10 Best Car Air Freshener to Get Your Car Smelling Fresh And Clean

If you’re like most of us, then you probably spend considerable time in your car on any given day, especially as you drive to work and back, run errands, hang out with friends, and so on. As such, it’s only right to take care of it so it feels like an extension of your home.

However, it’s also not uncommon for unpleasant smells to accumulate in your car as time passes for whatever reason. But, the good thing is, there’s always an easy fix. With a good air freshener, your car can go back to smelling fresh and clean!

Here is a complete review and buying guide of the best car air fresheners to help you find the best one for your car, so you don’t have to worry about bad odors and just enjoy the wonderful scents and fragrances that your car will be enveloped in no time at all.

Read also related articles: Best tire shine, best cabin air filter, best interior car cleaners, and car wash soap alternatives.

10 Best Car Air Freshener

Take a look at these ten best car air fresheners that are sure to effectively get rid of bad odors and weird smells, and replace them with wonderful scents and fragrances that will make your car smell and feel like paradise.

I’ve taken the time to find and review lots of different options for you to choose from, such as hanging air fresheners, cans, aerosol sprays, and more, so you can easily find the best car air freshener for you!

1.  Yankee candle car jar ultimate air freshener

My first pick is the Yankee candle car jar ultimate air freshener, a three piece pack of hanging mini jars filled with very nice scents and smells that will make your car feel like nothing short of home. It’s even available in various scent combinations for you to choose from.

Some of the best scents include new car scent, midsummer’s night, sun and sand, black cherry, bahama breeze, and apple pumpkin. You can also order these in bigger car jar ultimate packs if you really like a particular scent and want it to last longer.

Alternatively, you may opt to purchase fragrance refills once you run out of the scents you like. It’s all affordable, and comes in a durable and nice packaging that makes it suitable for gifting to friends and family.

2.  Happy Wax scented car cub air freshener

Taking the second spot is the Happy Wax scented car cub air freshener, which is a four-piece bear-shaped hanging air freshener for vehicles and other enclosed spaces. It’s cute and colorful, and comes in lots of different colors and scent combinations, such as classic, beach, coastal tide, and more.

Each car cub is infused with natural essential oils to give off those wonderful smells and fragrances that are sure to greet you every time you open your car doors. And, the fragrance lasts pretty long, too!

These air fresheners are pretty and affordable and are highly suitable not just for automotive, but also for other small interiors such as closets, laundry areas, bathrooms, and so on. If you want adorable looking air fresheners that pack a punch, these are your best bet.

3.  Febreze car air freshener- linen and sky

Ranking third is the Febreze car air freshener- linen and sky, a pack of five heavy-duty car vent clip air fresheners that are easy to use, lasts for a long time, and are guaranteed to keep your car smelling wonderfully fresh at all times.

We all know the wonders of Febreze, and this air freshener has twice the odor eliminating powers of their typical spray, all in a tiny package. It has that crisp and clean linen and sky scent too, so not only will this get rid of unpleasant smells, but replace them with homey ones.

Plus, this air freshener is easy to use, since you just need to clip it onto the car vent. And, you can even adjust the intensity of the scent coming out, depending on how much odor you want to mask, or if you don’t want the air freshener to be too overpowering.

4.  Little Trees car air freshener

Ranking fourth is the Little Trees car air freshener, the classic and typical car air freshener in the shape of a Christmas tree. It comes in many different scents and fragrances, such as lavender, green apple, leather, bubblegum, carribean, linen, and new car scent.

Plus, you can order it as a single piece, or as a pack of three or more, maybe even more than sixty pieces if you just really love the scent and want to stock up for the unforeseeable future. That’s not saying that you’ll need a lot, because each piece lasts a long time.

Customers generally seem to love and swear by this car freshener, and who wouldn’t? It smells great, lasts long, reminds us of the good old days, and comes at a dirt-cheap price tag that won’t make you think twice about buying.

5.  Purggo activated bamboo charcoal air freshener

I also found this really interesting car freshener that looks a bit like a mini travel pillow. The Purggo activated bamboo charcoal air freshener is a BIG air freshener and odor eliminator that you hang behind the front seat and let it do the hard work for you.

