Fragrances can mask odors or can enhance perceived cleanliness, but watch out, in today’s ECO friendly world they don’t always pay off. Not all “fresh smelling“ additives guaranty customer satisfaction.
Fragrances or masking agents are often used in cleaning solutions to enhance the total sensory perception of a carpet-cleaning job. If it smells good it must be clean, right? Well, the problem is that not all agree. All it takes is one asthmatic person in the home or one chemically sensitive occupant of a building to ruin your day.
In my opinion clean is odorless. Clean means that you have removed unwanted matter. This would include anything that smells or off gasses however many have different opinions on the subject. They may believe that if there is no lemon lime or orange citrus smell the desired expected result was not achieved. They did not get their moneys worth.
What an end user perceives as clean may be what you have to give them. You should always ask them what they want prior to cleaning. This often requires educating them on the plusses and minuses of fragrance additives.
This can be done in a number of ways. Of course, if you do both commercial and residential cleaning, your information can be presented in different formats. For residential customers you may want to inform them by email prior to cleaning or hand them a consumer educational piece at the door. Commercial cleaners can add information into their proposals or add a page to their website.
Facility managers should err on the safe side and go with the fragrance free cleaning. Have copies of Material Safety Data Sheets if you choose to use products with residual odors. This can reduce the liability for both of you. Again you never know how it will affect each person in a building. I have seen whole floors evacuated for weeks because of this. It can be costly for both you and your client.
Protect yourself and your company. Good communication about the subject will keep you out of trouble and help the cash to keep flowing regardless of the nice smell you may have or may not have left behind.