Why people smell bad

I have a friend who has a sour smell quite strongly. I know the root, the flat is damp and clothes don’t dry. They get put away a tad damp too. She also uses eco washing products that don’t really cut it. She’s washing daily, clothes often and doesn’t notice it. It’s strong though. We were out recently and she left her bag, I went bag for her without asking what it looked like as I easily smelt it out.
I reckon damp housing and drying clothes indoors is a huge factor. Add it cost saving measures and its quick.

Some people just don't care. If you go into cex or game there are always grotty, unwashed men, buying second hand games. I don't know how the workers cope.

@Anotherparkingthread I think I may have met the Sainsburys staff member you mention (unless there are two of them like this). The one I met was in a city centre Sainsburys in the West Country 😬I also had to get off a bus once because a man who was meters away from me, at the front had such bad rotten teeth that I could smell him from the back of the bus (I was pregnant at the time, so maybe more sensitive to it than most). I don’t know why buses attract people who stink - you don’t get the same issue on trains.

I’ve definitely noticed a lot of people smelling bad since lockdown. Have they lost their sense of smell permanently since Covid? Is it the trend for vegan / natural deodorants? Are people cutting down on showers due to col or wfh? Have they no shame?

I think a big issue is mental health, so not just depression etc meaning your self care is bad, but also leading to physical health problems which can cause bad odours.

@Anotherparkingthread That did make me laugh. I can imagine an inspector going round giving people a sniff and an asbo.

Yep this is true.

They might be camping or campervanning or something. I'm a bit paranoid about this atm as I'm over Covid but still have no sense of smell. Family are helping out though by sniffing me and my clothes everyday

I go to lots of nerdy gamer events and the BO from the crowd is so intense! Eye-wateringly bad at times. It really ruins the experience when you have to hold your breath to go inside!!

You are not being unreasonable. I just don't understand how do someone not know they smell bad. Saying that, if one of my colleagues smells I will not be able to tell them as it's v 'rude'. My grandma told me a story about her colleague whose BO was so bad that the entire company knew but no one could tell her. They had to get a doctor in to do a ' health check-up' for everyone but it was only intended for that one colleague...

When I was young we’d only have a bath on a Sunday evening but my mum, like the other mums who lived nearby, would give us a good wash at the sink every day. I can distinctly recall being lifted up on to the edge of the sink so she could give my bottom area a good wash.

@DupontsYellowDressingGown That's such a good point!! I feel bad for judging people now.

Yes but that doesn't mean everyone on Uc can afford to wash. A single unemployed person on UC gets around £75/ £80 to cover everything after rent paid and sometimes if in private rented accomodation which is more than their Uc rent element pays they need to supplement rent out of that too. Contrast that with others on UC who have kids and may be working some hours and are a lot better off then really there's no comparison. Some people literally cannot afford hot water or to wash their clothes or to buy deodrant. Some people live in substandard accomodation with no access to hot water, rogue landlords who don't fix things, hostels etc. Some people have no means to being able to wash clothing cheaply, relying on expensive landerettes.

Well, you don't know. Some people have medical conditions or weird bacteria that mean not even extra strength deodorant works on them; some people have neurodivergence or cognitive disabilities that means they're very phobic of water; some people were raised without proper hygiene so never learned. And poverty of course.

On the other hand, sometimes people shower every day and wear clean clothes and deodorant, but sometimes shit just happens as a one off. I was working on a project where there were 12 of us crammed in a tiny, artificially super heated room for 14 hours, and by the end it was definitely very whiffy in there. I'm sure everyone showered and put on deodorant at the start of the day but it's a challenging environment. I went out not long ago and kept smelling an awful stink, then I realised it was my Sketchers that had gotten soaked in the rain, and even though they had dried they just smelled awful from being so soaked. Like an intense wet dog smell, or the smell of when you forget to unload your washing machine and the wet washing sits in the machine and gets smelly. I put them in the washing machine that night but I had a suffer a day of being the smelly one.

Why was it deleted?

I'd rather encounter bad smelling people than diesel fumes. Everywhere I go, flipping car exhaust & diesel fumes (cars or trains). So so stinky.

And then some public spaces overdo it with the disinfectant & cleaning potion smells, so bad that it makes my eyes sting. I have no idea how other people find this tolerable.

On top of that I loathe the smell of coffee. Cafe Nero is a no-go place for me. <boak>

I don't mind heavy perfume or light cig smoke so much.

I'm a bit paranoid about this now. Neither my DH nor my sense of smell quite came back after COVID. I used to use scented candles etc at home but now don't bother because it always smells fine, except for DTeenageBoy's room

It's often their clothes rather than body. Not well enough washed clithes start smelling after bit of wear

Yes I used to give a colleague a lift to work and he had this damp musty smell about him constantly. he was single in a low paid job trying to pay rent on a damp hose with no hot water and an absent landlady who lived abroad and kept the rent low in return for him not making a fuss or complaining. It's just how some people have to live to survive.

Maybe years ago people didn't notice it as much because people could smoke everywhere ( at their desks at work for one example) and bathing / showering wasn't like it is today , it was only one bath a week and a wash down at the sink at other times, clothes not washed as often , so you just didn't notice the smell as much ? The smoking must have masked a lot of any other odors ( just a theory of mine)
My sense of smell has altered since having Covid too

Interesting because I was just thinking how unusual it is now.. I've recently started commuting by tube, which I last did 20 years ago. Then it was really common for people to smel; even early in the morning, but I haven't noticed it at all in recent weeks.

There's medical conditions that cause this too its not just people who don't wash. As much as I dislike the smell of bo, I don't judge people who smell bad

I think some people just put a bit of shower gel under their arms with their hands and let the suds run down
If you're sweaty it's often not enough. I use bar soap on every bit from in between toes to behind ears with an exfoliating glove or cloth. Needs a bit of effort!

I work in fitness and my god, there’s a difference between being sweaty from a work out and someone who’s certainly not showered in a while. They fill the room. Honestly I don’t get it

Or poor 😔

Could be lots of things-

medical condition such as halitosis or an infection
medical condition or disability means getting into the shower is painful
mental health condition such as depression which means showering is very hard
lack of money for water, electricity, shower products and déodorant
damp, mouldy and unsanitary living conditions
I even watch a woman on TikTok who struggles to shower because she has ptsd from being waterboarded by an abusive ex

Thats why it’s important not to judge.