It’s chemical-free and made of 100% bamboo charcoal that’s naturally designed to absorb and eliminate foul odors, keeping the air in your car clean and smelling fresh at all times. And since it doesn’t use any chemicals, it’s safe for everyone, people and pets alike!

Plus, it’s superiorly long-lasting and will work great for up to 365 days, all for the price of two typical air fresheners that give you about a week’s worth of fragrance each. It’s excellent, sustainable, long-lasting, and affordable!

6.  Car Cuties cute cat car air freshener

You might also want to try out the Car Cuties cute cat car air freshener, cute and super adorable cat designed hanging air freshener that’s made with your style in mind. These pretty and long-lasting car fresheners will keep your car filled with awesome fragrances all day long.

Some of the many fragrance options you can choose from include rose, black frost, chocolate, citrus, coffee, floral garden, fresh pine, jasmine, ocean breeze, pina colada, and midnight suede, and you’ll get three air fresheners for the price of one.

What’s more is that for every purchase of these car fresheners, you’ll also be contributing towards a good and worthy cause, since a part of the proceeds automatically goes to PAWS Chicago. Not only will your car smell good, but you’ll also be helping animals in need as well!

7.  Little Trees fiber can car air freshener

Another one from Little Trees and this time in a standard can type air freshener is the Little Trees fiber can car air freshener, which gives you an even longer-lasting scent than many other car fresheners on the market.

And, even with that long-lasting scent, it comes at pretty much the same price or less than those hanging type air fresheners, so you’re really getting the most bang for your buck. The can lid is even adjustable, so you can get the right scent intensity that you want.

It even comes in many different scents and fragrances, such as black ice, carribean colada, cherry blast, green apple, jasmine, summer linen, new car scent, and lavender, so you definitely won’t run out of options to choose from.

8.  Meguiar’s whole car odor eliminator air freshener

Next up is the Meguiar’s whole car odor eliminator air freshener, an air refresher and odor eliminator mist that brings back that distinct new car scent. It’s an aerosol spray-type freshener that you use once to permanently get rid of any lingering car odors.

This intense and heavy duty spray works hard in reaching the crevices of your vehicle interiors to effectively eliminate any foul odors and replace them with that new car scent that made you want to buy your car in the first place.

The new and lovely scent will also last pretty long, so you don’t have to worry about your car smelling weird again anytime soon. All in all, it’s a great product that you should definitely consider trying out.

9.  Chemical Guys AIR_101_16 new car smell premium air freshener

Another spray type car air freshener is the Chemical Guys AIR_101_16 car air freshener and odor eliminator, which comes in two spray bottle sizes depending on your needs. Much like the Meguiar’s, it also gives your vehicle that new car smell.

It’s a premium air freshener that is specially formulated with natural enzymes and unique fragrances designed to effectively eliminate bad odors and give your car a pleasant fragrance that will last for a long time.

Moreover, it’s also really affordable- one bottle is priced the same as most hanging air fresheners that only last for a couple of weeks. But with this one, just a single spray will work for your entire car!

10.  BOQAY scented charm new ride auto air freshener

BOQAY scented charm new ride auto air freshener, which is a hanging air freshener that will give your car that new ride smell and keep it that way for up to a month. It even comes as a set of twelve individually packed fresheners, so you’ll have a year-long supply.

The reason why it lasts for such a long time as compared to many other air fresheners out there is that it’s made with the patented solid fragrance technology. And, it’s packed well, so no scent leaks before you even open the package.

One more reason you might like this is that even though it’s meant to be hung on your car mirror, the strap length is adjustable so you can hang it in such a way that it’s hidden from view rather than being a distracting eyesore.

The Best Car Air Freshener Buying Guide

We’ve all experienced foul smelling odors inside our vehicles at some point, perhaps due to spills, smelly food, cheap perfumes, or countless other reasons. But, a car air freshener is a great way to solve this problem.

There’s just one thing. How do you make the decision on which is the best car air freshener? From the hundreds of available scents and fragrances alone, choosing one is an almost impossible task.

