Azuna is an odor eliminator and air freshener brand. The company markets its offerings as healthier alternatives to air freshener spray and car air fresheners.
But is Azuna actually a healthier option than traditional air fresheners? What’s Azuna made of? Is Azuna better or worse than Febreze? And what was our Product Tester's honest experience trying it for a month?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Azuna to give our take on whether or not it's likely to improve air freshness, and whether or not it's healthy.
We’ll compare its ingredients to Febreze, explain which Azuna packaging option is safer, and share our Product Tester's experience trying Azuna air freshener for a month.
Key takeaways:
- We can't find any evidence this kills germs in air
- We consider Azuna healthier than traditional air fresheners
- We do not currently recommend Azuna
Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients in Azuna are shown below:
The first red flag about this brand is the failure to clearly define all ingredients on the product page. We don’t understand what “a light fragrance” is supposed to mean.
On the brand’s FAQ page, the company claims to use a blend of essential oils that vary based on the scent.
If so, they should clearly publish which essential oils are used on the product page for each scent, because this is important for consumer safety.
Tea tree oil does have antimicrobial properties, suggesting it can reduce bacterial levels, according to a medical review published in the Clinical Microbiology Reviews journal.
However, we can’t find any evidence that tea tree oil kills germs in the air when used in an aerosol or room freshener. Most of the clinical trials we came across on tea tree oil were in test tubes or on skin.
The brand does not cite any medical evidence on their product page showing that tea tree oil kills ambient germs.
We likely have no issues with the other ingredients, although we'd prefer if Azuna clearly publishes what the "binder/thickener" ingredient is.
Overall, Azuna may make the air smell better since that’s a subjective determination, but we can’t find any evidence that it actually cleans or purifies the air.
For consumers that do purchase from Azuna, we recommend the glass jars over the plastic jars.
We Tested Azuna
One of our product testers named Jodie Steinberg tested Azuna air freshener for a month.
Here's her experience:
The product was very easy to use. You simply open the plastic package with the freshener inside, squeeze it into the jar and close the jar lid.
I didn't like that the jar is see through on the sides, so you can see the liquid freshener inside, which has the consistency of a thick moisturizer.
To ensure it comes out nicely and evenly, I would squeeze it out in a swirling motion, like how you would squeeze a frozen yogurt into a cup.
The scent was very strong for about a month. It smelled like strong laundry detergent. As time went on, the smell became less intense and did not fill up the entire room.
The product worked really well in a small space like a bathroom, but in a larger area like a living room, I could not really smell it permeating throughout the room.
After about two weeks, the smell became more tame where I would have to pick up the jar and sniff it to smell the scent.
Whereas when I first used it, the smell was so strong that you could close the bathroom door and when you would go in later, the entire room smelled like the fragrance.
I like that it is non-aerosol and it does last a long time. The smell may not be to everyone’s liking. It was very intense at first and very soapy with a detergent-like scent.
I did not experience any side effects.
Overall, I would rate Azuna 8/10, but I would only recommend it for smaller rooms.
Is Azuna Healthier Than Febreze?
The ingredients in Febreze AIR Mountain scent are shown below:
Fragrances is listed as an ingredient, and triethanolamine is one of the fragrance chemicals used.
This compound is “irritating to the skin, eyes and respiratory tract” according to a medical review published in the Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology journal.
Benzisothiazolinone is a preservative that’s toxic to lung cells according to a 2023 clinical trial.
Overall, we consider Azuna to be a much healthier alternative to traditional air fresheners.
Questionable Website Health Claims
There are several uncited health claims on Azuna’s website that we consider to be questionable from a scientific perspective.
The company claims to eliminate odors rather than masking them, but provides no proof or citation for this claim:
The company also claims to be an “air purifier,” which is defined in clinical research as a device that reduces fine particulate matter in air.
Azuna provides no proof or citation that their product(s) reduce fine particulate matter from the air:
We don’t understand how Azuna can make these specific health claims if their products have not been clinically proven to have these effects.
We recommend that consumers exercise caution when considering purchasing from companies that make health claims without providing clinical evidence to back those health claims.
Azuna Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Healthier than most air freshener brands
- May use entirely essential oils for fragrance
- Our Product Tester liked the scent
- Our Product Tester said she would purchase it again
- Affordable (per-use)
Cons:
- We can’t find any clinical evidence this product actually purifies air
- Brand fails to clearly list all fragrance ingredients on product page
- Brand website contains questionable health claims
- We can’t find any evidence that tea tree oil kills ambient germs
- May not be as effective in larger rooms based on our tests
