Commercial air fresheners for large areas: a guide to long-lasting odour control

4th October 2024·Hints & Tips

Maintaining a fresh and inviting atmosphere is crucial for any business that wants to make a lasting impression on customers and employees alike. Whether you’re managing a shopping centre, retail store, hotel, or any large space with high foot traffic, the presence of unpleasant odours can quickly undermine the overall experience in your building. For this reason, you must consider the most suitable commercial air fresheners for large areas to assist in maintaining an odour-free environment. 

The inside of a shopping centre in the UK.

In this guide, we’ll explore why odour control is crucial in large commercial spaces, the challenges of maintaining freshness, factors to consider, the benefits of automatic air fresheners in large spaces and how NWR can help.

Why odour control is crucial in large commercial spaces

Odour control is critical in large commercial spaces because it influences the comfort and overall experience of those inside the building. A fresh-smelling commercial space is more likely to attract and retain customers than one with strong, unpleasant odours.

Unpleasant smells also lead to negative perceptions of a business. The constant exposure to foul odours can drive away customers, employees or guests and negatively impact the reputation of a business.

Odour control is important for a variety of different reasons across different industries. For example, in shopping centres, or highly competitive retail stores, bad odours can lead to a decline in customer satisfaction and discourage people from returning, resulting in a decrease in foot traffic and negatively impacting sales.

In office buildings, unpleasant odours can cause discomfort among employees, reducing their focus levels, lowering morale and increasing rates of employee turnover. In hotels, bad smells can damage their reputation by leading to poor reviews which deter future guests.

The challenges of maintaining freshness in high-traffic areas

Maintaining fresh smells in high-traffic areas presents several challenges due to the constant flow of people and the accumulation of odour-causing factors.

These areas are exposed to a wide range of odour sources, including dirt, sweat, moisture and food. As people continuously bring in odour-causing particles, it can be difficult for cleaners to maintain a fresh environment without disrupting business operations. As a result, odours can quickly accumulate during busy periods, with cleaning efforts often failing to keep up.

Issues with ventilation can also make odour control difficult. Stale air in enclosed or poorly ventilated high-traffic areas, such as hallways, can trap odours and cause them to linger. This makes even minor odour sources quickly become noticeable problems.

The variety of odour sources in high-traffic areas also further complicates the issue. From cooking smells in food courts to washroom odours and waste disposal areas, large commercial spaces introduce diverse odours, each requiring different approaches to manage.

For these reasons, owners of large commercial spaces often invest in commercial air care products to keep bad odours from affecting people’s overall experience in their buildings.

How commercial air care works

Commercial air care systems are designed to eliminate unpleasant odours, introduce new scents, and create a pleasant environment for customers, employees, and guests. They control odours by combining air filtration, air freshening, and scent dispersion technologies.

Air filtration is often first used to remove particles, dust, and other contaminants from the air. They use filters to trap pollutants and bacteria, preventing them from circulating in the area, reducing the source of unpleasant odours and keeping the air clean and breathable.

Air fresheners and scent dispersion products are then used to release fragrances to mask or eliminate bad odours. This is often accomplished with strategically placed scent diffusers and air fresheners that evenly distribute fragrances throughout large areas. These scents are customisable, allowing businesses to create a distinct fragrance that people will associate with their building.

The interior of a modern luxury hotel reception.

Factors to consider when choosing commercial air fresheners for large areas

Several factors must be considered when choosing an air freshener to ensure the system is effective.

Size of the area

Larger areas, such as shopping centres, hotels, and big offices, require air fresheners with greater coverage capabilities. Standard air fresheners may not have adequate scent distribution. In such cases, you’ll need commercial systems that use multiple air fresheners and powerful distribution fans.

Air circulation

As mentioned earlier, areas with poor ventilation or limited airflow can trap odours, making it difficult for fresh scents to spread. In contrast, well-ventilated areas allow scents to disperse more effectively. As a result, stronger-scented air fresheners will be required in rooms with poor ventilation to counteract the effects of poor airflow, whereas areas with adequate ventilation require more subtle scents.

Scent strength and intensity

When selecting an air freshener, avoid overwhelming people with an overly strong fragrance. It’s preferable to use adjustable air fresheners where you can control the scent intensity based on the size of the room and the level of odour you’re dealing with. Consider the nature of the space – lighter scents may be more appropriate for office environments, whereas stronger fragrances may be better suited for retail stores.

Refill frequency and maintenance

Systems that require frequent refills can be expensive and time-consuming to maintain. Choose an air freshener with large-capacity cartridges or long-lasting refill options to ensure it can operate for an extended period of time without maintenance. Some systems provide automated refill alerts, which can reduce the likelihood of running out unexpectedly.

Benefits of Automatic air fresheners

NWR Commercial Air Freshener.

One of the most common odour control solutions used in large commercial areas is automatic air fresheners. These provide several advantages that are specifically designed for their requirements. This includes:

Continuous fragrance release

Automatic air fresheners release fragrance continuously throughout the day. This ensures that all areas of the building remain scented at all times, regardless of how much traffic passes through the communal areas.

Odour elimination technology

Many automatic air fresheners, including many of our premium air freshener products, use advanced technology to actively eliminate unpleasant odours rather than simply mask them. These systems degrade odour molecules to improve overall air quality and create a cleaner environment, which is especially useful in commercial buildings where multiple sources of odour, such as kitchens and washrooms, exist.

Wide coverage

Automatic air freshener systems are intended to effectively disperse fragrance throughout large commercial spaces, providing a consistent pleasant smell using multiple strategically placed freshener units.

Reduce maintenance efforts

Once installed and programmed, these systems require little maintenance, allowing employees to concentrate on other cleaning and operational duties. Automatic dispensers also don’t need to be refilled as frequently, which saves employees time to focus on other tasks.

Environmental and health considerations

When selecting an air freshener for large commercial spaces, it is essential to consider both health and environmental factors to ensure a safe and sustainable indoor environment.

Many synthetic fragrances can cause allergies or respiratory problems in sensitive people, so it’s critical to choose hypoallergenic products, particularly for air fresheners in high-traffic areas.

Another factor to consider is the air freshener’s chemical composition. Many products contain volatile organic compounds, phthalates, and formaldehyde, which all contribute to both allergies and indoor air pollution.

Therefore, opting for eco-friendly or natural alternatives made from biodegradable ingredients can help businesses reduce health risks within their building, as well as their carbon footprint.

As well as this, choosing products with recyclable or biodegradable packaging can significantly reduce waste in commercial settings where multiple units may be used, thereby improving a business’s sustainability credentials.

At NWR Hygiene, we sell a variety of automatic air freshener products that are free of harmful solvents, propellants, and emissions, and contain 100% recyclable fragrance cartridges.

How NWR can help

Our hassle-free air freshening products provide consistent bursts of fragrance and odour control technology to ensure your environment is pleasant at all times.

We have products to suit a variety of facilities, ranging from our premium Biozone unit that can help to eliminate bacteria and improve air quality by 100%, to our Hygiene Fresca unit that freshens the air in your building on a 60-day cycle.

Alternatively, our NWR Hygiene Aura unit is designed to control odours and microorganisms with advanced technology that efficiently breaks down bacteria and circulates purified air.

To learn more about our automatic commercial air fresheners for large areas, get in touch today.

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