Our current apartment, like a previous one, has no fan for ventilation. It’s not a fun situation. In order to eliminate some of those… questionable odors we’ve been using a combination of candles (works well) and method room spray (works not-too-well). About a week ago my wife declared that she had had it with our stinky bathroom and suggested we buy some Oust. Sounded great, so we bought some.
And it worked. Mostly.
The room did lose its unpleasant scents, sure, and those scents were replaced by an artificial “clean” smell. But then I read the label and noticed a few problems. You can follow along.
First red flag: Before using product throughout your home, use in one room and wait 24 hours to ensure that no one has any physical reactions to the product. Wow, really! 24 hours. That’s scary.
Second red flag: Asthma and allergy sufferers: Consult your physician before using this product in your home. That’s not good, either.
Third red flag – not listed on the website – states that birds should be cleared from any area where Oust is being used. Just birds. Specifically birds.
That scared me a lot, even more than the first two warnings. Apparently this stuff attaches itself to airborne molecules and deodorizes them in what is probably a very, very scientific way. But it has some sort of weird effect on birds. And I’m really scared for what it is.
We’ve stopped using the stuff and it’s going back to the store. I dislike a stinky bathroom too, but I’m not sure I want another deadly chemical introduced into the home.
Posted in Everyday Life
Rob January 30, 2007, 7:08 am
Hrmmm… I’ve been using Oust for a few years now without any harmful effects. Maybe it’s because I’m not a bird, though.
Ryan January 30, 2007, 3:13 pm
Wow, that is creepy. We may have to oust Oust from our downstairs bathroom.
Monica January 30, 2007, 3:54 pm
why not just light a match? that always seems to work.
Ryan January 30, 2007, 4:06 pm
Just don’t light a match around Oust.
Greg January 30, 2007, 5:41 pm
We have a 5 person office that works out of a house. My office just happens to be near the bathroom. We have one woman in the office that just loves Oust. Everytime she’s in the bathroom she sprays a ton of it. And that’s after bathroom usage to putting on makeup, she always sprays the stuff. So much so that I realized that it bothered my respatory function. Luckily we have a window and exaust fan. It had so been instructed to the office: if you spray, open the window, turn the fan on, and close the door behind you.
But the award for best comment goes to my boss. “I’d rather smell shit than smell that shit.”
smatlock January 31, 2007, 10:25 am
——Put cinnamon sticks and whole cloves in pan of water
heat till boiling
walk around the house gently swishing the pan (and please, make sure your pan is large enough to swish the liquied without splaching out on you hands)
aroma will waft thru the house and smell kina like apple pie
– re heat re peat
—–get oils from pharmacy and heat them on stove and swish (peppermint, anise, spearmint, wintegreen, whatever – check w your pharmist)
natural scents better than some ingredient we dont know about
Andy January 31, 2007, 8:25 pm
My wife bought some Oust and after I read the warnings, I made her return it. They gave her a bit of a hard time. I told her she should have used the “we have birds” excuse.
jk February 1, 2007, 3:39 am
Very scary.
Open a window? I like the match idea.