Scent-free (perfume, cologne) gyms

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  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    PrimalForLife wrote: »
    Should your local gym try enforce a scent-free (perfume, cologne) gym environment? If 'yes', how should they deal with offenders?

    I think a gym can have a written policy asking people avoid perfume or cologne with an explanation of why when they join.
    In terms of enforcing I think they would have to go on complaints and say to the person privately that their use of scented products is against the gym policy and is bothering others and again explain why it is suggested people avoid wearing perfumed products there. If someone continues to ignore a policy I imagine they could treat it like breaking other gym policies.
  • comptonelizabeth
    comptonelizabeth Posts: 1,701 Member
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    Packerjohn wrote: »
    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.

    Why only a French one?
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,298 Member
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    As someone with chemical sensitivities brought on by anything from laundry detergent residues to plants and perfume. These strong smells make me and others like me nauseous, bring on headaches and much more. Many never leave their homes. I agree it is not good to be next to someone with BO, the happily accepted smells so many enjoy give me an instant urge to vomit its so disorientating. I no longer go to concerts, enclosed public places and the like, life is not as enjoyable as it once was.

    I attended a physio hydrotherapy session, getting past the chlorine is another story, returning to the changing area, two persons had let off their sprays and filled the unventilated air. I had been feeling confident till this point, tentatively considering public aqua-aerobics, I can't go to a public pool.


    I would like to introduce everyone to the website, please don't be offended, "Think Before You Stink". It gives a much more effective explanation than I of the effects and alternatives to heavily perfumed products, Please pay them a visit. Thank you, from me and all the others with chronic health condidions
  • teremka
    teremka Posts: 3 Member
    edited July 2019
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    How exactly would that be enforced?

    The same way "no shirt, no shoes, no service" is enforced. If you are wearing fragrance, you are asked to leave. Plain and simple.

    Further to enforcement, education can go a long way. So can culture. If fragrance-free awareness becomes part of the culture, there's far less need to enforce. For example, if all of the staff refrain from wearing fragrance, if the soaps provided at the gym are fragrance-free, if part of the terms and conditions upon signing include mention of fragrance-free, if the staff actually mention the policy verbally when members are signing up, etc, then it becomes part of the culture. A couple of signs on the wall that only a fraction of people see are useless.
    Who wears perfume to the gym?

    It's not only about adding perfume. Laundry detergents, air fresheners, soaps, shampoos, conditioners.... contain fragrance and they emit VOCs that affect 1 in 3 people. So, many, many people arrive to the gym wearing fragrance.

    This is a disability accessibility issue in Canada and the US. In Canada, it has already been determined that those with environmental illness and fragrance sensitivity have a disability and are protected under the human rights agreement. This means that a facility like a gym actually has a "duty to accommodate" the same way that wheelchair ramps are an accessibility accommodation.

    It's not a matter of opinion or debate. It's a human rights issue. Those of us who can't breathe and lose the use of our muscles when we're around fragrance have a right to work out at the gym the same way that abled people do.

    So, a resounding YES. Gyms should enforce a fragrance-free policy. And are actually required to. Whether or not they do is another issue. Most don't.
    Should it then also be deodorant-free?

    Deodorant doesn't need to contain fragrance. There are effective deodorants that don't contain fragrance.

    Those of you using words like "offensive" and "personal freedom" lack the understanding that this is not about personal preference. It's not the same as putting up with music you don't like. Fragrances cause bodily harm to those with asthma, COPD, and chemical sensitivities. For me personally, my limbs become paralyzed, so I obviously can't work out. It's a disability, not a personal preference. It's not offensive, it's harmful.

    Someone's personal freedom is overruled by disability accommodation the same way that it would be nice to park closer to a store, but those with mobility issues have priority. My ability to breathe and walk properly is more important than someone else's personal expression to smell like a lemon.

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