Scent allergies

[Davis65]

Does anyone have tips on travelling with scent allergies?

Husband and I are on a transcontinental road trip, and are having problems with hotels that use room deodorizer and scented cleaners. These give him migraine headaches. On previous trips, he has resorted to sleeping on the bathroom floor a few times to get away from the scent embedded in the carpeting.

When I'm making a booking (usually online), I always make a note in the "special requests" section), but sometimes the desk staff will say "I guess housekeeping forgot". I have started sending a reminder the morning we arrive. At out last hotel, part of the Wyndham chain, it was clear that the desk manager had ignored the two messages, and didn't care about meeting the request.

I have had one hotel tell me that they couldn't accommodate us, which is fine. That means I can book a different hotel. It ticks me off when they don't tell me that they can't.

One trick we have found that works if the scent is not strong is to buy take-out Chinese food to eat in the room, and then we leave the pans and plates around the room overnight. It works with strong-smelling foods like black bean chicken and honey garlic ribs.

At smaller, boutique places and B&B, searching the room for scented candles and moving them out if the room is also part of our routine.

Dies anyone else have any tricks?

 

[Dash man]

These are small enough for travel. I can’t speak for how they work.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B09FJSJQ95/ref=emc_b_5_mob_t

 

[savory]

Dash man has a good thought. Perhaps a fan and a motel vs hotel to get more outside air.

I was surprised by the Chinese food solution. Since it seems the Frangrances can be covered by another frangrance, perhaps there is another alternative to Chinese food. For example, microwave cookies or something like that.

 

[Davis65]

Thanks for the suggestions.

We prefer rooms with wood or vinyl floors as they don't hold the scent. Often housekeeping will spray the carpet or the drapes (I can smell the scent coming from the fabrics).

Unfortunately, this means that anything that circulates the air, such as a fan or an open window, actually makes the problem worse by stirring up the scent in the room.

We've tried microwave popcorn. You know how in an office, the whole floor knows if someone is making popcorn in the kitchen? Sadly, it doesn't seem to work in a hotel room, but we've only tried int once. We may need to get "extra-buttery". I will post a follow-up if it works.

 

[skipro33]

How about baking powder? Placed in a puffer container like talc powder and coat the surfaces. I've heard it is used to absorb odors. I've also heard that a charcoal activated filter mask might work. Technically, any N95 mask should prevent odors from reaching the wearer. I wore one working outdoors last year during fire season. Having spent hours outside in smoke so thick it was as dense as a heavy fog, I removed it and was astounded by the strong smoke odor I was not aware of while wearing the mask.

 

[Aerides]

If you have microwave in the room, try heating an apple? It's a realtor trick to make the home spell like someone baking an apple pie. Slice it first though, don't put it in whole.

I feel for you though, I don't have odor sensitivities, but know many do. From the ubiquitous and terrible febreeze, to overly smelly detergents and softeners...bleh

 

[pacergal]

White vinegar soaked cotton balls placed in the room will help absorb/remove odors. You could travel with them in an old medicine pill bottle. Or coffee beans, perhaps.
A small travel sized air purifier would be best.
The scents of food don't bother him, only "fake" scent of soaps, sprays, etc?

 

[W2R]

I don't know if I am medically allergic to scents, or if I just can't stand them. At home, I buy only unscented detergents, etc., and do not wear scents. Fortunately Frank and I are on the same page about scents.

When I am away from home, as you will be when traveling, I realize that I am no longer in control of the scents around me. A simple little personal fan does not fix the problem for me. I could either just tough it out, or not travel.

Yet another reason why I prefer to stay home, where I am in control of my environment to a greater extent, not around added scents, and sleeping in my own bed.

Wish I had some great tricks to post about! So far I don't, but if I think of any I'll let you know.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Another approach might be to try to figure out what is causing the chemical sensitivities. People in my family, including me, tend to have chemical sensitivities. My sensitivities and one of my kids got better with some diet changes. I still have some issues with really strong smells like paint but the day to day stuff is much better. There are also supplements and foods you can eat to support your detoxification pathways, like broccoli sprouts.

Biochemical abnormalities in patients with multiple chemical sensitivities - PubMed (nih.gov)

Eating Broccoli May Give Harmful Chemicals The Boot : The Salt : NPR

 

[Davis65]

Some interesting ideas here. I had never heard of microwave cookies, but will look for them. The apple trick is interesting, too.

The problem is with chemical scents, like Febreze, and perfumes. Some people say, "but my perfume is natural", and it isn't. Actual natural things like food, and flowers do not cause a problem. The chemical scents do cause migraine headaches, which are severe, and last for a long time. It isn't a matter of not liking them, or just putting up with them when they cause physical illness. As I mentioned, he has slept on a hard bathroom floor on three occasions during our travels.

Wearing a mask at night isn't really practical, unfortunately. He has charcoal "nose filters", which he will wear to a concert or tye theatre, but they are only manageable for a few hours.

I will look up the articles on night.gov and NPR. We do eat a fair bit of broccoli already.

 

[Sunset]

I've noticed the very smelly carpets sometimes in a hotel room. I just guessed it was one of those products that get shaken onto a carpet and then vacuumed up. Leaving a residue behind.
Sometimes it's VERY powerful.
I have no suggestions, maybe someday hotels will use vinyl floors, so we don't all have to wonder what is in the carpets.

 

[Montecfo]

My wife has multiple chemical sensitivity.

Our home and vehicles are entirely fragrance free. When travelling there are issues with whatever was used to clean the room, as well as intentional fragrances, scented soaps, etc.

We ask for a room that has not been occupied the night before, and we ask them not to use scented cleaners like Pine-sol in the room.

We have recleaned and asked for a clean mop to reclean tile surfaces just to remove the offending smell.

I would day hotel rooms have gotten much better over time with fully nonsmoking facilities and less intense chemicals used, sometimes made as an environmental issue. of course we never allow them to clean out room during our stay. We slso ask to switch rooms if the odor is unacceptable. These requests have always been accommodated.
.
We have not found that a competing odor helps. In fact we avoid "unscented" products as these have chemicals added to mask the scent. "Fragrance free" products work to avoid fragrance altogether.

Hotel rooms are a snap compared to renting a car!

 

[frayne]

My wife also has chemical sensitivities and we have made similar requests for accommodations during travel with varied success. One thing that I have learned living with DW and her malady, is people wear way too much perfume and cologne and brick and mortar businesses are losing customers due to over fragrancing their respective properties.

 

[Crewer]

My husband had asthma all his life until it got reclassified to COPD and the scent they spray in hotel room are generally a trigger so we try to request they not be used before we go. Even so we often open the window if we can as soon as we get in the room. If the room is a problem we ask for a different room and say we will wait if one is being cleaned and please alert the cleaner not to use the stuff. We have also requested a fan and new bedding. Then we get info about the closest emergency room in case my husband has an attack. By then we have probably gotten the attention of at least one person on the staff. I think DH has also talked to the manager in some cases. It used to be a terrible problem for him when he traveled so much for work.

It hasn't been so much of a problem the past several years, maybe because we tend to use higher end hotels now. I suppose these days bad ratings may get their attention, though that may only help travelers who come after you. Good luck.

Years later we can still refer to "that stinky hotel room" and know it's the one in Crakow.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I will look up the articles on night.gov and NPR. We do eat a fair bit of broccoli already.

There are whole books on detoxification with other ideas, plus some tests you can do and supplements that might help. I remember one that helped us in particular was The Encyclopedia on Natural Medicine by Murray and Pizzorno, but there may be more current books available these days.