Word of warning, do NOT use Fabreeze in vent air fresheners. I have no clue what happened. I never use air freshener's, but my wife bought a pack and they smelled great so I figured what the hell.

Fast forward to last night and I'm cleaning my dash. Take off the air freshener and notice what looks like a glue blob. I go to clean it off and wipe off about 1/4 inch of my Navi surround. Its almost like the it melted from the heat or from a chemical reaction of something that possibly leaked out. Now I have 1/4 inch gouge taken out of my dash right near the vent. Just wanted to give everybody a heads up.

These are the air fresheners:
Purchase the Febreze Car Air Freshener for less at Walmart.com. Save money. Live better.

And here is a pic:

 

Crap, sorry this happened to your ride. I personally never use them, I just clean the car and enjoy the smell of clean car. But I once had to use an odor killer spray in our FX35 due to pickle juice spill in the cargo area. It never completely went away.

 

Look into the Bad Air Sponge. It works pretty well.

There are cheaper alternatives at your local grocery store cleaning aisle, too. Bed Bath & Beyond has a few other alternatives as well.

I either get the BAS, or one of the cheaper alternatives with "neutral" smells. I'm from the camp that air fresheners should remove odor, not mask it.

 

Yeah dont use that stuff. If it spills a little on a wood table long enough it eats through the finish.
Some colleagues have reported strange respiratory issues or nasuea afterwards as well.

 

Thanks for the heads up. My wife has one of these in her car right now, I'll go check to see if it has done the same thing and report what I find.

 

heh...I have one sitting on my counter. Going to be sitting in the trash soon.

 

I'd drop the company a note, along with the pic. They should know what their product has done to damage your car.

 

Thanks guys. Yeah I sent them an email yesterday. I'm sure they won't do anything for me, but as long as I can keep at least one of you guys from having the same trouble then I'll be happy. My misfortune is small time compared to all the recent accident threads.

 

thanks for the heads up Redpit. I bought 2 of these a couple of weeks ago, but havent yet installed. Looks like to the garbage they will go!

 

Do you use Armor All on your Dash? It looks shiny. I used it on my previous car and it cracked my dash. To freshen my car smell I use Downey Lavendar scented dryer sheets and place them under my front seats. The heat activates the scent.

 

No problem Taviooo.

No i use aerospace 303 (it's like sunscreen for your dash), i think the flash just made it look shiny. That's a good idea with the dryer sheet though.

 

Thank you for the warning. I personally luv fabreeze air freshners and was thinking about using the car vents as well but not anymore.

 

Maybe they'll make it right? I've never trusted the clip on air fresheners, but my mom's used them for years and never had a problem. Unless it states somewhere on the packaging not to let it come in contact with plastics (which I HAVE seen), there should be some culpability on the company's part

 

303 is very good. I use it on the dash and all interior plastic surfaces for protection. I also use it on the wheels. But if you put too much it can look shiny.

 

I learned once even a regular car wash air freshener, it ruined a car I had.
Made the mistake of hanging from turn signal, it rubbed against the dash it was scorched looking.
Ever since then, I will only buy sprays for the carpet.
No more black ice air freshener for me.