Do you have any of these plug-ins from a popular candle store?
Before I really started to reduce our toxic load around the house, I had one for almost every room. You could buy the little refill bottles of wonderfully smelling liquid to plug in and change the scent at any time.
I was particularly fond of the Christmas smells and the apple or lilac!
While cleaning out a rarely used drawer I came across these old ones. I was going to drop them at the local donation center and decided to clean them up a bit first.
There was all this residue on the tops, remnants of the liquid that had warmed up and evaporated(?) out over time.
Best Efforts Wasted
I went to my go to and tried On Guard All Purpose Cleaner. Nothing. Then I tried Lemon EO directly on the top stain, thinking it was just a little stubborn. Nothing! Hmm. Now I am concerned with what this stuff is and why it’s not coming off.
I tried a wipe that I use to get adhesive off medical equipment. Nothing. Really?? Lastly I tried a bleach solution I had leftover in the cupboard. NOTHING!
WHAT HAD I BEEN RELEASING INTO MY HOME?? I started thinking about us, my kids, and the cats we had at the time, all unknowingly breathing this in.
Yeah, it smelled great, BUT…what toxins had we been inhaling?
Plot Twist
Now, I am on a mission to find out how harmful this had been and so went to the company website to investigate the ingredients. Nothing. They talk about commitment to quality and the work their professional fragrance people did, but no list of ingredients. I tried to Contact them by sending an email request with my inquiry. Will have to wait an unknown amount of time for a response. I tried calling Customer Service but they danced around my questions.
Why hadn’t I been aware of this concern back then? Well, I didn’t have anyone informed enough to warn me. It was a lack of knowledge, so I want to pass this info on to you, so that you can make a more informed decision about what you expose your family and pets to.
In all things, be mindfully aware of what you are breathing into your lungs!
You’re welcome!