Air fresheners can make your physical office environment more appealing to you, your employees and anyone who comes inside. If clients and business associates ride in your car, auto air fresheners may come in handy.

The number of car and room air freshening products has grown significantly in recent years. Assess your needs before you purchase an air freshener for your business or your car to minimize the number and type of air fresheners you'll have to consider.

While shopping for air fresheners, keep the following in mind:

1. Decide whether physical aesthetics count as a criterion for buying air freshening units—you can display air fresheners, or you can hide them.

2. Exercise caution with scented air fresheners, as they can overwhelm or offend the noses of many who walk into your place of business.

3. You can visit any full-service car wash for a good selection of auto air fresheners or to any grocery store for decorative room air fresheners like the scented candles from Febreze, Renuzit or Glade.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Check out the many choices available for auto air fresheners

Today's new products include gels, crystals, solids and liquids that evenly distribute subtle fragrance throughout your car. You'll also find air fresheners that aren't meant to last long term; you just spray them when you want the scent.

I recommend: Purchase a bottle of New Car Scent from Lane's that you spray in your vents, on your carpets and under your seats and dash. For fun, buy the Clean Air Genie Auto Air Freshener at Autogeek; you press a button on the dispenser that releases a brief, dry fog throughout your car. Try the vent air freshener at LogoProducts4Less, or select any of the air freshener options at Squash Air.

Purchase room air fresheners or commercial air fresheners for your place of business

You can buy air fresheners and dispensers that you can hide so no one will ever see them or even air fresheners that look pretty enough to place on a bookshelf or table. You can also buy aerosol or non-aerosol sprays that have a more temporary effect.

I recommend: Order the Microburst 3000 metered air freshener from Air Delights for your office; plug the dispenser into an outlet and the unit's display reminds you to load a refill or replace batteries. For automatic air fresheners, consider the Big-D automatic air freshener dispenser at Office Max; you can buy the refills for the air freshener there, too. You can either order the Air Wick Decosphere at HomeSolutionsStore.com or buy it in any grocery store if you want a pretty air freshener dispenser to set on a table or desk.

Buy organic air fresheners if your worry about harmful chemicals

Recent studies have concluded that many air fresheners contain chemicals that can harm the health of some people. Air fresheners don't affect everybody, but they may contribute to reduced lung function in some and allergy-like symptoms in many other people. To reduce the possibility of affecting any of your employees, customers or business associates who visit your office, organic air fresheners can ease your worries.

I recommend: Buy Sun Shine Scents Non-Spill Organic Air Freshener from Vacuums24x7 to use in your car, in your vacuum cleaner or hidden away behind a desk or couch. For your office, try MiEnviron Certified Organics Rainforest Air Freshener from Good Steward, a non-aerosol pump spray made of different essential oils. You should also consider the organic gel air fresheners at First Choice OKC. If you like aromatherapy, order the Aromatherapy Feng Shui Energy Air Freshener Sprays at Absolute Living.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you like the automatic air fresheners with metered doses of fragrance, don't worry too much about only buying a dispenser that comes with the scents you like. Most of the aerosol can refills maintain a uniform size and will work in just about any dispenser.