Short answer: in a care home, clean, soft and recognisable scents work best: green tea, orange blossom, light lemon, cotton or gentle lavender, always at low intensity and only at reception and in common areas. Avoid intense sweet scents, heavy orientals and anything that competes with food. And where there is a background odour, neutraliser before fragrance.
Choosing a scent for a care home is not like choosing one for a hotel. The audience is older people who spend the whole day there, many with a sense of smell that is weaker or more sensitive than before, and families who arrive from outside and smell the home with a fresh nose. The aim is not for the home to "smell of something", but to smell clean and well cared for.
First: fragrance or neutraliser?
If an area smells of urine, food or damp, fragrance is not the answer: it mixes and the result is worse. That is where a neutraliser goes. Fragrance is kept for areas without a background odour: reception, the visitors' room and, at most, lounges. We explain it in detail in air freshener or odour neutraliser: what a care home needs.
Which scents to use and which to avoid
| Family | BENDIS examples | In a care home | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green and tea | Green tea | Highly recommended | Reception, lounges |
| Soft white florals | Orange blossom, Jasmine | Recommended at low intensity | Reception, visitors' room |
| Light citrus | Lemon | Recommended, very soft | Entrance, corridors |
| Classic aromatics | Lavender | Fine in low doses; a very recognisable smell | Lounges |
| Mint | Mint | With care, can feel cold or irritating | Better not in rest areas |
| Intense sweet and gourmand | N°22, N°23, Cappuccino | Avoid | They overwhelm and compete with food |
| Dense orientals and woods | N°12 Oriental | Avoid | Too heavy in closed spaces |
Where to scent and where not to
- Yes: reception, visitors' room, entrance corridor. That's where families form their impression. A LUME covers up to 100 m².
- With nuance: lounges and activity rooms. A very soft fragrance or neutraliser, with a quiet diffuser such as the SENSE.
- No fragrance: the dining room during meals, bathrooms, rooms with incontinence and the laundry. There, neutraliser.
- Never: the nursing station, medication area and rooms of residents with respiratory problems without the care team's approval.
Intensity and schedules
Less is more. BENDIS diffusers arrive programmed at low intensity, and the app sets when each one works: at reception, during visiting hours; in lounges, a few minutes every hour instead of continuously. If staff stop noticing the scent but families notice it when they walk in, it is well adjusted. If staff smell it all day, it is too much.
Scents and people with dementia
There is a lot of talk about aromatherapy for older people and people with Alzheimer's. There are studies on the subject, but the results are not conclusive and we make no therapeutic promises. What we can say is practical: a space without bad odours and with a soft, familiar scent is more pleasant for everyone, and recognisable smells (lemon, lavender, orange blossom) are usually better accepted than complex perfumes. Any therapeutic use must be decided by the care team.
Safety
Diffusers out of residents' reach, product nebulised into the air and never onto people or food, and safety data sheets for every fragrance and neutraliser for your health and safety team. You can test first with 5 ml samples.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best scent for a care home?
A clean, soft one at reception, such as green tea or orange blossom, and neutraliser in areas with bad odours. There is no single best scent: it depends on the home and on what residents and staff like.
Which scents should be avoided with older people?
Intense sweet scents, dense orientals and strong mint. They overwhelm closed spaces and can be unpleasant.
Does aromatherapy help with Alzheimer's?
The evidence is not conclusive and BENDIS makes no therapeutic claims. Scenting improves the comfort of the space; any therapeutic use is for the care team to decide.
Can the dining room be scented?
Not during meals. After service, it is worth neutralising the food smell with a neutraliser.
How much does it cost to scent a care home reception?
A LUME for up to 100 m² costs €109.99 (VAT included). In Spain and Portugal, €37.90 + VAT a month with fragrance included on the monthly plan.
More: care home scenting · day centres · how to remove urine smell in a care home.
