I have plug-ins all over the house I use the glade oil ones and the Renuz it oil ones. I know there was a recall on the plug-ins about 2 years ago and I looked into it at the time. I think everything is fine now but my dear MIL sent me this e-mail and I wanted to see what you guys had heard....if anything.

I need these in the house because I have 3 cats and a very big dog and I like my house to smell nice when someone walks in and I just like a clean smelling house.

Read the e-mail that was sent to me below and I would love to hear what any of you have to say about it. Thanks.


Friends: My brother and his wife learned a hard lesson this last
week. Their house burned down...nothing left but ashes. They have good
insurance, so the home will be replaced and most of the contents. That
is the good news. However, they were sick when they found out the cause
of the fire.

The insurance investigator sifted through the ashes for several hours.
He had the cause of the fire traced to the master bathroom. He asked my
sister-in-law what she had plugged in the bathroom. She listed the
normal things....curling iron, blow dryer. He kept saying to her, "No,
this would be something that would disintegrate at high temperatures."
Then, my sister-in-law remembered she had a Glade Plug-in in the
bathroom. The investigator had one of those "Aha" moments. He said
that was the cause of the fire. He said he has seen more home fires
started with the plug in type room fresheners than anything else. He
said the plastic they are made from is a THIN plastic. He said in every
case there was nothing left to prove that it even existed. When the
investigator looked in the wall plug, the two prongs left from the
plug-in were still in there.

My sister-in-law had one of the plug-ins that had a small night light
built in it. She said she had noticed that the light would dim....and
then finally go out. She would walk in a few hours later, and the light
would be back on again. The investigator said that the unit was getting
too hot, and would dim and go out rather than just blow the light bulb.
Once it cooled down, it would come back on. That is a warning sign.

The investigator said he personally wouldn't have any type of plug in
fragrance device anywhere in his house. He has seen too many burned
down homes.

Thought I would warn you all. I had several of them plugged in my
house. I immediately took them all down.

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 01:03 pm:

More info here. Listed as "Undetermined" thus far.

Snopes.com - Glade Plug Ins

By Andyjoy on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 01:03 pm:

Check out this link

Snopes

By Andyjoy on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 01:04 pm:

whoops! you beat me

By Andi on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 01:16 pm:

Thank you ladies...I just knew you could help me out! I get so annoyed when my MIL passes around e-mails without checking out the facts first. I know shw means well but...well I'm sure some of you can relate!

By Palmbchprincess on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 07:44 pm:

My first thought was check Snopes, but I just asked Nate, and he said it is a cause of fires. The email circulating is considered undetermined on Snopes, but that may just mean the event described is fictional, but the risk could still real. He said those Plug-ins, and electric razors are known to short and cause fires. Um, I have 2 Plug-ins... why didn't he tell me this before?!?! Either, way I guess the best option is to be cautious when using them. Make sure the oil or insert in the plug-in isn't empty. Andi, have you thought about drops of essential oils in corners to keep that fresh small? Also, we just changed the AC filter, and Nate bought this gel pack at Home Depot that attaches to the filter. Every time our air kicks on the house smells like Vanilla. It's pretty cool!!

By Carolk on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 08:31 pm:

Andi, I have this problem with my mother. She forwards all kinds of stuff to me. Chain-email and hoaxes. I even told her that I won't respond to those chain-emails and she still sends them.

By Kate on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 08:54 pm:

What about night lights?? Think the plastic is too thin on those?

By Andi on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 09:20 pm:

We don't have AC but I do use the gel packs in the winter when we use the heater. I keep a close eye on all the plugins through out the house.
As for essential oils...I don't think I want to deal with that. I like the plugins and will continue using them until I hear some hard evidence against them. I have been using them for years and never had a problem.
Thank you Crystal for the advise but I think I'm addicted to these things.

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, June 16, 2004 - 09:48 pm:

Kate, I have had nightlights plugged in in my house for years and we haven't had a problem. when you come up from the basement and walk through the kitchen, it's so dark after being in the bright basement, so I have a nightlight in the kitchen, so you can see to walk through it on the way to the bedroom.

By Palmbchprincess on Thursday, June 17, 2004 - 10:33 am:

Andi, I'm kind of like you, I like my plug-ins!! I'm just bad about keeping them filled, so Nate went through and unplugged them when they were empty. I guess that's a big part of the hazard. I wouldn't sweat it if I were you. Just be careful! As for the gel packs, I feel like a ditz, I had never seen them before, and thought they were the coolest thing ever!! LOL, shows you how often *I* go to Home Depot!!

By Hol on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 11:09 pm:

I had also heard a few years ago that the oil plug -ins release tiny droplets of oil into the air, that can, over time, coat the lungs and cause lung disease. (For the same reason that you should never put Vaseline or Vicks Vapo-rub in your nose).

Being asthmatic, I'm just very conscious about things like that.