This Just In: Let's Clear The Air

If The Walls Could Hold Their Breath ...

Paint that absorbs the smell

of the fish you fried last night? Apparently, it's on its way.

Dutch Boy's new Refresh line incorporates "Arm & Hammer odor eliminating technology," which is said to capture yucky smells and lock them into the paint film. This one I haven't tested.

The press kits say scrubbing the painted walls won't free the stinks (Imagine!), but the odor-absorbing capacity will diminish over time. And the paint is made without Volatile Organic Compounds, an effort at greenliness.

Look for Refresh in a variety

of finishes at your favorite paint store come fall. Prices start at about $23 a gallon.

Bear

Necessities

Beantowne Bears win the prize for most unusual air freshener. They're stuffed animals dipped in soy wax and fragrance, then refluffed to perch wherever you'd perch a stuffed bear, bunny, moose or snowman. There, they'll cutely scent a room for up to four months.

Choose from 30 fragrances, including Georgia peach and plumeria. They're $17.99 at www.whipcity candle.com, click on Soy Dipped Friends.

Therapy For The Nose

A subtle, sweet scent

can help lighten your mood and even ease you into slumber. That's the theory behind Slatkin & Co.'s stylish new Scentportables and Scentport Night-Lights.

Scentportables ($5) require no batteries and clip to a car sun visor or sit on a closet shelf to gently scent the air in a smallish space. Vanilla-Coconut gives my car just enough fragrance to remind me of a day at the beach.

Plug in the nightlight ($9) and you'll infuse the air with the mingled scents of pineapple orchid and jasmine.

Both are available at Bath & Body Works.

Soak Up

That Stink

What's the worst lingering odor you can think of? Skunk? Mildew? Smoke? Sprinkle the offending surface with Odorzout granules, let them work overnight, then vacuum them up or shake them out. No more smell.

Odorzout products are all-natural, nontoxic and work on just about any stink you've got, according to press materials.

I tried it on some pretty powerful shoes and by morning, they were safe enough to kick off in the office.

An 850-gram container of All Surface Granules is $12.99. The line also includes laundry additives and products for pet smells; find them at True Value, Ace Hardware and PetSmart stores, or www.88stink.com.

Penny Carnathan