I love being a dad. But it stinks, as in…hold your nose stinks. From spit-up to throw-up to downright dirty diaper fumes, it’s barely tolerable. But somehow I’ve started getting used to it. I can manage not to cringe anymore when I happen to get a whiff of some brown shorts, yellow blankets or green bibs.

On one hand, it’s nice to know that I’m capable of wiping a butt in a gas station bathroom without flinching. But after visiting the Febreze labs at the Procter & Gamble headquarters where they research odors, odor elimination and odor conversion, I’ve learned that nose-blindness isn’t as rosy as it sounds. It can actually be quite stinky for people who get too close to my furniture and clothes that have been polluted by baby and toddler-made messes.

Going nose-blind

Learning to love what stinks starts with understanding nose-blindness. What is nose-blindness? It’s when you spend so much time around a smell that your brain stops recognizing it as strongly so it can detect other smells better. Did you know there may be 500 trillion odor molecules in your home that you aren’t even able to smell?

Here are some other facts about smells you might not know:

  • One wet dog can leave billions of odor molecules on your couch.
  • Cooking odors like bacon can live in your house for months on fabrics and soft surfaces.
  • Opening a package of stinky cheese like brie or a similar food releases somewhere around 25 billion odor molecules.

Recognizing We Stink at Recognizing Stink

If a piece of cheese can leave a smell for so long, there’s no telling how much damage a toddler can do to fresh air. But let’s face it, guys. It’s not just our kids that stink. We can stink too. What’s worse is that we aren’t even good at recognizing how bad we stink, even when we don’t have nose-blindness. Men don’t react as strongly to smells as women, something that’s been proven by research and not just by wives who have watched their husbands walk by diaper disasters without blinking.

Meanwhile, many of our favorite things stink too. Maybe it’s an old baseball glove, lucky fishing boots or a high school baseball hat. I know I’m guilty of wearing tennis shoes longer than any nearby noses deserve. Whatever it is for you, the smell makes it hard for the rest of the world to appreciate your favorite stinky thing quite like you. So what do you do?

Eliminating and Converting Odors Safely and Effectively

Smell is more important to your health than you might think. Negative smells can be distracting at the least. At their worst, bad smells can cause stress and create social problems if people don’t want to be around you.

The good news is that Febreze’s scientists have learned how to eliminate bad smells and convert them into pleasant scents. Their OdorClear technology acts like a stink vacuum, seeking out odors and cleaning them away.

OdorClear technology is a proprietary formula from Febreze made up of “The Febreze Four” – four stink-ending complexes from everyday ingredients like cyclodextrin (a starch molecule made from corn) and citric acid (found in lemons and other citrus fruits). These complexes work together as a fresh air team to (1) trap and lock away odors you don’t like, such as a morning diaper blowout or yesterday’s bacon and egg sandwich; (2) convert the smell with reactive perfume ingredients; and (3) neutralize and eliminate odors by balancing their pH to that of water. Meanwhile, there’s a fourth complex in Febreze Fabric made specifically for fabric odors that works as an odor magnet, digging deep to attract and then extract up to 300 quintillion odors from hard-to-wash soft surfaces.

If I’m starting to sound like Bill Nye the Science Guy, it’s because I learned so much about this technology at P&G from their own scientists in their own lab. You can watch videos for yourself here about how it works so you can learn more about it too and teach your friends how Febreze works just like I’m doing now.

If reading about technology and proprietary formulas make you nervous about how safe Febreze can be for your family, let me put you at ease. Febreze perfumes are formulated with the greatest care and utmost attention to safety. They are formulated taking into account stringent internal safety standards for every ingredient, as well as the safety standards set by the International Fragrance Association (IFRA). In short, because of the high standards of Procter & Gamble and Febreze, Febreze creates truly fresh and clean air.

While Febreze air fresheners are safe to use around children and pets, like all household products, they should be kept out of reach of little ones. But I find it reassuring that a complete list of the Febreze ingredients can be found on Febreze.com and via SmartLabel. P&G will also be sharing all fragrance ingredients down to 0.01% for all products by the end of 2019. You can see for yourself what Febreze is made of here. And here’s more on their product safety.

So whether you suffer from nose-blindness, stinky kid odor on your furniture and clothes, or just want to take your favorite stinky things out in public without causing a stink for those around you, you can trust that using Febreze will meet all of your fresh air needs.

For more information about Febreze products, safety and technology, visit Febreze.com. Meanwhile, the infographic below will help ‘clear the air’ about what happens when you breathe in Febreze and how the particles don’t and cannot go to your deep lungs:

EDITOR’S NOTE: This was a sponsored post on behalf of Febreze, however those stinky tennis shoes are all ours. For more on Febreze, check them out HERE, on Facebook or Twitter.