For years, Branch Basics has been a leader in the conversation about the harms posed by common synthetic fragrances that lurk in most homes, businesses, and public spaces.

The solution is relatively simple: remove and avoid fragranced products, even the sneaky ones like trash bags, pet litter, and so-called “natural” fragrances.

However, there is a well-hidden nuance to going fragrance-free that most people aren’t aware of: unscented doesn’t always mean a product is free from fragrance chemicals.

How can this be? In three words: scent-masking chemicals. 

Let’s unpack the differences between fragrance-free and unscented, and how to choose truly safe products for your home.

Key Takeaways

• Unscented products mean a product has no scent, but they typically contain scent-masking chemicals, many of which are used in fragrances
  
• Fragrance-free products, on the other hand, may not contain any fragrance and are truly free from fragrances and scent-masking chemicals
  
• As a leader in the fragrance-free movement, Branch Basics is proud to offer only naturally fragrance-free products across our human-safe product line

What Are The Differences Between Fragrance-Free And Unscented Products?

There is a lot that companies can hide behind words on a label, including undisclosed harmful chemicals.

The word “unscented” on a laundry detergent or dish soap is a prime example of deceptive marketing.

Yes, the product may not contain a detectable scent. However, it is highly likely it also contains other harmful ingredients along with various scent-masking, odor-neutralizing chemicals, designed to remove any trace of a chemical scent.

Although we applaud any brand that doesn’t use fragrance chemicals, the problem is that scent-masking chemicals are often just as bad and may even be used in proprietary fragrance formulas.

Examples Of Odor-Neutralizing Chemicals Include:

• Benzyl Alcohol: A toxic skin, eye, and lung irritant.
  
• Phthalates: A plasticizer chemical and well-known endocrine disruptor widely used in fragrances.
  
• Formaldehyde donors: Often used as preservatives, these carcinogenic chemicals can also neutralize certain chemical smells.
  
• Synthetic Musks: Bioaccumulative endocrine disruptors linked to breast cancer, lung disease, and various other conditions.
  
• Benzyl Salicylate: A skin irritant and endocrine disruptor.

Marketing terms like 'unscented' or ‘organic’ can mislead us to assume a product is safe, but the only way to truly assess safety is to check all ingredients. Harmful components should never be in our products!

For guidance, see our blog post, 3 Tools You Need To Become Your Own Product Advocate | Branch Basics.

Related reading: The Effects Of Fragrance On Human Health

What Does “Fragrance-Free” Mean?

Fragrance-free means a product must be free from any type of fragrance, including scent-masking chemicals—this is what you want on a label.

The only smell coming from a truly fragrance-free product would be from natural raw materials.

For example, Branch Basics products are completely fragrance-free (even our Organic Chamomile Flower Extract is certified as a non-fragrance), but our concentrate has a mild, soapy scent, and some people can detect a hint of chamomile.

Again, see 3 Tools You Need To Become Your Own Product Advocate for more tips on choosing safe and healthy products. 

What Does “Unscented” Mean?

Unscented means a product does not contain any scent.

Unlike fragrance-free, the term “unscented” does not mean a product does not contain fragrance chemicals or scent-masking chemicals.

As mentioned previously, always look for the fragrance-free label to ensure a product is free from fragrance and odor-neutralizing chemicals.

Why can unscented products be harmful?

As mentioned previously, unscented products often contain the same fragrance chemicals you’re trying to avoid, including endocrine-disrupting phthalates, allergens, and carcinogenic chemicals, like formaldehyde.

It’s also worth noting that just because a product is fragrance-free doesn’t mean it’s free from other harmful chemicals.

For this reason, we always recommend choosing fragrance-free plant- and mineral-based cleaners, personal care products, laundry products, dish detergent, and baby products made using only  human-safe ingredients.

Why Branch Basics is Fragrance-Free

Branch Basics is, and always has been, a 100% fragrance-free product line. 

Our co-founder, Marilee Nelson, was a pioneer in educating people on the harms of fragrances and other common household chemicals (before all this wonderful internet information was available), and we continue in that spirit as we expand our product offerings.

From our all-in-one Concentrate to our Beeswax Candle, everything we make is fragrance-free and free from harmful chemicals.

We’ve written extensively on the topic of the dangers of synthetic fragrance recipes and why we avoid  essential oils when creating a healthy home

Some popular articles include:

• Fragrance Is The New Secondhand Smoke | Eliminate Synthetic Fragrance To Improve Your Health
  
• Is Natural Fragrance Safe?
  
• The Emotional Attachment To Fragrance
  

Our Favorite Fragrance-Free Products

Avoiding fragrance requires awareness, especially when also avoiding “unscented” products, but it doesn’t have to be a chore.

Here are some of our favorite fragrance-free products for cleaning and personal care.

The Best Fragrance-Free Cleaning Products

The best fragrance-free cleaning products also contain only human-safe ingredients and work like a charm!

Here are some of our favorites, including DIY options.

Branch Basics 

Our all-in-one EWG-Verified, MADE SAFE Certified, plant- and mineral-based Concentrate is designed to replace every single synthetic chemical cleaner in your home. Just add Concentrate plus water to the refillable bottle, and you’re ready to clean surfaces, bathrooms, glass, mirrors, your car, your hands—it does it all!

We also offer fragrance-free Plastic-free Dishwasher Tablets, Gel Hand Soap, and Laundry Detergent (powder) 

Vinegar 

Plain old distilled white vinegar or cleaning vinegar can be used for dozens of cleaning jobs around the house.  

