Please make "fragrance-free" a filter

[Brian450]

There is now a HUGE number of people who are fragrance-sensitive or have MCS. I'm one of them.

The odours of conventional cleaning products, air fresheners, dryer sheets, etc. make me sick. They give me headaches, burning eyes, feelings of tightness and tingling, respiratory irritation, heart palpitations, nausea, dry mouth and many other symptoms. I've had more than one vacation ruined by fragranced bedrooms that were making me ill. Surveys indicate that about one-third of the population in the US and other countries is fragrance-sensitive or has MCS or prefers fragrance-free spaces.

Please AirBnB stop ignoring this incredibly large group of people. You currently have filters for 13 different accessibility features. Could you PLEASE add another one, "fragrance-free"? Fragrance-free properties actually exist, it's just that you can't easily find them, at least not on the airbnb site itself. (Google search can be used as a workaround, but it's far from perfect.) Thanks!

[Linda3636]

Do a search in your area for fragrance-free laundry detergent. Choose fragrance-free rather than unscented. When a product is un-scented, that means they've added even more toxic chemicals to drown out the scents of other toxic chemical additives. Whereas fragrance-free means it's free of fragranced chemicals altogether.

Using a small amount of white vinegar instead of liquid fabric softener helps eliminate even more toxic fragranced chemicals. Once it dries, the vinegar smell is gone. Using wool dryer balls in the dryer rather than dryer sheets eliminates even more toxins.

[Lorna116]

I have MCS and I have to agree that the list made by Brian is a non starter. He would need to go to an Airbnb that specifically caters to MCS people. No one else is going to touch that list. I have successfully stayed at a couple of places and the hosts tried their best and they did a pretty great job. One had some scented shower gel in the shower stall but I wasn't terribly bothered by it. The other had some scented bar soap in the bathroom, we bagged it up in a plastic bag.  People with severe MCS are not likely to find a place they can safely stay unless it is one of the ones that caters to MCS. 
I gave both hosts an excellent rating. 
I have been back to one of them and will return to the other at some point. 
It does take a lot of work to find places that will be mostly okay to stay in. 
I think a filter could be made as there are places that are fragrance free and chemical free, and they say that, it is just one has to scroll through an awful lot of listings to find them. 

[Brian450]

Lorna you misunderstood me. When I said "Other soft accommodations I would like to see:" I meant that I would like to see checkboxes for these on AirBnB so that hosts are encouraged to communicate them to potential guests. I did not mean to say that I expect all of them in one location. Hosts that offer them could communicate them, that's all, enabling sensitive people with different needs to better find a short list of potential places to stay.

Some people for example, even outside of MCS, are extremely noise sensitive. Why not give them a couple of filters to locate properties that might work best for them?

The larger point that I'm trying to make here is that AirBnB's amenities are painfully biased towards conventional tastes, which are covered and catered to in almost comical detail. You need "baking sheets" (as if these could not be brought by a baking enthusiast)? We got you covered! You can't live without "wine glasses"? No problem, there's a checkbox for that too. 

I'd like AirBnB to hear the message that there is a HUGE amount of people who have different needs, priorities and values, and that it's time to help them find what they need.

[Cheryll7]

I also asked them to allow us to search for a space with "no dogs allowed". Currently, they only have a  checkbox to select wanting them, but not "not" wanting them.  So someone may search for a place that allows pets, but I can't search for one that doesn't. That forces me to click on and search the whole post to see if it mentions dogs. 😕  I don't think it should be so difficult for them to add a few more checkboxes that would satisfy a huge clientele, those with allergies/aversions.

Thanks for getting this conversation started Brian. Will they listen?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Cheryll7  unfortunately, even no-pets listings have to accept service animals (until a few months ago even so-called emotional support animals) and guests don't even have to tell they are bringing the dog. I suppose that's why there is no such filter

[Pam1839]

MCS noted in a host listing?  I am not aware of that although I don't use this platform a lot for hosting.

[Lorena676]

Curious about this: Is there any technology or gadget to ensure that your property remains fragrance-free? 

