Anybody remember those wacky pine-tree shaped “air fresheners” from the 70s?
My parents hung them in the car, and man did they stink. Oh they did what they were intended to do- mask the smell of 6 stinky teenagers crammed into a summer of ’76 station wagon. The “pine” scent wasn’t too bad (the scent was taken from REAL Upstate New York trees, did you know that?!) but the “coconut” made me sick to my stomach. And all my friends’ parents loved “lemon” which smelled like a mixture of Pine-Sol and shoe polish. Yik.
Do you know that they STILL sell those things?! I was wandering through the automotive aisle and saw them. Oh my gosh, talk about flashbacks! Pine-tree fresheners, bell bottoms, Afros, and funk. 
wowsa, that’s going back.
Welcome to the 21st century, people.
Here in our modern age, teenagers still get sweaty and cars still absorb all the odors… but there’s a new de-stinkifier in town: Febreze Car Vent Clip! It’s CUTE!!! The folks at Febreze sent me a sample to try it out. The first thing I liked was the easy-to-open package. No wrangling with scissors here- just pull the tab and the package pops open.
The clip is a tiny thing. At first I figured you put it on the visor, but no- the clip attaches to the air vent of the car.
I wasn’t too keen on that, really. I don’t like overpowering scents in the car or anywhere. But the Febreze clip scent is adjustable. There’s a little slider on the top of the device where you can adjust the scent outflow. I chose the lowest setting because, as much as I like nice scents, my nose is sensitive. The last thing I need is to open the car door and watch as a blue puffy cloud of air freshener odors belch out of my car. The clip is supposed to last for 30 days with “low, ambient conditions.” I really like the scent, Linen Sky. It’s fresh without being perfumy. My husband, who usually hates air fresheners, didn’t particularly notice any overpowering scent, so that’s a big plus.
After driving around for a while, I could smell the scent even on “low” setting. It started to give off a slightly acrid smell, a little unpleasant. I have a very small car and my nose is practically right up on the dash. I think the clip would be better placed on the sun visor or in the back seat, away from my nose. Unfortunately, the clip is too small to fit on the visor. I placed the clip in the back, by the speakers near the window, and it seems to do better there.
The car clip is probably best suited for a minivan or SUV. Those things are huge and usually the driver is sitting up higher above the air vents. I like the Linen & Sky scent in general- we have the aerosol for the house and it smells great. In the car, it’s so so. I would LOVE to see a vanilla scent come out, or maybe a very light cinnamon scent. I love cinnamon.
Other scents are Thai Dragon Fruit, Hawaiian Aloha (there’s that coconut thing again!), Meadows & Rain, and Midnight Storm, a new scent. The clips are brand new in stores, released today, so go check them out. They are very affordable, at just $2.99 a package.
Please be aware that I received the Febreze Car Clip Air Freshener for free, to test it out. I am doing this review on my own accord and all my opinions are 100% mine. Thanks for reading!
10. January 2012 at 3:32 pm
I got one too, but haven’t had a chance to try it yet. I have a minivan - so hopefully that will be good.