It has a natural smell and contains no fragrances or scent-masking chemicals. The natural acetic acid in vinegar removes soap scum, deodorizes, breaks down mineral deposits and scale. However, spraying vinegar aerosolizes the acetic acid — a known lung irritant — so ideally vinegar should only be used  as a wipe‑on cleaner. 

This is especially important when babies, small children, or anyone with a chronic lung condition or chronic illness is in the home.

Hydrogen Peroxide

3% hydrogen peroxide in the brown bottle is a favorite for fragrance-free low-tox disinfecting of surfaces and cutting boards, cleaning mirrors, removing stains, and as a laundry bleach alternative.

Just affix a trigger sprayer to the bottle (leaving it in the original brown bottle prevents degradation), and get cleaning and disinfecting!

One note: never combine hydrogen peroxide with vinegar or chlorine bleach, as this will create a toxic gas.

Related: How to Clean With Hydrogen Peroxide: Safe, Natural Uses for Disinfecting, Laundry, Mold, & More

Baking Soda

We love pure baking soda as a natural scouring agent, cleaner, stain remover, fabric softener, tile grout cleaner, and mild bleach alternative.

It’s also safe to combine with hydrogen peroxide or liquid castile soap for even more cleaning power.

What about combining baking soda and vinegar?

Although this is safe, we generally do not recommend combining baking soda and vinegar as vinegar’s acidity cancels out baking soda’s alkalinity. The exception is for unclogging drains, where the fizzing action is required to push out the clog.

The Best Fragrance-Free Personal Care Products

We’ve written extensively about this in: Our Favorite Fragrance-free Personal Care Products and Men’s Fragrance Free Product Recommendations that are also natural and human-safe. 

Here’s a quick preview:

• Terressentials Fragrance Free Facial Cleanser
  
• Tata Harper Superkind Cleanser
  
• Branch Basics Foaming Wash (great for on-the-go makeup removal, facial cleansing, body cleansing, and even shampooing. Gentle enough for babies and sensitive skin)
  
• Luminance Rosewater Toner
  
• Indie Lee I-Waken Eye Serum
  
• Cocokind eye cream
  
• Osea Hyaluronic Sea Serum
  
• cocokind Matcha Moisture Stick
  
• Boodaorganics Daily Moisturizer
  
• Vermont Castile Soap 

Get the full list by clicking the links above.

What’s Marilee’s Take on Fragrance? 

“Since our inception, Branch Basics has been dedicated to being a 100% fragrance-free company, and we will always be 100% fragrance-free. 

“This is informed by my work over several decades working with the chronically ill, chemically-injured, and chemically-sensitive who would all, without exception, improve significantly when we removed harmful fragrances from their environments.

“Going fragrance-free is one of the easiest things you can do to reduce your toxic load, detoxify your endocrine (hormonal) system and liver, and give your hormones a chance at re-balancing. It’s that powerful!”

Marilee encourages everyone to become educated on the harms and emotional attachment to fragrances, as well as where they hide out.

“I’d also invite people to gift themselves the time to take our Toss The Toxins Online course. We’ve made the course 100% free to help empower you to identify and remove harmful chemicals from your home, including fragrance, so you can live a healthier life. This is the exact system I have taken my clients  through personally for the last thirty years,, and it’s our gift to you—so take advantage of it!”

Toss the Toxins with Branch Basics

Understanding the difference between fragrance free vs unscented products is essential for reducing chemical exposure and creating a healthier home.

If you’re looking for a truly naturally fragrance-free cleaning line, we hope you’ll consider Branch Basics’ fragrance-free cleaning products. 

Our line isn’t just plant- and mineral-based, our ingredients are based on the human laboratory of experience.  They are EWG-Verified, MADE SAFE and Leaping Bunny certified, it’s also so effective and super economical!

Here’s what you can make with just one bottle of Concentrate and our Premium Starter Kit:

• 3 Foaming Wash Refills @ $3.09 each
  
• 3 All-Purpose Refills@  $3.09 each
  
• 3 Bathroom Refills $6.18 each
  
• 3 Streak-Free Refills @ $0.49 each
  
• 1 Laundry Refill, 64 loads of laundry @ $0.26 per load
  

Plus, subscribers save even more, making us one of the more affordable fragrance-free, human-safe, and biodegradable cleaning lines.

Shop Branch Basics Starter Kits, and start cleaning fragrance-free and with confidence today.

Fragrance & Unscented FAQs

Ready to go deeper? Let’s answer some FAQs.

Is Fragrance-Free Better Than Unscented?

100% yes, because fragrance-free products do not contain any fragrance chemicals. Ideally, we’d want you to choose fragrance-free and human-safe products to avoid all harmful chemicals, but even going fragrance-free is a great start!

Can Unscented Laundry Products Irritate Sensitive Skin?

Absolutely because they can contain scent-masking chemicals, which are often the same as the fragrance chemicals you’re trying to avoid.

Unscented synthetic laundry detergent also contains various chemicals that can irritate the skin, lungs, eyes, etc.

If avoiding skin issues and toxins are your goals, it’s best to choose a human-safe and naturally-fragrance-free product, like Branch Basics.

Are Unscented Products Hypoallergenic?

On all products, it is imperative to check all ingredients, as even hypoallergenic products can contain harmful chemicals, and claims on a label don’t necessarily mean a product is free of inflammatory chemicals and is human- or environmentally safe.