Guest VERY sensitive to "chemical scents"

Ned-And-Laura0
Level 10
Simi Valley, CA

Guest VERY sensitive to "chemical scents"

I have a guest checking in and a week after they booked they contacted me and said they were VERY sensitive to any sort of scented chemicals.  They have asked me to remove any linens or towels completely from the space if they have been washed with scented detergent and they would be bringing their own.  (we just use regular Tide).  No febreze in the space and even cleaning agents for the bathroom and kitchen may cause them problems.  Apparently they get splitting migraines.  They appologized and said they should have asked before booking.  So on one hand, hey, great, I don't have to wash the sheets and towels after.  But I am worried when I clean the bathroom/kitchen with any sort of cleanser I will make them ill and receive a terrible review.  But I don't know how to clean without any cleaning agents.  Have you ever dealt with this?  I just have a feeling about this guest, that no matter what I do I am going to receive a bad review.  Either I clean and make them ill or I don't clean well enough (i.e just wipe down with damp cloth) and they say the place is dirty.

45 Replies 45
Yuni-and-Erick0
Level 10
Havana, Cuba

Hello @Ned-And-Laura0! The name of the illness is Multiple Chemical Sensitivity  and is really difficult to handle with it, since many scents or foods worsen the disease and the symptoms include hard headaches, nausea, muscle pains, etc.

When you have a guest with that health problem you must use natural ingredients for making the cleaning. For example in the bathroom or in the kitchen you can use lemon, vinegar or baking powder. Other solution is buying products without chemicals and unscented from the company ENJO for instance... so, when the guest leaves your place you use the conventional products to make a profound cleaning.

Greetings from Havana!! 🙂

Yuni

Zacharias0
Level 10
Las Vegas, NV

My very first guests had this issue. I was moritified to find out after cleaning and making the place nice and smelling great she said she was allergic to scents. She agreed she should have said something and ended up just cancelling the reservation and booked somewhere else. She was honestly an emotional wreck. Not sure what was going on in her life, but she ended up staying at a hotel. After that I stopped trying so hard and went with scent free washing detergent and cleaned with slightly scented chemicals. I havent had a problem since.

She might have become an emotional wreck from the scented chemicals. Many people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity experience neuropsychatric symptoms, in addition to the more known headaches, nausea, etc. The chemicals literally go right to the brain and cause a reaction. Please be very understanding of this illness. It's debilitating and awful to live with when nearly the whole civilized world is doused in scented chemicals. 

Pete69
Level 10
Los Angeles, CA

I have talked about this in previous posts. The perfect room and bed should have as close to NO scent as possible. Use those hypoallergenic detergents (like ALL's "free & clear") that have no perfumes. Select double-rinse on your washer. I wash my quilts and blankets after each guest, but unless there's a reason, I just wash them in plain old water.  I also air out the mattress and the room with fans bringing in air from one window and fanning out the other windows.

Eliminate any other smells in your space too. New carpet? Air it out until the smell is gone. Coffee stinking up the room? Seal your coffee in a zip lock bag.

Django2
Level 3
Santa Fe, NM

Organic white vinegar works great for cleaning. So does baking soda or unscented Dr. Bronner's. There are actually quite a few ways to clean without using scented products and the chemicals that are in them.

Shar-Bacchus0
Level 4
Mountain View, CA

I think we should ALL contact Airbnb and ask them to create a fragrance-free filter, so that fragrance-sensitive guests can find accommodating hosts, and fragrance-free hosts can be found by guests who prefer fragrance-free lodging.  We have fragrance-free lodging but have to turn 95% of reservation requests away because potential guests don't read the house rules, and we get mostly requests from fragranced folks.  

 

Hi Shar

I'd love to know if a fragrance free filter has been requested to AirBnB to consider including in their site? And if yes, what was their response?

Best,

Talya Sydney Australia 

As a cancer patient, who is also a very chemically sensitive guest, I would LOVE a fragrance-free filter when booking. I think it is a superb idea. At home, I use water and vinegar as a surface cleaner. Bon Ami as a scrub cleaner. Mr Clean Erasers for stubborn stains. For laundry, I use Dropps scent free. Dishwashing liquid is Seventh Generation. Toilet scrubber is 7th Generation. If a host lists the items they use that would be very helpful. It is chemical agents that bother me, not natural scents. So lavender, no problem -- fake lavender scent - BIG problem.
 
