Scent-free (perfume, cologne) gyms

PrimalForLife

Should your local gym try enforce a scent-free (perfume, cologne) gym environment? If 'yes', how should they deal with offenders?

TavistockToad

How exactly would that be enforced? By making people shower before they go in?!

NorthCascades

Who wears perfume to the gym? You're just going to sweat.

Bry_Fitness70

TavistockToad wrote: »

How exactly would that be enforced? By making people shower before they go in?!

I think the more frequent problem is people taking a cologne/perfume bath post-workout in the locker room instead of a shower with soap and water. I guess the gym would have to depend on members to report other members, once they stop choking and are able to wash the cologne/perfume out of their eyes.

Need2Exerc1se

NorthCascades wrote: »

Who wears perfume to the gym? You're just going to sweat.

People who come straight from work or somewhere else where they wear perfume.

KANGOOJUMPS

no

Tweaking_Time

KANGOOJUMPS wrote: »

no

Ditto

If they did that then they would have to ask the stinky peeps to shower too. If this position does become a reality, I think the job title for this new position should be "gym-sniffer"

jjpptt2

Should it then also be deodorant-free?

iamthemotherofdogs

That's a pretty slippery slope, there.

rheddmobile

Our gym doesn't have enforcers but you do get a handout when you join discussing appropriate gym attire, which says you should not wear cologne, perfume, or "strongly scented personal hygiene products" for the sake of other patrons.

I don't know if anyone reads it (I did, because I'm the sort who reads everything) and in any case it's a 24 hr gym with no staff there most of the time. I guess if someone complained during daylight hours with a staff member there, someone might say something. I've only ever seen one staff member even think about enforcing the dress code, and it was clear from her behavior that she had never had to do it before - she went around and asked three regulars for opinions on whether she should say something first. And that was a case of a very large woman working out in a thong bottom with her goodies on full display, which is definitely in violation of the dress code, and after asking people who agreed the staff member never did work up her nerve to say anything to the perpetrator. So I'm pretty sure no one is going to get bounced from our gym on account of a reeking cloud of cologne when it's her watch.

TavistockToad

Bry_Lander wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

How exactly would that be enforced? By making people shower before they go in?!

I think the more frequent problem is people taking a cologne/perfume bath post-workout in the locker room instead of a shower with soap and water. I guess the gym would have to depend on members to report other members, once they stop choking and are able to wash the cologne/perfume out of their eyes.

Why does it matter what they do after the gym??

GottaBurnEmAll

NorthCascades wrote: »

Who wears perfume to the gym? You're just going to sweat.

You'd be surprised. And men are equal opportunity offenders with the body spray.

To the topic of the post, I don't see how you'd implement/enforce such a policy.

And I'm speaking as someone who's very sensitive to scents. I can and have had migraines triggered by other people's fragrance choices.

I wish people would stop wearing perfume/cologne in general, but the world doesn't revolve around me.

Interesting anecdote: I one of my old gyms, I had to pass by the entrance to the men's locker room to get to the women's locker room. The men were FAR more liberal with their use of fragrance post-workout than the women. That whole corner of the gym (which was by the dumbbells) stank to high heaven from a soup of various men's fragrances.

quiksylver296

While I wish it could be a thing, I have no idea how a gym could enforce the rule without offending their paying clients.

Packerjohn

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

NorthCascades wrote: »

Who wears perfume to the gym? You're just going to sweat.

People who come straight from work or somewhere else where they wear perfume.

If someone has been at work for several hours or all day and the perfume is still that strong must work as a French prostitute.

Alatariel75

In my perfect world, gyms would be scent free, but deodorant compulsory. Alas, the world doesn't revolve around me, and I appreciate personal freedom enough to realise I have to put up with others exercising theirs.

sijomial

Job vacancy -
People sniffer wanted to work in local gym.
Must have a sensitive nose and be built like a brick shithouse to be able to eject offenders.

Jackboots and armband will be supplied.

Nixi3Knox

I absolutely gag on people's cologne and perfume. Nothing wrong with a subtle scent, but the strong stuff actually hits me in the mouth, the throat and the eyes. I am going to say that people should simply just know better. No one should go out among people smelling like a fragrance counter. IN the gym where all that sweat and body heat are swirling I can only imagine how bad it would get.

shaumom

I don't know how you could possibly enforce it, honestly.

However, If there was a gym that managed, they'd increase patronage from certain groups - like a lot of folks with asthma, with chemical sensitivities, with severe reactions to sulfites (which are in the top 10 sensitivities in Canada, for example, but are a preservatives in most perfumed products).

I don't know if it would make up for people they'd lose who feel like what they do to their bodies should not be dictated to....even if, technically, it is something that spreads beyond their bodies and affects the people around them, you know?

Sp1tfire

it would be a dream come true but it is unrealistic

tomteboda

You know, most churches and many other public places already have the policy. I think mostly it works on honor code, and people generally respect the request.