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!

[Kirsten304]

@Airbnb, please make "fragrance free" an option! 

[Brian450]

Just wanted to share an example. Today I asked a host on another STR site the following question:

I was wondering if upon request you could clean your cabin with water and perhaps unscented and natural cleaning products only. We don't enjoy the smell of conventional cleaning products, air fresheners, etc.

Notice that I said nothing about MCS or anything that suggests a medical issue. I downplayed the issue as one of mere aesthetics, hoping to avoid raising red flags. This is the 1-line answer I just got:

We're sorry but we cannot accommodate your request.

Seriously, to all the people who have responded here and registered their opposition to a fragrance-free filter: you feel that it is reasonable to burden people like myself with the frustrating labor of having to make these kinds of "cold calls" to innumerable hosts to find the fragrance-free needles in the haystack, and to burden hosts with the annoyance of having to reply to these kinds of questions?

A simple checkbox coupled with a legal disclaimer could avoid it all, and everyone would be happier.

[Brian450]

There is a precedent for such 'soft accommodations': many restaurants now offer gluten-free options, but most of them have a gluten-free disclaimer in the menu. The gluten free disclaimer basically says that they make a best effort, but cannot guarantee that contamination won't occur, and that people who are injured by gluten order these items at their own risk.

There - problem solved. People who need gluten-free food can get it. No one is getting sued, and no one eats for free by claiming that their digestion is upset and that the food contained gluten.

Fragrance-free would work exactly the same way. Participating rentals would not be "fragrance-free". They would be "fragrance-free*", and somewhere it would say:

*host cannot guarantee that the facility is fragrance-free and neither host nor AirBnB can be held liable if guest determines that the facility has fragrance. 

[Lauren487]

Yes! I would never expect a place to be 100% fragrance free I just want to stop wasting time talking to super scented hosts

[Keith745]

You're quite right about 100% fragrance free being impossible. What if you have back to back guests and a super fragranced person turns up first? As a host, you would be obliged to turn them away, or you risk breaking your fragrance free commitment to your next guest. I don't run a BnB, but I had someone staying and almost one month after they have left, their scent is still impregnated in the entire apartment.

It's difficult, because some people are so impervious to the fact that they are heavily scented that they may well think they are "fragrance-free" I have thought about this, because I have thought about getting into a fragrance-free hospitality business, as I cannot travel much anymore myself due to sensitivity. I thought about writing something like "If you don't know for sure that you're fragrance-free, then you're not" or "If you don't have a very clear idea what fragrance-free means, please don't book this property as you may be turned away."

Has anyone else thought about it?

I'll just add while I'm here that for me using airbnb or any "sharing" accommodation as a guest is out of the question until they deal with this issue. I can only use quality professional hospitality that has been tested and that I know will stand over a promise. Even so, despite hotelier best effort, there's always some lingering smell in a hotel room. (It is usually fabric softener scent in the wardrobe or drawers)

[Brenda901]

Thanks, Keith! Astute post. A Cape Coral, FL homeowner had to stop listing her home on her independent site because guests were not abiding a VERY meticulously crafted agreement. I personally use the phrase, "If you are not sure if (blank) is fragrant, please enlist the nose of the most sensitive nose YOU KNOWS!" Have employed this for online purchases, even items listed as "new with tags." No guarantees. Sometimes I need to donate new purchases too fragrant to put in my washer, but cannot even put them in my vehicle for months! Once bought an antique rocking horse on Etsy so fragrant I had to open the box OUTSIDE (deemed it highly fragrant without ever opening it). I left box outside, moved horse onto a screened covered porch for a few days, then carried it to garage where an exhaust fan runs 24/7. Owner was mystified and had no idea why the package was fragrant. A year and a half later it's still in garage, but no longer offensive.

[Brenda901]

Perfect. May I nominate you to serve as our "legal disclaimer" advisor?

[Kimberly274]

Amen.  The response to this need is pitiful and makes booking a nightmare. Wish people cared more. 

[Lauren487]

If they cannot accommodate you didn’t want to stay there it was super scented anyways 

this is what I ask

“I have allergies to certain laundry products can you tell me which kind you use?” 
then if it’s a scented one I move on to the next. Pictures of laundry products in the listing would avoid this whole conversation …

[Emilie]

Hi everyone, 

I just wanted to thank you all for your comments on this matter. It's been really insightful to read all of your perspectives, and I've made sure to pass on all your feedback and suggestions to our teams!

Emilie

[Brenda901]

Emilie, I would be glad to compile a list of actions hosts can take to begin to qualify as fragrance-free and chemical-free. Unfortunately, one cannot use "air freshener" plug-ins, deodorizers, fragranced trash bags, Lysol, Tide and Downy* for laundering one day and then make a switch to fragrance-free products. All linens, the mattresses, carpets, draperies, upholsteries, etc are permeated with fragrance. There are products to "help" strip odors from washable cottons, but synthetic blends (think mattress covers w elasticized skirts and fiberfill) are still going to contain fragrance after a year of laundering. Mattresses, rugs, carpets, upholstered furniture? Still goina be fragrant.

*Fabric softeners, even fragrance-free versions are highly toxic and emit an odor as offensive as synthetic fragrance.

[Michelle3037]

I like this idea. I can see this being a great option. Something along this line is great for guests. I am allergic to many scents and I can be miserable! I would love to know this without asking the host.

[Kimberly274]

I've been asking for this for years. They don't care. It would be so easy to add it as a filter, but when is life with MCS ever easy?  Thanks for the post. 

[Nancy1781]

Unfortunately, as part of chronic illness I developed several yeara ago, I became EXTREMELY chemically sensitive to things like conventional cleaning products, dryer sheets and air fresheners.  Most of those things are all but impossible to avoid in large hotel/motel chains and even B&B's which makes travel super challenging.

Having a chemical-free/low fragrance filter for Airbnb listings would be nothing short of a life saver for me and many others who are chemically/environmentally sensitive.

[Nan23]

Yes. Yes. FF filter SO needed! I’ve tried to filter on my own and it’s exhausting and tricky. I would stay any place that advertised fragrance free.