Story from the other side. We once shared accommodation booked by friends who used VRBO and not AirBnB. The home instructions were to used FIVE Tide pods per load. Certain they Febrezed the heck out of the place too. The level of scent in the apartment was like chemical warfare, no kidding, It NEVER went down. One Tide Pod is enough to trigger symptoms for me -- but FIVE is simply insane, let alone wasteful. I'd never encountered this before and it didn't occur to us to check beforehand, I thought it was common practice, as with hotels, to use scent free products. When we were home, we left all doors and windows, we  shipped two sleeping bags and used the pillows off the outdoor furniture, after stripping the beds down to the mattress level. Fortunately they had a patio and the weather was nice, so we spent most time outdoors. Heard from my friend that the response from the host (or whatever VRBO calls them) was awful. They trashed us and threatened to blackball us across all their and their friends' properties, lied about us being loud after hours too. Note: cancer patient, I literally can't stay up late partying. 

Sally221
Level 10
Berkeley, CA

That's a great idea, Shar. I wish there were a limited mobility filter too.-If I had a different house, on a different lot or tons of funds, I'd set up a ADA listing, as it is, I've had to explain that we are a terrible choice for anyone who finds stairs a challenge & I felt so sorry for the fellow on crutches whose spouse booked them into our home anyway, he was recuperating from knee surgerey and while the rest of the gang was up on the deck oohing at S.F. bay he was downstairs with my best gel ice pack.

 The most traunatic guest we ever had was a guy, in late middle age no less, who used so much Axe style cologne that I had to wash EVERYTHING including curtains ,wipe down all the walls with vinegar and paint the ceiling or the downstairs hallway.Peeyew! Sally

Oh Sally -- how AWFUL! As a former middle school teacher my sincere sympathies. Axe shouldn't be sold, period. A weapon of mass destruction. Ugh. 

Liza117
Level 3
Woodland, CA

Approximately 30% of the population has an aversion to air fresheners and strong synthetic scents.  To get better reviews, I would encourage you to go fragrance-free henceforth.  While only about 1-5% of the population gets severe migraines and becomes seriously ill from fragrances, quite a number of people suffer in silence or don't recognize the cause.  This is to say, we  aren't weirdos, but canaries in the mineshaft.  Travel can be excruciating for people with chemical sensitivities.  Air BnB provides a refuge for many of us and the only way to leave our homes.  

 

The fragrances that make us ill emit formaldehyde, chloroform and many other carcinogens made from petrochemicals.  They are not safe for children or any living being.

 

To learn more, see:

 

https://www.drsteinemann.com

 

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11869-019-00672-1

 

 

 

I strongly support Liza's recommendation,

 

Once you've gone to the "trouble" of understanding how to reduce fragrances in your home, you might as well advertise this as a feature. There are so many good products avail that are hypo-allergenic (originally intended for being baby safe) and even people who don't suffer a specific allergic condition or migraines, will appreciate the health aspects of what you're doing.

 

I would advertise as 

 

"Low fragrance home....

We do not EVER use:

- Plug in air fresheners such as Glade / Airwick brands

- Scented Candles

- Diffuser reeds in fragrant oils 

- Febreeze products

- Room sprays

- Scented toilet paper

- Scented laundry detergent

- Fabric softeners (for laundry)

- Additional scented products add to the  clothes drying cycles

- Scented garbage bin liners

 

We DO use:

- Fragrance free or low fragrance or hypo allergenic laundry detergents (you can list brand/s)

- Fragrance free or low fragrance or hypo allergenic cleaning products  (you can list brand/s)

 

We DO supply fragrance free toiletries for your use, (you can list brand/s) however feel free to bring your own.

 

We hope these efforts will help you enjoy your stay with us. "

@Liza117 It's great to see you sharing this research. I've used this research and other references with Airbnb hosts to convince them to change what they are doing. There is also the EPA's Safer Choice program list of products (https://www.epa.gov/saferchoice/products) that is a great resource to share with hosts. 

 

I would love to see a Safer Choice option for homes! It can't just be fragrance free because there are some products that still contain fragrance masking chemicals that are just as harmful, so this program is a great way to get a healthy product.

 

What is a good way to make a proposal? 

@Kieran57 what type proposal did you have in mind? A filter for safer choice homes? 

Denise585
Level 2
London, United Kingdom

Yes it is discrimination. I am one of those who suffer from allergies , altrough not as bad as this, altrough if you spray it it gets into your skin, lungs without noticing and it already afgect you without realising, chemicals everywhere are the main culprit of allergy epidemics it disrupt metabolism endocrine system therefore all health.

Some people think with stong chemicals they gonna avoid bacteria- quite opposite as it kills the good bacteria in your stomach and toxins cicle in your body. 

Why would you charge more? The organic ones are same effective and way cheaper. If you do cleaning regulary you do not need toxic chemicals at all. And you can get even organic sponge 1£ on amazon that last for ages ( from some asian plant) and its so strong you dont need any cleaning prod just water.