For hosts
Going fragrance-free
There is no partial listing here and no transitional badge — a property is fragrance-free and on the platform, or it is not yet. This is the work, in the order that makes it stick. Come back and finish your listing when it is done.
1 · First
Take the sources out
Plug-in fresheners, wax warmers and melts, reed diffusers, candles — scented and “unscented” alike — incense, potpourri, vent clips, carpet powders and scented bin liners. Check the cupboard under the sink, the linen closet, the garage and anywhere a spare has been put away.
This comes first because everything after it is undone by a source still in the building. Fragrance is designed to persist: it settles into soft furnishings, paint and dust and keeps releasing for weeks after the object itself has gone.
2 · Same week
Change what you clean and wash with
Replace every cleaning product with a fragrance-free one, and the laundry detergent with a fragrance-free detergent. Stop using dryer sheets and fabric softener on guest linens entirely — there is no fragrance-free version of the job they do.
“Unscented” on the front of a bottle sometimes means a masking fragrance was added to cover the smell of the ingredients. “Fragrance-free” and “no fragrance” in the ingredient list are the wording to look for.
3 · Then
Wash the scent back out
Run the washing machine empty on a hot cycle before the first fragrance-free load, then wash all guest linens, towels, curtains, cushion covers and throws in the new detergent. Expect two or three washes on anything that has had fabric softener on it.
Wipe out the dryer drum and clean the lint filter. Dryer sheet residue transfers to the next load for a long time after the last sheet.
4 · Give it time
Air the place out
Open windows, run fans and let the property breathe for as long as you can before you take a booking. A carbon air purifier helps; a HEPA-only one does not, because fragrance is a gas and HEPA catches particles.
Hard surfaces clear in days. Carpet, upholstery and mattresses take weeks, and are the usual reason a property that looks finished still reads as scented to a sensitive guest.
5 · Before you list
Bring everyone else along
If a cleaning service works on the property, they have to use your products rather than bring their own. This is the single most common way a fragrance-free property stops being one, and it happens without anybody deciding to.
Personal fragrance matters too: perfume, scented laundry on the clothes of whoever cleans, and scented hand soap left out for guests.
What you will be asked to confirm
The listing wizard asks these 6 things, and asks you to photograph the label of every cleaning and laundry product in use. Someone here reads those photos against your answers before the listing goes live.
- 1No scented products anywhere on the property
- 2Fragrance-free cleaning products
- 3Product labels photographed
- 4Fragrance-free laundry, no dryer sheets or fabric softener
- 5No smoking indoors for five years
- 6Cleaning service briefed