In order to help you out, here are the most important things that you need to consider when buying a car air freshener that will give you the best value for your money and will have your car smelling great for a long time to come:

Type of car air freshener

The first thing you need to consider is perhaps what type of car air freshener you’d prefer best, which depends on how quickly you want to notice its effects, whether you can adjust how intense the fragrance will be, where you’d like to place it, and so on.

Mirror hanging

The most common type of air freshener that you’re most definitely familiar with is the mirror hanging type, which usually looks like a Christmas tree, although nowadays they come in many cute variations too.

These are easy, no-frills, odor masking and fragrance releasing car fresheners. You just hang them up and leave them be. Although, while they are cheap, they also don’t last as long, and are actually made illegal in some states, since they somewhat block the windshield.

Can

Another common type of car air freshener is the can, which you just open and store anywhere in the car. They last pretty long too, and are affordable, and in most cases you can even adjust the opening size of the lid to influence the intensity of the fragrance being released.

Vent clip on

There are also those air fresheners that are designed to be clipped on your car’s vent, and have different settings to let you determine the fragrance intensity you want. They also work fast since they are right in front of the vent, and last considerably long.

Car plug in

You might not be as familiar with these, but some car air fresheners are designed to be plugged into car lighter or charger in order to heat up and release essential oils that give off those wonderful smells. They just take a bit more effort, cost more, and don’t last as long.

Aerosol spray

Of course, you can also find spray on air fresheners and odor eliminators, especially if your car is in bad need of a quick fix. These ones will actually eliminate bad odors and leave a nice fresh scent afterwards, though it’s not really the best option for those with allergies.

Odor elimination vs fragrance

You also need to decide what’s your priority. Sure, an air freshener “freshens up” the air and makes it smell good, but is the good smell really what you want, or do you just want the bad smell to go away?

For example, if your car is particularly foul smelling for whatever reason, aside from a deep cleaning session, you need to invest in an air purifier and odor eliminator to actually get rid of these foul odors.

Otherwise, if you’d just like an extra pleasant fragrance, a typical perfumed air freshener would suit just fine. Just remember, while they release nice scents, they don’t eliminate bad odor, rather, they just mask them.

Things to consider before buying the best car air freshener

Aside from ones I’ve already mentioned, there are a few other things that you also need to take into account before you buy an air freshener. These include the scent, longevity, ingredients, and price of the car air freshener.

Scent

This is perhaps your most daunting task as of yet when it comes to choosing the best car air freshener since there are just way too many scents to choose from. My tip is to go with something familiar, simple, and not too overpowering.

That’s so you don’t get tired of the fragrance after a short while, or just come to hate the scent altogether. And more importantly, familiar scents make you remember the good times and make your car feel at home.

Longevity

As much as possible, you’d want to go with something that will last you for a long time, so you don’t have to keep replacing the air freshener every now and then, and so you make the most value for your money- even if the air freshener costs less than ten dollars.

To give you an idea, when it comes to odor elimination, aerosol sprays leave the longest lasting effects, while for fragrance, cans are your best bet. Although of course this still depends on the brand and manufacturer, so be sure to check the product reviews before buying.

Ingredients

It’s also a smart idea to check the list of ingredients used in making the air freshener, since these will affect how long the scent will last, what kinds of fragrances you’ll get, and whether it’s potentially irritating or allergy-causing.

Generally, you want to stay away from perfume based car fresheners, and use aerosol only if you don’t plan on driving your car immediately afterward. And, don’t be afraid to try out chemical-free and natural alternatives.

Price

The good thing about car air fresheners is that they come cheap, oftentimes even as a multiple set so you’ll always have replacements at the ready. That said, don’t just go for the cheapest options, but find ones that are good quality and long-lasting as well.

Overview

If you love to eat and drink in your car (non-alcoholic, of course), or you often find yourself smoking while driving down the road- perhaps to try and cope with traffic and road rage, or you always have a pet on board and he’s made a mess one time too many…

Or if your car just smells somewhat off for some reason, then it’s time to invest in a car air freshener, so you can bring back that wonderful car smell instead of breathing in foul odors.

The best car air freshener is what cleans up bad smells and odors in your car and replaces them with wonderful scents and fragrances. And for that, my best recommendation for you is the Yankee candle car jar ultimate air freshener. It’s cute, it smells great, and it lasts long!