How Important is Fragrance for a Home Care product?

The Importance of Fragrance in a Home Care Product

The sense of smell is the only sense that directly speaks to the part of the brain evoking memories and emotions. Therefore, fragrance equals memories. Think of how quickly the smell of freshly-baked cookies; the unmistakable salty-freshness of the sea; linens still warm from the dryer; and crisp winter air, sprinkled with snowflakes all trigger memories that are deeply imbibed in your psyche. The fragrance you associate as your mother’s unique smell is probably the perfume she applied on her wrists, or the smell of the detergent she used on her clothes.

Why is the sense of smell important?

Why does your brain rewind 20 years when you get a whiff of something familiar? The olfactory sensory neurons placed in your nose link directly to the part of the brain which is closely connected to the amygdala and hippocampus – the parts of the brain that house your emotions and memories! In plain English – if a stranger standing next to you on the subway reminds you of your mother, it could be the Shalimar that she is wearing.

For some time, the sense of smell was underrated, as it was believed that our capacity for it is minimal. However, the sense of smell is one of our most dynamic senses! While our primal ancestors used this oldest sense to hunt for food, we use the same sense to hunt for a hot dog stand. And everyone has had the experience of losing taste sensations because of a stuffy nose. Even a Michelin star culinary delight can taste like saw dust!

Fragrance has the power to trigger happy, sad, nostalgic and even fearful memories. In fact, fragrance has immense power – helping to relieve anxiety and stress; energizing us and prompting happy sensations. Fragrance developers have become experts at creating scents that can delight and awe any customer.

Fragrance in a home care product

Fragrance is a pertinent ingredient to any home care product. Can you imagine your clothes smelling of …well nothing… after a good wash? Our brains are programmed to tell us that a shirt isn’t clean unless it ‘smells’ clean. Even the best laundry detergent, with amazing stain-fighting power, will seem like a job half done without the appropriate detergent fragrance to trigger the smell of “clean”.

Most consumers do not realize that an entire industry devoted to fragrance even exists! Fragrance has become such a part of our daily lives, it’s like paint on the walls – it’s there, you know it’s there, it’s always been there, but you may not even be aware of the impact it has on your mood and feelings.

Therefore, it’s paramount that fragrance used within home care needs to be pleasant and non-volatile. Additionally, the fragrance should have proper longevity. For example, you expect the scent of dishwashing liquid to last while do wash the dishes, but you don’t want to smell it when you place food on your plate. In contrast, a towel taken out of the closet should still have a lingering cozy, fresh-washed smell as when it came out of the dryer.

In this way, home care fragrances manufacturers play a very important role in consumers’ lives. When you stop and think about it, the humble laundry detergent, all-purpose cleaner, detergent fragrance or dishwashing liquid not only needs to do its basic job of cleaning, but also smell great while at it!

Agilex Fragrances

At Agilex, a customer-centric team of industry experts with creative, marketing and development experience, provide customers with a “start-to-finish” fragrance creation experience. Agilex’s process is finely tuned, making the company a preferred partner to several major companies and their brands. Agilex is highly agile and has an on-time shipment rate greater than 99%.