Fresh Wave Odor-Removing Gel Review

We purchased Fresh Wave Odor-Removing Gel so our writer could put it to the test. Keep reading for our full product review.

Everyone has smelly areas of their house, and instead of breaking out the aerosol air freshener spray when your bathroom or trash can starts to smell, it’s often more efficient to use an odor-eliminating product like the popular Fresh Wave Odor-Removing Gel. This odor eliminator is made from all-natural ingredients, and it claims to remove odors from the air not just cover them up. We were curious if a product made from natural ingredients could hold its own against tough odors, so we tested the Fresh Wave Odor-Removing Gel for several weeks in some of the smelliest spots we could find. Read on to see what we discovered. 

Design: Natural ingredients in an unsightly container

We ordered both the 7-ounce Fresh Wave Odor-Removing Gel container and the 63-ounce Refill container. Both of them arrived in similar packaging—brown-tinted plastic jars that were sealed for freshness.  

The 7-ounce jar is meant to be used as a display piece, as its lid has a cut-out design that lets the gel do its thing. However, the container isn’t all that attractive. If it’s meant to be decor, we’d want it to be a little more aesthetically pleasing not just brown plastic.  

The larger refill container is a different story. It has a hinged door on top that lets you pour out gel as needed, and it says you can put the odor-removing material into any open-top container. We actually prefer this method. We wound up putting the gel into prettier jars that match our decor. 

The gel itself is clear and broken up into uneven chunks. They’re squishy and a little wet to the touch, and they give off a subtle fresh odor (though the scent fades over time). The gel is made from water and plant oils such as natural extracts of lime, pine needle, aniseed, clove, and cedarwood. It's earned recognition from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a Safer Choice product, which means its ingredients are safer for both families and the environment. 

Odor Removal: Unbeatable in the bathroom

Fresh Wave recommends putting the gel close to where the odors are strongest, so we put one container on the back of the toilet. According to the Fresh Wave website, one 7-ounce jar can cover up to 200 square feet, and since our bathroom is much smaller than that—rough 70 square feet—we felt confident we weren’t asking too much of the small container. 

In addition to usual toilet odors, my bathroom is also generally home to a pile of dirty laundry that includes my boyfriend’s sweaty work clothes, so it can get quite smelly at times. I wasn’t sure the gel was going to be enough to tackle these odors, but to my pleasant surprise, it worked wonderfully! It managed to keep all the smells under control, ensuring the bathroom never got too stinky. I was especially grateful for this when I hosted a party with several friends—the bathroom is small and was getting a lot of use, but it stayed fresh the whole night.

We also put a small jar of the gel in the cabinet under the kitchen sink, where we keep the trash can and recycling bin. We take the trash out several times a week, so it doesn’t typically smell too bad, but no garbage is completely odorless. If a used can of cat food doesn’t get rinsed out well enough, then that can smell up the little enclosure pretty quickly. We were impressed! With the can of gel in the cabinet, these scents were minimized, and we were never greeted with a wave of gross trash smell when opening the door. 

Power: Works quickly and effectively

What’s great about the Fresh Wave Gel is you can place it and forget about it. Unlike other odor removers, which require you to wash or scrub things, this room-freshener requires no effort to use. 

It worked quickly too. Sure, there was a bit of odor when a fresh batch of sweaty uniforms was dumped in the bathroom, but within a few hours, the odor-eliminator had worked its magic, and the room smelled fresh and clean again.

Longevity: Refill once a month

We used the Fresh Wave Gel in the bathroom for several weeks, and we found that it needed to be topped off after about a month. The gel evaporates over time, so when we saw it was getting low, we refilled it. You can pour it out of the refill container, but we found it easier to use a spoon to scoop it out. Given that roughly 7 ounces of the gel lasts about a month, it’s safe to say the 63-ounce container would last you about 9 months. 

Price: A bit steep 

One of the downsides of the Fresh Wave Odor-Removing Gel is that it’s kind of pricey. The larger refill tub retails for $40, and while it will act as an odor guard for nine months for one room, if you have multiple bathrooms or additional smelly spots, the price creeps up. We were able to justify the purchase due to the product’s safe and natural ingredients, effectiveness, and versatility. 

Fresh Wave Odor-Removing Gel vs. MOSO Natural Air-Purifying Bag: Good for different needs

Another popular all-natural odor eliminator is the MOSO Air-Purifying Bag, which contains activated charcoal. This odorless bag costs just $10, and it can be “rejuvenated” and reused for up to two years. While the MOSO product is a better value than the Fresh Wave Gel, the MOSO Bag takes several days to start combating odors. Similarly, MOSO is only effective in really small spaces (up to 90 square feet).