Please make "fragrance-free" a filter

Answered!
Brian450
Level 10
Tempe, AZ

Please make "fragrance-free" a filter

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!

1 Best Answer

I can see why you would think that, because you are probably picturing the people who would use this feature as entitled white ladies who put too much faith in Gwyneth Paltrow's take on medicine. In truth, they are people with conditions like MCAS who need to travel and are grateful for any accomodations that aren't a total assault on their bodies. Because of that, as long as the host makes the accomodations the say they will (e.g., no scented products and cleaning with safer products) they can expect very positive reviews.

 

For example, the only fragrance free Airbnb I know of is near Sedona, is always booked, and has great ratings.

In my own experience, I have managed to find a number of hosts who were willing to work with my medical issues, and we have always been on good terms because the accommodations I asked for were relatively easy (see above) and even though I wasn't perfectly comfortable, I felt much better then I would have in an ordinary hotel or Airbnb. But a fragrance free filter would have saved me SO MUCH work contacting hosts and explaining my medical needs.

 

The only time I have ever heard of a person leaving a bad review was when a woman was repeatedly assured by a host that the room used unscented laundry detergent and no scented air fresheners, which turned out to be completely untrue.

 

As for the other points like the healthy bed (i.e. A bed that doesn't off gas the VOCs that trigger our symptoms), those are things that would make a space even better for many, but I don't think anyone would expect those things just because a place is listed as fragrance free.

 

I think you are also underestimating the prevalence of these conditions because people with them usually don't mention them. People who report any degree of problems with fragrances are about 20% of the population (mostly headaches and such) and severe sensitivities are about 2%. That means a number of hosts may already be practicing fragrance free cleaning of their properties, but are unable to communicate it with the large numbers of clients who would love to rent such a space. At one rental I checked out in 2021, I spoke to a cleaning lady and asked if she could use mostly vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and baking soda to clean. She replied that those were all she used because her son was "sensitive to chemicals."

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181 Replies 181

And yet, we have the same system that you are dismissing as impractical for smoking. We have non-smoking accommodations, and no one thinks that when you book such a room and are expected not to smoke in it, you're being punished "for using your own cigarettes". That the cigarettes are your property is neither here nor there. Everyone gets that you can't smoke in a non-smoking room. 

 

It's a cultural thing, and change takes getting used to. If a big player like AirBnB makes it "a thing" for travel, which is what I am asking, there will be growing pains, but people will adjust.

 

Fragrance-free is not a special need. It's actually a human need. Modern consumer fragrances are harmful to everyone's health, just like cigarette smoke, and large percentages of the population are acutely and chronically sickened by them. Many just don't realize that their "stuff" is harming them, and that it's causing their chronic headaches, their migraines, their skin problems, their asthma, etc.

 

Once fragrance-free breaks through into mainstream awareness, it will rapidly gain in popularity. People will try it, and be surprised how much better they feel.

 

Travelers who book fragrance-free accommodations and abide by the rules will be amazed how well they sleep and how much more rested they feel when they wake up. Some will find that their asthma is suddenly better, or that they're not having their usual headaches. Resistance will give way to enthusiastic acceptance.

 

Big changes for the better are never easy, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't make them.

@Brian450 I don’t think there’s a site already like that. Otherwise we would already know about it. What do you mean by they don’t understand it? It’s simply not using fragrance products 

@Brian450there is no way any host would be able to charge a deep cleaning fee in case the guest uses perfume or else. Airbnb would not enforce it, believe me, they don't do that for the smoking smell when the host had to rent an ionization machine

 

And besides, hosts can not decline so many ordinary guests, Airbnb is threatening hosts who decline 3 requests in a row so we are using it for guests with bad reviews, unresponsive, demanding, rude, guests who require something we don't offer like early check-in or late checkout, who ask for 2 nights even we have 3 nights min, want to bring pet or kids in pet/kids non-friendly properties etc...

I would pay for an ionization before my arrival if I could if it were a cologne drenched person but i would absolutely not expect any previous guests to be unscented. 

It’s still better than also dealing with those residual on top of the scented products. I wouldn’t complain about that. But maybe we should get refunded in that occasion. I stay in hotels a lot and that has happen only a couple of times. No one should be vaping inside right? Unless you don’t mind that as a host. Maybe you can put in your profile to please only spray perfume/cologne outside the home for future guests that might be affected by scents. 

You would simply write a disclaimer. We understand. As a fragrance free person I tend to book more expensive places that have extra bedrooms so I can sleep in the least scented one. 

Amanda660
Level 10
Auchenblae, United Kingdom

@Brian450the issue is that scents/smells are subjective.  

 

Let’s say  a guest smokes in an non smoking listing.  It’s very unlikely that he will be charged extra cleaning fees as it can’t be measured and Airbnb rarely uphold any host claims.

 

Airbnb doesn’t support any ‘fines’ or extra charges hosts list, eg, even if a host outlines certain things on their House Rules, eg  that if anyone uses the BBQ and doesn’t clean it or sneaks in extra guest there will be an extra fee of £xxx but it’s very, very unlikely Airbnb will uphold the request.

