A Bath & Body Works customer is sounding the alarm on the brand’s wallflowers. He claims that the popular Bath & Body Works’ air freshener plug-in “mutated,” resulting in $1,000 worth of damage.
In a recent viral video, TikToker Matthew Lush (@matthewlush) issues his warning.
“Girl, this Bath & Body Works Wallflower literally mutated on me and destroyed my thousand-dollar dresser,” he claims, as he shows viewers the Wallflower in question.
The top part of the wallflower appears to contain tiny strands. Viewers claim the strands look like fiberglass. It’s unclear how exactly his dresser was affected. But he says he got in contact with Bath & Body Works.
“They don’t know what happened and can’t really do anything other than give me a coupon to buy another wallflower,” he says.
He says he refused the offer.
“I don’t want this to happen again because, like, what if this lit on fire? Like, look at these crystals. Like, what?” he questions before posing a question to viewers. “Does anyone know why this would happen?”
“I’m just glad that me and my dogs are safe and my house didn’t, like, burn to the ground, ‘cause this is literally crazy,” he remarks.
Similar experiences
The viral video has 40,000 views and hundreds of comments. Many shared similar experiences with Bath & Body Works’s wallflowers.
“I had one literally strip the paint off my wall,” one viewer shared.
“Yup. I refuse to buy them after one fell out of my plug and the oil ate my countertop,” one viewer commented.
One viewer shared, “Mine burned the paint off my wall.”
Another added, “I had one leak while plugged in and there was a charger under the charger fell apart. They offered me a replacement, I never replied to them.”
Some viewers shared their suspicions of what may have happened with the leaking or melting.
“It was dry burning, I believe this is fiberglass. You should wear a mask and wipe down every surface in your room,” one viewer suggested.
@matthewlush Hours on the phone with @Bath & Body Works and not one single person can tell me why this happened?!? #fyp #bathandbodyworks #gonewrong #wallflower #issues #help #wtf ♬ original sound – SpongeBob background music
What is fiberglass?
According to the Illinois Department of Health, fiberglass “is a type of man-made vitreous fiber that may also be called fibrous glass or glass wool…The primary fiber-forming substance in fiberglass is glass.”
The Illinois Department of Health reports that exposure to fiberglass can cause temporary irritation in the eyes, nose, or throat, as well as itching and irritation when the fibers get stuck in the skin. However, these effects are temporary and go away after exposure ends.
Some viewers warned Lush to use caution while cleaning up the material. One viewer said, “definitely fiberglass please be safe when cleaning up.”
Fiberglass Free recommends folks “wear thick rubber gloves to protect your hands from fiberglass abrasions, as well as a respirator” when cleaning up fiberglass strands. It suggests using a lint roller to capture loose strands, followed by a vacuum.
Redditors weigh in
Lush isn’t the only consumer who has had faulty experiences with the wallflower plug-in. Even on Reddit threads, users shared frustrations with their wallflowers leaking and asked for trouble-solving advice.
User CriticismDelicious62 shared, “Somehow my wallflower is releasing this brown sticky liquid that smells like the wallflower scent!”
Another user, Original-Inside9660, responded, “I had the same thing and threw it away. I asked the BBW worker, and she said those plugs should be replaced every year, especially if used daily. I didn’t think about asking them to replace it.”
On one thread, a user shared that their wallflower plug was on fire.
For these reasons, many viewers in Lush’s comments explained why they don’t buy the product anymore, also citing that the wallflowers are bad for pets.
“That’s exactly why I don’t buy those. Plus, there’s a chemical in them that is bad for animals,” one viewer shared.
Another added, “Yeah, that’s crazy. I stopped using wallflowers multiple years ago. They were giving me headaches. There are a lot of chemicals in them, and they are actually really harmful for humans and animals.”
Concerns for pet owners
According to Poll To Pastern, “The Bath and Body Works Wallflower is a plug-in air freshener that has received negative feedback from pet owners. Despite their pretty packaging and heavenly scents, they are not safe to be continuously used throughout the day.”
They claim that “many pet owners have reported the scents’ adverse reactions to cats and dogs. The toxins produced by the Wallflower caused pets, especially cats and birds, to constantly vomit.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Matthew Lush via TikTok and to Bath & Body Works via email for comment.
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