That’s why I used baking soda, salt, water, vinegar and bleach. Vinegar and bleach smells dissipate quickly. I also like that I can get them in bulk sizes at Costco. My main fragrance issue is when guests use a lot of perfume. Sometimes I can even smell it in my part of the house as it travels through the vents. I ask them not to use such products indoors but they do it anyway.
Topic was chemical sensitivity, it was just an idea. Feel free to disregard it.
People don’t care. Or think it doesn’t apply to them. I have it in my listing that they can’t use Cinnamon when cooking or in any airborne scents I had a guest make fun of my allergy in his review and Airbnb refused to take it down.
I’m not trying to be critical. I have been living with this for about 10 years. There is so much misinformation. Just because somethings natural doesn’t mean it’s not an issue for folks with chemical sensitivity.
Yes, most people don’t get it- everything is made up of chemicals. Some are natural and some are synthesized in a lab.
I have very similar issues, including discs out in my neck as well as my lumbar spine, and scoliosis. I’ve run the gamut of osteopaths, physios, steroid injections ad nauseum.
Addicted to prescribed pain killers, including Tramadol, Naproxene and others I can’t/don’t want to recall, I came off them with the help of an NHS medic who used traditional Chinese acupuncture, and successfully got me back to work. He left for the US, so I needed someone else, which is when I encountered Gunn IMS.
This is a form of acupuncture, based on Western Medical anatomy and physiology, developed over 30 years ago by Dr Chan Gunn. Google is your friend to learn more about it, including clinical papers.
I cannot shout loudly enough that this saved my life 26 years ago. After I came off prescribed meds, then found IMS, Mr Joan confessed that he never knew whether or not he would come home from work to find me dead from an overdose. My recollection of that time is a complete blur.
Like yourself, and @KKC, it is chronic pain, and I still need treatment twice a month, sometimes less.
You are lucky to be in the US, where there are many more Gunn trained practitioners than in the UK. It is a dying art here, without any more training in London since Chan retired and the University of BC took over. There are literally hundreds of practitioners in Canada, where Chan was based.
Have a look at this please. It could change your life, as it changed my own years ago.
I wish you well, and would also suggest that you slow down with your hosting. Perhaps lock a day off between bookings so that you are not thrashing yourself through turnovers.
And tell the multiple chemically sensitive to find somewhere else to stay that can meet their very special needs…
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Putting corn starch in the cleaner could be a major problem for some of your guests. Our son is 30 years old and very allergic to corn starch and corn. He carries an eppy pen and if he comes into contact with corn starch has to be rushed to the emergency room.
If the total concentration of alcohol is below 60%, it’s useless to add it. CDC keeps telling people that you can’t make hand sanitizer from vodka because 80 proof is only 40% alcohol.
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You are correct; many “fragrance free” products contain a masking fragrance to cover the base fragrance. For example, a Dove bar that is fragrance free smells fatty/icky.
“Unscented” has a masking fragrance ingredient that makes the Dove bar smell like nothing. It’s a common practice in HBA products.
We don’t know what the guest is allergic to, but a safe bet includes super basics.
I think you may be mistaken. Fragrance-free has no scents to mask the natural smells which is why it can smelly yucky. Nothing to hide the natural smells (not added fragrance.)
But you are correct that unscented uses masking ingredients. One of the most popular is Balsam of Peru which has about 20 different names, is natural, and is one of the natural scents that comes up positive in patch testing. It’s also used in Danish pastries and medical and dental products. I’m highly allergic to it.
The former Mayor of Toronto called me once when I was in charge of HBA private label for Canada’s biggest drug store chain. She was allergic to Balsam of Peru; could I suggest anything? I had never heard of it, but it turned out that finding an alternative was not difficult.
The point being the one I made earlier: people are responsible for their own allergies.
With respect to “fragrance free” vs. “unscented”, I would say that people put far too much faith in vendor claims. Most governments are strapped, and large scale vendors are far too busy to go after small independent vendors for claims.
Stick with the basics. Water works wonders!
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