Please help me pinpoint the source of the smell in my teenage son's bedroom

[Smallsteps88]

I know plenty of you have raised teenagers so I’m hoping some of you will know what this is.

He’s 15. Showers every day including washing hair. Brushes his teeth once a day at least, twice if he remembers in the morning. He uses roll on deodorant daily. He spends his days barefoot and the shoes he wears out of the house are kept downstairs. His clothes are washed daily. He has a laundry basket that they stay in and it is emptied every evening. There are no dirty pants/socks/anything lurking in his room because I completely stripped the room bare last weekend, moved all furniture, washed absolutely everything, including his mattress, all surfaces, bed linen, curtains. The whole lot. He doesn’t wear pyjamas and the offending smell does transfer to his bedsheets. So it’s coming off his body but I just don’t know how! He is washed every day. It is a bodily smell but doesn’t smell like BO. It is horrible though and his room is small and gets warm and stuffy so the smell is strong. His window and curtains are open for a few hours a day. I would have them open all day but he spends a lot of time in his room and likes to close them. The smell is from him but if I sniff him he doesn’t smell. If he leaves his bedroom door open the smell comes through the house.

Please help. I feel awful constantly reminding him to open his windows and asking to sniff his hair to see if it’s clean but we really need to get to the bottom of this. The smell is really horrible.

Can anyone shed any light and/or recommend some products he/we can use to combat this?

[Grendel90]

Does he have a night time sweating problem maybe? My partner sweats loads while he sleeps and it makes the sheets smell awful to be honest, but he also washes plenty and never smells the rest of the time, it’s just his night time sweat that has this particular smell. Are his sheets ever kind of damp in the morning or wouldn’t you know?

[Grendel90]

But by the way if it is that, I have no advice for how to solve it except washing the sheets all the time

[TheSpottedZebra]

Manky pillow ?
Erm, used tissues?

[2Kidsinatrenchcoat]

We had this problem when my brother was a teenager, if he left his bedroom door open you could smell it throughout the whole three storey house. Turned out to be the carpet, which had to be ripped out and replaced.

[LillianBland]

Erm. I hate to say it, but I think the smell is linked to his extra curricular activities. He’s probably just being a typical teenage boy. horrible memories of finding mountain of toilet paper under middle child’s bed. 🤢

[Yester]

From experience it is the stench of the teenage boy and will pass when he is 20.

[300XLTriColour]

I think the source of the smell in your teenage sons bedroom is ... erm....
your teenage son?

He needs to leave the doors and windows open and air the room more. New bedding, new socks? They do just seem to smell at this age ...

[QuestionableMouse]

I think it's hormones.

Does he have cotton bedding? Some of the synthetic materials hang onto smells!

[LillianBland]

@TheSpottedZebra

Manky pillow ?
Erm, used tissues?

Oh thank god! I really felt like a bit of a perv suggesting that.

[Covert19]

My theory is that pubescent offspring start to repel their parents, and there’s no cure. It’s nature’s way of helping you to let them leave home.

[MonkeyToesOfDoom]

Smegma
Excessive masturbation
Behind the ears fungal / cheesey smell

Could be all sorts.

[MadamFlutterby]

Oh god, welcome to my world! For the live of everything good ..... just bloody wash

[Smallsteps88]

Are his sheets ever kind of damp in the morning or wouldn’t you know?

I don’t know because he is never up before I leave the house. I have taught him to throw the duvet cover back to air out the bed but this doesn’t happen.

Manky pillow ?

Nope, I wash it every week specifically to make sure it isn’t holding the smell. His duvet gets washed every week as well as the mattress protector.

Erm, used tissues?

None that I can find and I do look for this reason!

Turned out to be the carpet, which had to be ripped out and replaced.

His is laminate. Hoovered and mopped weekly.

From experience it is the stench of the teenage boy and will pass when he is 20.

not what I was hoping to hear!

I think the source of the smell in your teenage sons bedroom is ... erm....
your teenage son?

Yes, but I need to find out what is causing him to smell.

He needs to leave the doors and windows open and air the room more.

I agree and I’m always on at him to do it.

New bedding, new socks?

I don’t think it’s the bedding or socks. It’s not a feet smell. I wash all his stuff at 60 with biological and soda crystals. They never smell after being washed.

Does he have cotton bedding? Some of the synthetic materials hang onto smells!

Yes all cotton.

[theskyispurple]

Teenage boys rooms smell like something has died in there. It's natures way of helping us mothers detach from them.
It passes.
Mother Nature is a clever clogs.
Speaking from vast experience

[Smallsteps88]

@Covert19

My theory is that pubescent offspring start to repel their parents, and there’s no cure. It’s nature’s way of helping you to let them leave home.

[Smallsteps88]

It’s been so much worse since lockdown as he is home all day every day (mostly) whereas before his window and door was open from 8am until about 7pm everyday. And also it’s really warm.

[AlwaysLatte]

It sounds like he's sweating at night! Make sure all his bedding is 100% cotton, and that the mattress protector and duvet are also natural, also does the room gets lots of fresh air?

[Flimflamfloogety]

Does he partake in a bit of waccy baccy? He may be disposing of the evidence, but the smell lingers no matter how much you air out the room

[AlwaysLatte]

Be careful peeps, some of your replies will get the pervs out.

[Haworthia]

It’s just teenage boy smell. I remember my brother’s bedroom when we were younger. Blech.

Weirdly enough, with my husband working from home since March, I frequently walk into our bedroom (no study in this house, so that’s his office) and can smell “bloke”. And he showers every morning. Is it just testosterone?

[Redshoeblueshoe]

Covert19 wins the thread

[DramaAlpaca]

@Yester

From experience it is the stench of the teenage boy and will pass when he is 20.

Yes this. Hormones, lots of hormones.

My three boys were all teenagers at the same time and when they were in a room with a few of their friends the stench aroma of teen boy was quite something.

I'm pleased to say it passes eventually.

[Smallsteps88]

also does the room gets lots of fresh air?

Not enough IMO. I’m fighting with him over it.

Does he partake in a bit of waccy baccy?

No, I know what it’s smells like and this isn’t it.

Is it just testosterone?

I think that must be it. Urgh. Why does it smell so bad??

[CorianderLord]

Farts?

[frustrationcentral]

I think it's just boy smell? My DS and his room often have a whiff about them. It's a shame as he's very clean, showers without fail everyday, clean clothes etc. He even keeps his bedroom pretty tidy. He just often smells a bit musty? Not a BO smell but one step away from it?! I don't know how to deal with it as he seems to already be doing everything right!