What is up with scented garbage bags?

[MIButterfly]

I bought a box of "white pine breeze" scented trash bags by mistake and now the whole room smells like a Christmas tree lot. Good grief.

[Ocelot II]

1. Scenting the garbage bag doesn't improve the smell of the garbage.

It just makes it worse - artificial pine or other perfume with a strong underlay of fish or cabbage. Nasty.

[Quakerfriend]

3. Aren't they repulsive ?!! I too bought some by accident.

Now I buy only Aotee biodegradable- no smell!

[MIButterfly]

5. I agree!

[Irish_Dem]

2. The scents are nauseating.

I got some by mistake and kept wondering what the nasty smell in my kitchen was.

[MIButterfly]

4. Nasty smell in your kitchen. OMG! That is HILARIOUS!

That really made me laugh!

[Irish_Dem]

8. I am a meticulous housekeeper

and germ phobic.

I keep everything immaculately clean.

All of a sudden there is a foul oder.

Turns out to be the scented garbage bags.

[MIButterfly]

15. I could use a meticulous housekeeper.

I'm more from the "that's good enough" and "there's always tomorrow" schools of housekeeping.

[Irish_Dem]

16. I like to clean house.

I once had a cleaning lady and I cleaned before she came and then afterwards.
So what was the point.

I was a therapist for a lot of years which I loved.

I kept all my own books and did all the billing.
Because it was easy, the numbers always added up, and everything
came out perfect. And there was a beginning, middle and end.

Same with cleaning the house. So it is a nice change from the work of a
therapist. And I was sitting on my butt all day long like a therapist does.

The secret to keep a clean house is clean it really well.
It may take a couple of weeks or months to bring it to a good level.
Then frequently wipe things down and keep the floor clean.
Things don't get dirty that way.

The other nice thing is that when I sell my house or car, I always get top dollar.
People think it looks brand new.

[MIButterfly]

18. Good advice.

Thanks, Irish_Dem!

[Demovictory9]

6. Yeah..i associate the smell with garbage..i walk into kitchen "ugh"

[cadoman]

25. probably not healthy to breathe either

Would rather have something neutral unless they are specifically using basic natural scents.

[ProfessorGAC]

30. Unlimely A Concern

The nose is an amazingly sensitive instrument.
Most odors, even pleasant ones, kick in at single digit parts per billion.
One example: 3-Hexenal is the molecule that gives us that freshly mown grass smell. The olfactory threshold is 0.25ppb.
There are very few organic compounds that create a substantial health concern at under 10 parts per billion.
And, the makers of these products are acutely aware of long term health concerns, if only because of worries about legal action. (I don't believe that is a sole concern though. Not every consumer products company is run by Darth Vader. )
Plus, California has stricter rules about this stuff and these companies aren't interested in having one product that meets CA standards and one for everyone else.
Based upon my experience, I can't believe there is cause for health concern around these products

[cadoman]

34. call me superstitious but if a scent makes me nauseous or gives me headaches I avoid it

Regardless of how many ppb.

Are garbage bags even subjected to any standards? It's not like they're food. CA has some great regulations but I doubt they catch everything.

[ImNotGod]

7. My last purchase was scented, not a big fan as who needs more indoor air pollution to deal with. nt

[cksmithy]

9. I hate them.

I have a severe allergic response to perfumes, air fresheners, scented garbage bags, etc. I have to order unscented trash bags online because all the local stores just sell scented bags. The stores in our city, even the grocery stores, put air freshener is their HVAC systems. So I can taste fabreze on my broccoli and other produce from our local grocery stores. I get physically ill, my husband does all of our grocery shopping at an upscale market, (not wholes foods), that does spray down the carrots with scented water.

[MIButterfly]

11. Oh cksmithy, that is awful.

I never even thought about how those scented bags would affect people with perfume allergies. It's terrible that you can't even go to the grocery store. I never knew stores put air fresheners in their HVAC systems. Is that a common thing?

It's good that you have such a wonderful husband to do the grocery shopping.

[cksmithy]

19. Hotels also do it.

While about 30% of the population have perfume/scent issues, the corporate thought is that a nice scent makes people want to spend money. I know that the same stores in different states, have different policies. I can go to a Walmart in Boise, Idaho, (to visit my sister) no scent at all. In the central valley California, I have to wear a mask or else I am coughing up a lung. Thank you for your kind thought. My husband likes to get out of the house, he likes to eat, and as long as he has a list, he does a good job. Correction: the upscale grocery store does not spray the carrots with scented water.

[MIButterfly]

20. The strong odor of cleaning supplies is bad enough.

Sometimes I walk into a hotel room and the smell is just overpowering. Not a very welcoming introduction to the room. I didn't know they use air fresheners too.

Since I don't have any perfume/scent issues (outside of my trash bags, of course), I had no idea the use of such things is so prevalent. It must be so hard for people who suffer from scent allergies. And 30% is a large portion of the population. Thank you for educating me about this.

[cksmithy]

21. Your welcome.

[soldierant]

24. It would not surprise me to learn

that all or most of the people who hate them have allergies to scents but are not aware of it.

Not all allergies cause life threatening reactions, and not everyone who has allergies reacts right away. I'm a delayed reactor myself.

[KT2000]

10. Thank you

They are horrible so now I read the label on garbage bags to see if they have fragrance and hope I got lucky. The scent salespeople are trying to get everything scented.

[Polly Hennessey]

12. I love them. My kitchen smells like a vanilla-lavender dreamscape. 🪻💐☺️

[BigDemVoter]

13. The only one I can stomach is 'coffee' scented.

[Mike 03]

14. I thought this trend was strange too, but I've grown to appreciate them.

I have a large, older dog with some chronic illnesses, and so I dispose of a lot of uneaten food, sometimes other things that come out of a sick dog. The bags help the environment because I don't have to automatically throw out the bag and replace it with a brand new garbage bag every time I put something gross or stinky in it. It seems like they are thicker too, which is good for liquid-y content. I can keep using the bag until it is more/less full without stinking up the house.

But at first I found them annoying.

[MIButterfly]

17. Thank you, Mike 03, for another perspective.

Since the box I bought has 34 bags in it, I'll have them for quite some time. The box says Ultra Stong. I thought it meant the bags but now I know it means the smell. I don't think I'll get used to it.

[womanofthehills]

29. Put the box out in the sun for a few days

Should at least make the smell less strong.

[Kali]

31. pro tip from the former caretaker of a dog with megaesophagus

squeegee and dust pan - mess goes right down toilet, no need for trash can. WAY less paper towels or regular cloth needed for clean-up

[enid602]

22. grocery bags

I live in Phoenix, which has not outlawed the use of plastics grocery bags. You have to put your garbage in plastic bags, so I put the garbage in the grocery bags.

[IcyPeas]

23. I get them in the dollar store.... but the scent disappears quickly.

[Drum]

26. Haaaaaaaaaaate them. nt

[pattyloutwo]

27. Horrible

And toxic. Fragrances are hormone disrupters and carcinogenic

[no_hypocrisy]

28. If they're using a perfume called "Opium," it must be to scare away the rats.

[Kali]

32. baffling to me

but most artificial stenches baffle me.

[bif]

33. Just like scented tissues

I don't get it.