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!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Mark116  I agree with what you said, but I also think @Brian450 is being very reasonable here. He is not requesting a 100% fragrance free place and understands it would be hard to provide. All he asks is some filter for places where air fresheners, dryer sheets and too strong laundry detergents are not used. Even my place would probably be acceptable for him without any special effort from my side.

But expecting 100% fragrance-free place with a lot of human traffic is unrealistic and hyper-sensitive people will always suffer there. Guests are using their own cosmetic products and even if we wash everything with peroxide and soda we can't guarantee the place will always be smell-free. I am happy if guests don't cook curry or fry fish and if they open the window at least 1x per day 🙂

[Brian450]

"You're not really engaging on the main challenge with 'fragrance free' which is that it is wholly subjective and cannot be objectively measured.  "

I already responded to this criticism. AirBnB could easily institute a policy for "soft accommodations". These are accommodations that are too subjective to determine objectively whether they were met or not. By checking the box for a soft accommodation, the host merely indicates a willingness to make a best effort, but does not enter into an enforceable agreement. 

You are making my case for my by recommending that hosts should never list "fragrance-free" as a feature. Many are fragrance-free, but don't dare to advertise these because they fear abuse and liability.

That is precisely why we need official soft accommodations, so hosts can signal good faith without accepting liability.

The problem is the system of "defensive hosting" that we have now that does not permit hosts to advertise that their property is fragrance-free. The solution is to absolve hosts of responsibility for a fragrance-free claim so that the claim can be made.

[Helen744]

@Brian450 you are not a host and therefore should not be posting here . Tell Airbnb not us . If any host wanted to do as you say they already have that capacity which if you WERE a host you might grasp . H

[Kimberly274]

Well I AM a host and agree with all that is being said here. It's ridiculous not to offer any kind of help or filter here. Be nice. 

[Lauren487]

There is a filter button where you can check off as a host If you use non toxic products or something?!

[Brenda901]

Wow!  You can also inform me I am not a host and send me your airbnb fineprint advising non-hosts are ineligible to participate in Community Center. I first contacted airbnb on this issue SEVERAL years ago and was DIRECTED TO THIS FORUM by airbnb. Was directed here again by a building biologist who is licensed as Electromagnetic Radiation Specialist – EMRS and Environmental Consultant – BBEC to help build a consensus for airbnb on why this topic is relevant. I am also researching how to create a fragrance free* future listing. Won't be visiting you down under! I am from the Volunteer State where southern hospitality is a point of pride!

[Lauren487]

Actually it can be measured with an air quality monitor. Artificial fragrance emits VOCs. 
Smell free and chemical fragrance free are two completely different things

[Lauren487]

Migraines are recognized and fragrances trigger migraines according to my doctor , as is asthma…so what does mcs have to do with anything? 

[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?