of which can literally nauseate me. They're almost always too strong and overwhelming which in turn gives me a headache and hurts my sinuses. I even had that problem when I worked in an office. There's always someone who wears too much cologne or perfume and it's so uncomfortable to live with on a daily basis. Additionally, from what I've read as well, air fresheners aren't good for a lot of pets for the same reasons, like our birds for example. I have family members who use them in their homes a lot and although I'd never say anything, the discomfort can sometimes make it hard to be comfortable in their homes.

I like wallflowers.

Rosie - I have never heard of "scented sheets"! Where do you get them?

Also - any ideas for a strong air freshener for a stinky closet? Everyone now tosses shoes into our entry closet since my foyer was out of control. It's out of sight, but when you open it to get your shoes - WHOO DOGGY! It smells awful. We just hold our breath, grab our shoes and shut the door real fast. I need a good one that doesn't spill or plug in.

Joanie38, you might want to place a couple votive candles in the closet (don't light them, obviously). Bed Bath and Beyond sells a Yankee Candle called Good Air in the votive size for 99 cents each. They smell fresh and have a powerful scent. I bought a half dozen of them and had to store them in a covered jar because the scent was so strong - and they were still wrapped!

Here is a link that might be useful: Yankee Candle Good Air

I'm hooked on Scentsy. They're candle warmers except there's no fire. They plug in using a 20 watt bulb. I keep one in the kitchen counter area and one on top of the fireplace mantel. They're safe if you have cats and small children.

The scents are strong and nice smelling. When we lost power yesterday I used my Yankee Candle candle warmer.

I can count on these two brands to really give off nice scents for the house.

You can go to Scentsy.com and buy some.

I don't much care for air fresheners, but I love candles. I've used the wallflowers in guest bathrooms, but haven't in a while.

tina

I use Bath & Body works candles, wallflowers occasionally. I can't stand anything too heavy, gives me a h/a. I like Fresh cotton & the new lemon.

Joanie, you can buy the scented sheets at Lowes, Home Depot and usually anywhere they sell the filters. There is a big selection - I usually buy the apple pie and the cinnamon roll ones. Cost is, if I member correctly, about $2.50 to $3.00. You can also do the same thing with fabric softner sheets...I love the Downy ones.

So you all are the reason why the aisle in the grocery store with all the scented stuff has gotten so big! LOL!

No scents here, just soap and water. Scents are VERY irritating to me, so if I burn a candle, it will only be a vanilla scented one.

I probably would be unable to be in most of your homes for more than 10 minutes.

I feel like I have been living under a rock....what is a candle warmer?
How does it work?
So strange I have never heard of them.
Where do you buy them?

Another vote for Wallflowers from Bath and Body Works.

After working in medicine for so many years, I became concerned about breathing in any of those airborn chemicals and oils in most sprays and warming oil fresheners. I worry that our lungs aren't equipted to deal with breathing that into them. I do occasionally use scented candles, but more often prefer unscented. What I do now instead is fill small bowls with freshly cut pine springs, or grasses, citrus peel, cloves, cinnamon, flowers in season, or the like. Anyhoo, just one more idea :~)
Lynn

I agree, Lynn. I rarely burn my abundant candles for that reason. And I only use one wallflower for the whole house.

The strongest plug in air freshener I have encountered is Fresh Bamboo wallflower from Bath and Body works. It is exceptionally overpowering and would work well in a dank house, for instance.

I have plugged it in in our basement and had to unplug it after a few hours because the entire upstairs was reeking from the scent. This is no gentle wafting scent.

We have low income rentals and it works wonders to make a musty house smell fresh(er).

I like essential oils used with diffusers; terra cotta ones that just need the oils or ones that you use tea lights under to heat water that has oils in it. I love a mix of cloves and citrus or sometimes just patchouli. So many choices in essential oils!

Beezwax candles on occasion but usually, I just open the window and ta da! Fresh Air! If it's too cold out, essential oils prefereable in lavender or Patchouli.

Thank you Graywings and Rosie!

Haley, candle warmers use electricity to melt wax releasing the scent. I use the basic plate warmer with a candle in a glass. I think Oakley uses the plug-in warmer with wax melts.

Here is a link that might be useful: a variety of warmers

Perfumey scents both me as well. I literally will get a headache if I'm in the vicinity of something too perfumey. During the Christmas season I make pomanders (oranges decorated with cloves), and put fresh sprigs of evergreen in the house. I also worry about the number of chemicals our bodies are subjected to day in and day out, so I try to minimize exposure to chemicals as much as possible.

I have a few candles but rarely use them because I'm afraid I'll leave the house with one burning. I like those reed diffusers. I bought an expensive one... I forget the brand... the scent is eucalyptus and something else and it's barely detectable, which is what I want. We tried every air freshener ever invented when our dogs were sprayed by a skunk last year and found that the best were products marketed as odor neutralizers, not stinky air fresheners. I found some that worked at the hardware store and had them ALL over the house!

Graywings, BB&B is out of the Yankee candle you recommended, so I went to the YC website and ordered them for the same price.

I can't wait to get it!

Natal, I use both YC warmers and the Scentsy. Scentsy is good when you have a cat in the house and you want to keep it low, plugged in on the kitchen counter. I can leave the room and not fear a cat wagging it's tail in the fire. lol.

I use the "fire' warmers on top of the mantel because the cats won't get up there.

I've always used YC because IMO, they have the best scents and they'll scent up multiple rooms at once. Cinnamon and Vanilla are my favorites because while strong, they aren't over powering like a flower scent. Anything Rose is a good one.

When I discovered Scentsy, the quality of their scents are just as good as YC.

Can you tell I love scented rooms?

Another thing to try which is what I keep in my bathrooms are oil and reeds in decorative bottles. You can buy the kits, but only buy them from places that have nice scents, like YC.

I have a bowl of potpouri in my entryway, and it's a nice smell as soon as I walk into the house. Plus it's a nice decorative touch to the room.

A good deodorizer for a closet is a box of baking soda. Use the kind meant for a refrigerator. It doesn't mask the odor, rather, it removes the odor.

Wow...so many great suggestions, I have learned a lot. I will check out the Scentsy and those Reed Diffusers too. I am sensitive to anything overpowering so I just keep experimenting. I didn't know what a candle warmer was either, so looked it up...might try that too. I do have potpourri out in some areas and no animals in the house, so lucky on that count. Never heard of those fragrance sheets, so will check them out next time I am at HD. I do like a little fragrance in a home. Eventually I am going to get some of those battery powered candles, didn't know they had an fragrance options...kewl!!!

Thank you Natal!

DEFINITELY the Yankee candle Good Air is the bomb!! I have them all over my house and they are wrapped and are potent enough to freshen things up. LOVE THEM.

I also use a candle warmer on my kitchen countertop and that is a great way to get the most scent from a good candle.

I also (scent freak can you tell) use wall flowers in the computer room, bathrooms and hallways. (the YC are in my bedroom, spare room and living room, dining room)

Bath and Body works often has their wallflowers for $5 for either a starter (the wall unit and one bulb or a set of 2 refills. I stock up then.

guppy_2009, I second the essential oils. Ladies, if you haven't tried, I warn you, you will get addicted.

But when I'm too lazy to make my own essential oil blend, I burn a Yankee Candle.

the scented sheets

Thanks for telling me about those. I have a closed up townhouse for sale. I can't use the plug-ins because they are too strong. To have something that worked just when the furnace came on would be good.

Forgot to ask: how do you use the essential oils? I have some...I put some in my poupourri, but could not really tell anything after a short while.