 

I’m fortunate not to suffer any intolerances but if I did and specifically booked a fragrance free property I could turn up, state there were ‘scents’ and demand a full refund - the host would have very little recourse. 

We’re having a heatwave at the moment (which is a big deal for us).   I read a post yesterday on another forum where a guest checked in and cancelled immediately because the person that met them with the key had (according to him) body odour.  He wasn’t sharing a house with him he was just handing over a key.  He received a full refund.  Now not for one moment am I saying the scenarios are similar - just not measurable or enforceable.

 

I used to be part of a home exchange programme years ago - That kind of set up could lend it self beautifully to fragrance free environment exchange.

 

 

The issue is not nearly as black and white as you two seem to think. 

 

Most of us fragrance-sensitive people are happy and grateful if fragrance smells are mild. Many of us can live with residual odors. It makes a world of difference when instead of freshly sprayed Febreze and linens freshly washed with Tide and dried with Bounce, there are merely remnants of such smells from previous occupation, after the property was cleaned with natural and unscented products, and linens washed merely with water.  Most of us travel with our own linens anyway.

 

Freshly deployed fragrance means, for me, a ruined vacation and either a new accommodation (which may not be available or not work) or likely a flight back home. 

 

Fragrance remants mean an annoyance that I can live with and am not going to complain about.

 

We MCS and fragrance-free people appreciate the effort. We can live with less than perfect. We're happy if we can travel at all. 


I just lived for 3 weeks in a short-term rental where previously fragranced cleaning and laundry products had been habitually used. However, the host graciously agreed to clean with fragrance-free and natural products only, and wash the linens with hot water only. There was a residual smell that bothered me, but I was able to live with it. I didn't ask for my money back even though it wasn't perfect. I did not leave a negative review. I am grateful that I had had a place that worked for me at all.

This is my experience, also. While I'm not comfortable taking medication constantly for perfume sensitivity, I do take medication that lets me tolerate residual perfumes on vacations. However, I have no medication that will let me tolerate fresh perfumes / strong perfumes. I get sick for days after exposure and cannot drive safely or work until the migraine prodrome subsides.

 

An air purifier or opening windows before I arrive can also go a long way towards making my stay healthy. 

@Amanda660

fragrance is not subjective. Cleaning products in toiletries are either fragrance free/unscented or scented. Products either have:perfume, fragrance, aroma, or not. There’s probably other words that they can go under. Just like some food ingredients have several for the same word 

Helen744
Level 10
Victoria, Australia

Brian450 we attempt to provide hyperallargenic products at all stages of our cleaning cycle but we cannot dictate what guests wear or use personally.I have issues also with perfumes but often arrive to clean and find a guest has overloaded on something powerful. opening doors and windows , removing dirty towels and linen and household rubbish generally cuts it back and cleaning with safe products usually completes this but we do not attempt to 'mask any smells ' but aim for the 'smell' of clean but could never guarentee the space .All I think you can ask is for the host not to use 'plug ins ' or extra sprays . H

the problem with fragrances are that they can also be called odours and smells ,and an Airbnb is not static because many people ,different people come through and into and out of that space and the owners of those spaces are always left with a big bag of 'smells ' Yes . even 'fragrance free folk smell and leave smells and generate smells and those smells can sometimes 'percolate and not be blown away by 'freesh brezzsz or lifted and wafted out with the arrival of clean laundry or diligent smeller police. So most hosts stand in their houses after cleaning and after the marijuana toker have left and after the vomitarium has gone and after the other more unspeakable smells from cooking or fishing or dogs or hairdyers or something died under the house and think 'Why does it still smell?'I think those who really want a 'fragrance free , or need a fragrance free trip away really need to understand that hosts are not trying to make any smells worse.H

 

It would be of more use to explain how all of those who experience such issues deal with this situation as far as cleaning and maintaining that environment through lots of different guests and or maintaining a 'healthy environment during covid and other general infectious or pandemic situations because 'baking soda and vinegar do not 'cut it'H

Helen it's worth remembering that covid and other respiratory infections are transmitted through shared air. Transmission through surfaces is theoretically possible but virtually non-existent. The world's leading science journal, Nature, made this case in a January 2021 story titled "COVID-19 rarely spreads through surfaces. So why are we still deep cleaning?"

 

Use of toxic disinfection products poses a far greater risk to our health than the practically zero risk of surface transmission of covid. Travelers who want disinfection to feel good and safe should of course be able to make this choice, just like those of us who don't wish it should be able to avoid it.

 

All this argues even more strongly in favor of AirBnB filters that allows people to find properties with the cleaning practices that make them most comfortable.

@Brian450 possibly Brian you would know the rate at which disinfectant evaporates or any other product which you are refferring to. Maybe you have achieved a micro climate in your own home through personal diligence, but are you providing this to others, and how do you expect your guests to 'smell' when they arrive after work or play or travel ?.I am afraid that in Airbnbs there is none of the guarentees that you require. Possibly a hospital for covid patients could provide this and strange as it may appear to those who have rationalized covid away ,these have increased , but bingo , give it a go again and rationalize offending smells away? and the leave the rest of us to our masks and disinfectants .