Be mindful of your pets if you buy this! (Glade Sense and Spray Automatic Freshener)

Member Name: jeffjen

Product:	Glade Sense and Spray Automatic Freshener
Date:	05/11/09 (107 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Releases a strong burst of fragrance

Disadvantages: Expensive

On a recent shopping trip at my local Morrisons I spotted these Glade Sense & Spray air freshener units on display near the end of the aisle.
They were on promotion at £3.50 although it did not state what the usual price would be.

I picked one up and read on the box that Glade Sense & Spray is an automatic spray with a 'new and improved' Motion Sensor.
Included in the box was the unit, refill and batteries.

Reading the information on the back of the box, it explains that this is a clever automatic air freshener with motion sensor technology.
The idea being it freshens your home automatically but only when you need it. The motion sensor will detect movement when someone walks into the room, and automatically releases a burst of fragrance every 30 minutes as long as someone is in the room.
After the burst of fragrance the unit then 'goes to sleep' for 30 minutes.

I decided to buy one while it was on offer. There was only one fragrance 'Vanilla' available when I purchased it but I noticed refills available in Clean Linen and Relaxing Zen fragrances.
The refills were £3.00.

The air freshener comes with full instructions which seemed simple enough to follow. You simply lift up the front of the unit, insert the batteries and then lay the refill flat in the recess, and click it into place.

There is a red tab which sticks out, and you are told to pull this out after inserting the batteries and refill. After doing this I stood the air freshener on my coffee table and waited for it to release a burst a fragrance.

And waited....

And then I began waving my hand in front of the motion sensor...

Still nothing!

My partner had walked into the room at this point, looking at me strangely as I sat on the sofa waving at the air freshener! I think he thought I had cracked up!
I explained that I had just bought it and what it was meant to do, so he tried walking past it, but still nothing happened.
I picked it up and took out the batteries and refill, as my partner was busy telling me how I buy some stupid things and to take it back to the shop.

I then noticed part of the red tab was still inside the unit. When I had pulled it out it had snapped, leaving part of the tab still inside. I removed it, and after placing the batteries and refill back inside, I returned it to the coffee table, where a few seconds later it finally released a burst of vanilla into the air!

The unit makes a 'psssssst' sound when releasing the fragrance and my poor cat who was curled up fast asleep nearby, awoke with a start and began frantically looking around the room for another cat! It does sound a little like a cat hissing so do bear this in mind if you buy one and you have a cat!
After realising it was the air freshener, she settled back down but kept an eye on it for a while, and remained intrigued by its 30 minute bursts. She has obviously got used to it now as it no longer disturbs her when asleep, but she has got a few shocks when she is walking near it as it detects her movement and off it goes!

The unit has a light on the front which blinks rapidly three times before it sprays. After this, it goes to sleep for 30 minutes. The light stays on while it is in sleep mode but the product does not sense motion and will not spray.
After 30 minutes of sleep mode, the light blinks every five seconds to indicate the unit is active and will sense any movement and spray.

You can also press the button on the front of the unit at any time and it will release a burst of fragrance.

The fragrance released is quite strong and lingers for quite a while. I have found that you do have to be right in front of the unit for it to detect motion, and just moving around on the sofa etc is not enough movement to make the air freshener work. I have to actually walk past it or wave my hand in front of it, although sometimes it will detect you getting up from the sofa.

The refill only lasted three weeks but maybe the cat walking in front of it when we are in bed or not at home may account for some of the usage!
I do like the fragrance it releases and it does fill the room with a lovely scent, so on that basis I have bought a refill this week. I decided to try a different fragrance and have bought 'Relaxing Zen' which I prefer to Vanilla.

Overall I do like Glade Sense & Spray, but do think it is quite expensive so I am deducting a star for that, and also it does not detect motion unless you are right in front of it, and not as you walk into the room as it tells you on the box.
If you can buy the unit when it is on promotion complete with refill and batteries then it is quite a good buy. I have also spotted the refills on sale at Asda and they are £3.00 there also. I shall be keeping an eye out to see if the refills are cheaper anywhere else.

Just be mindful if you have pets in the house when you buy one of these, as they may get a shock when it goes off! Also make sure you completely remove the red tab to ensure it works first time.

Summary: A good air freshener, but the price is not so good.