[Mary1523]

I like your idea of soft accomodations and sympathise with your situation. You have certainly alerted me to the fact that I have scented candles, reed stick oils all over my property. Awareness is a good thing.

I guess us hosts do this to alleviate stale smells, or previous guest cooking smells or body odour etc. We also run an air purifier in one bedroom where we had a dead rat in the ceiling insulation once upon a time and short of replacing all the insulation and lifting up the roof,  that's the best we can do. We also have charcoal bags all around the place. And then my cleaner might spray glen 20 or we use bleach to get rid of the mould in shower wells because the guests never turn on the bathroom fan or open the shower doors to let it air dry. And don't let me get started on paint, decor, flooring, mattresses, garden chemicals storage. So I don't think I would be ticking any soft accomodations box, even though we are  eco friendly, with solar, EV charger, bamboo toilet paper, minimal single use packaging, enviro house cleaning chemicals (which do smell like lemons) etc. 

So, soft accomodations would be an opt in category, but I think a very small market. And as another host replied, this costs money. Are you willing to pay more for this? If hosts choose to provide their property to meet such stringent requirements, then good on them, and whether Airbnb thinks its a market enough to add such features (and then have to manage it) is up to them. Perhaps this is an opportunity for a different accomodation platform that specialises in this instead? 

By the way sleeping area being made dark, its catered for with black out blinds selection.

And I also agree with other host, that when I get special requests related to the house, 99% of the time it ends up being a problematic booking and I wished I hadn't taken it and I get the 4 star kiss of death. People with exacting expectations beyond what they pay for annoys the hell out of me. It's why I have a very long list of 'things to note' and I can point to that if they complain that the 'lighting is old' (see note dear guest, its preloved/vintage home) for example....

[Kate867]

@Brian450   In an ideal world we would all be able to get exactly what we want but without going into detail, I essentially agree with @Anonymous s very well thought out comments.  I do appreciate that it must be like hunting for a ‘Unicorn’ when looking for the perfect listing that complies with all your requirements and all I can do is suggest that like a number of my guests, you message prior to booking and ask the host if they can avoid the use of certain products prior to your arrival.  We always ask our guests if they have any special requirements and do out best to accommodate them.

[Brian450]

Kate just because several options could be offered by AirBnB to describe attributes sought by sensitive people does not mean that I or anyone else for that matter seek all of them simultaneously.

We don't seek or need unicorns. We mostly need short-term rentals without dryer sheet or air freshener odors. Everything else is bonus.

We don't ask people who want conventional amenities to "hunt" for them. I can search right now for properties matching "crib", "iron" and "hair dryer", and find the 181 properties listed on AirBnB that satisfy these requirements. The people who need this specific combination of things are not being required to individually contact hundreds or thousands of hosts and individually ask. I just want the same thing.

If conventional amenities and luxuries are searchable in exquisite detail, then it's not too much to ask to have a box to search for "no air fresheners used" and "unscented linens".

It matters not just because it's a convenience for guests. It matters because it demonstrates to hosts that this is important. More hosts will reconsider their use of air fresheners and scented laundry detergents if AirBnB educates them on this issue by supporting no air fresheners used and unscented linens as an amenity.

[Mark116]

@Brian450   You are  missing the point that 'iron' is a specific thing, there is either an iron or not.  Noise, air quality, healthy mattress and fragrance free are subjective.  

[Brian450]

Only when you phrase them the way you just did. These things can be phrased much more specifically, and then they become specific and objective. I've already suggested 

"no air fresheners used" and "unscented linens".

Whether the host sprays Febreze or not, or has Glade plugins installed, is a specific and objective thing, just like whether there is an iron in the rental or not.

Likewise, the laundry detergent used on the linens is not a matter of opinion. Is it 7th Generation Free & Clear, or Tide, or perhaps even Fabuloso? These are objective differences, and for about a third of the population, they can make-or-break the experience. 

[Lyssa407]

Amen!

[Brian450]

Whether a mattress is "healthy" is indeed subjective, but whether it's "certified organic" is not. 

[Lana913]

Fragrance free is not subjective! Neither is air quality or a healthy matress