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Orange-Mate Citrus Air Fresheners

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In lieu of our earlier post today about our newfound appreciation for an air freshener at the office, we wanted to follow it up with a very specific plug. WE HATE FAKE STUFF which is usually toxic, and so we were surprised to find that someone in our office had put a bottle of Orangemate (okay, bad name) in the bathroom (maybe it's us?) and that it was all natural and pretty much good in every way - except the packaging, of course....

 
 

This bottle of air freshener above is 100% natural grapefruit oils and essence taken from fresh, naturally grown grapefruit. In addition, the bottle uses no flourocarbons or propellants of any kind. So when you spray some of this stuff in your bathroom, it actually smells really good.

We did a little research and Orangemate is a family company started in 1988 in Oregon by a father and son, who had experience developing natural flavor enhancers for the orange juice business:

"In 1979, Ray retired from Vita Pak and founded Food Processing and Engineering, a consulting and product development company. In that same year, Food Processing and Engineering was hired to develop a product to enhance the flavor of reconstituted orange juice. Ray developed an all natural flavor additive, which was a special blend of recaptured oils and essences taken from freshly squeezed citrus. The product was appropriately named Orange-Mate.

The introduction of Orange-Mate enhanced the flavor in orange juice so well that sales increased over fifty percent. This was quite the achievement since the citrus industry is very competitive. The food additive version of Orange-Mate still exists today and is used by major companies in a variety of orange juice products.

Orange-Mate, when blended, permeates the air of the entire manufacturing facility. Since this fragrance is identical to an orange grove in blossom, the potential for an air freshener was easily recognized. In 1988, Ray’s son, Steve, joined him to develop and investigate the possibility of manufacturing an air freshener of this class. The first observation of Orange-Mate Mist was its unique physical properties. Unlike other air fresheners, Orange-Mate Mist was not just a cover-up type fragrance. Instead, it actually seemed to eliminate the offensive odor and, at the same time, leave a natural scent of freshly peeled oranges. At that point and time, the company knew it had a dynamic product. There was only one small but important problem, however. The cost factor of production was quite high when compared to the synthetic variety of air freshener. The question then became: Would the average consumer be willing to purchase an air freshener at an upscale price of $5.99? It was decided to hold off production due to the uncertainty of the market...."

You can read more here. They now sell fabric, laundry and air fresheners as well as glass and surface cleaners.

As far as products go, we think this one is pretty darn good, whether you're into air fresheners or not. However, if you are, we'd recommend checking these guys out.

Tags

bathroom, GREEN IDEAS, cleaning, air & water quality, personal health

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Comments (13)

Where can I get this product in California? Is this the kind of thing Trader Joe's or Whole Foods would sell?

posted by Allachka3 on March 18th 2008 at 11:56am
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I bought something natural and similar to this at Camping World. It came in handy for the pit toilets we were going to encounter at our Lake Tahoe campsite.

posted by wig3000 on March 18th 2008 at 12:32pm
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they have all kinds of scents on this amazon.com page. i love the orange mate stuff! learned about it while working at a pet store... safe and effective! all i have ever used since. :)

posted by AimeeRoo on March 18th 2008 at 12:37pm
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You can also find orangemate and other earth-friendly products at: http://www.gaiam.com/product/eco-home-outdoor/household/cleaners/mist air freshener.do

posted by deneph on March 18th 2008 at 1:31pm
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Gelson's Supermarket in So. Cal has stocked this for years.

posted by scarlethue on March 18th 2008 at 1:59pm
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yes i remember that from my childhood. tjs (trader joes)

posted by lexoo on March 18th 2008 at 2:19pm
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Is TJ's where it's found in NYC as well? I can't make myself spend $6 in shipping for a $7 product, even though grapefruit is my favorite scent in the universe.

posted by Cassis on March 18th 2008 at 2:38pm
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Oh yes, I love this stuff! I have the Orange flavor. It's delicious-smelling.

posted by mmadden on March 18th 2008 at 2:39pm
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I'm sure someone markets aerosol cozies to mask the offensive packaging...

posted by Rebecca_South on March 18th 2008 at 3:25pm
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lol






I take 100% orange juice (not from concentrate)... matter of fact I hire my Southamerican neighboor's old organic mother (White people aren't organic enough) to squeeze organic oranges I grow with gray water and my own composted trash; put the juice in a 100% recycled spray bottle and spray my 85 sq foot apartment with it to cover up any of my composts' smells.














want to eat an orange? eat an orange. want to smell an orange? cut an orange and smell it. want to cover up nasty smells? clean your fking house.

posted by Djluckyonline on March 18th 2008 at 5:30pm
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Some industrial cleaners are pure limonene, which is the 'oil' that gives oranges their smell. It is used as an ozone-safe cleaner for electronics, spot remover, sticker remover, as active ingredient in paint strippers...

Being made from citrus peels, it is not cheap though. I use some of the spot remover it as a freshener sometimes.

The big can of sticker remover is used for cleaning jobs, as it doesn't list all ingredients.

posted by Jute Zak on March 18th 2008 at 10:40pm
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Djlucky, a house with a (temporary) smell is not necessarily dirty.

Also, I don't think you meant "In lieu," which means 'instead,' Maxwell.

posted by Jon_B on March 19th 2008 at 6:03am
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We've been using Pure Citrus for a few years now, and we love it. (Still not attractive packaging, but that's why it stays hidden in the cupboard).

http://purecitrus.com/

posted by als1 on March 19th 2008 at 8:56am
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