To think people are getting scruffier?

Flomingho · 25/01/2025 18:11

You are not wrong. I have noticed even on estate agent photos that some people can't even be bothered to make their beds or tidy their clutter away before the pictures are taken. Standards are definitely dropping with regards to hygiene with some people too. Lots of smelly unkempt people wandering around in public. I understand that if people are struggling financially they may not have the means to dress well but surely they could keep themselves clean.

GrandmotherStillLearning · 25/01/2025 17:56

HomeIsHardToFind · 25/02/2024 14:27

I am currently house hunting, I have been in a lot of properties recently and to be honest I have been shocked by the state of them!
They look fine in the estate agents photos but when you get there it's a different story.....plates and bowls piled up in the sink, crumbs all over work surfaces, disgusting ovens and urine stains/smells in the loo!
My 'favourite' was the house that had holes punched in the doors of every room (double checked the agents pics and they definitely didn't exist at the time they were taken!).
I get it, I can clean if we bought the house etc, but if you are selling your biggest asset and you want the most amount of money possible surely you make it look the best it can for viewings? I feel like I've stepped into an alternative universe at the moment!
I have also noticed that many more people out and about stink. Not just a bit of a pong or like they have a manual job and haven't showered for 24 hours but full on makes me dry heave absolutely stink!!
I put some fuel in the car this morning and the 'gentleman' that came into the garage as I was leaving smelled rancid, it must have been days and days since he had washed🤢 I could smell him outside in the fresh air!
Maybe I'm getting on (I don't think so, only early 40's!!) but I seem to remember people having more pride in themselves, their home and their families (don't get me started on some of the poor kids I've seen with such greasy hair it looks like it's been stuck to their head with chip oil☹️).
Sometimes I wonder if its COL biting but then I think about people I've known that grew up in the 60's and 70's that were dirt poor taking pride in how clean their mothers managed to keep them with nothing but soap and hot water, so I think the only difference is that the pride has gone?
Has anyone else noticed this or am I just unluckily surrounded by scruffy buggers?!

It's a strange generation but also all ages . Very odd 🤔 as majority here, perhaps 73% are scruffy, unkempt. But some of those are eccentric and wealthy.
We have plenty free food places here where you collect stuff on date. A few cafes do the collections and elderly young and middle aged go in and take the veg and pastries and toiletries free. There are also pantries and similar places and fill a bag for £2 places.
You cam get washing tablets conditioner shampoo conditioners and soap and veg and pastries at these places so it's not no soap.
People have water even if it's cold.

So, I think it's the rut. The misery the country and the tv feeds us.

I'm a every day is what you make it, skint or not. It can be wonderful.

But many aren't and need support and change of mindset.

PointsSouth · 25/01/2025 17:47

HomeIsHardToFind · 25/02/2024 14:27

I am currently house hunting, I have been in a lot of properties recently and to be honest I have been shocked by the state of them!
They look fine in the estate agents photos but when you get there it's a different story.....plates and bowls piled up in the sink, crumbs all over work surfaces, disgusting ovens and urine stains/smells in the loo!
My 'favourite' was the house that had holes punched in the doors of every room (double checked the agents pics and they definitely didn't exist at the time they were taken!).
I get it, I can clean if we bought the house etc, but if you are selling your biggest asset and you want the most amount of money possible surely you make it look the best it can for viewings? I feel like I've stepped into an alternative universe at the moment!
I have also noticed that many more people out and about stink. Not just a bit of a pong or like they have a manual job and haven't showered for 24 hours but full on makes me dry heave absolutely stink!!
I put some fuel in the car this morning and the 'gentleman' that came into the garage as I was leaving smelled rancid, it must have been days and days since he had washed🤢 I could smell him outside in the fresh air!
Maybe I'm getting on (I don't think so, only early 40's!!) but I seem to remember people having more pride in themselves, their home and their families (don't get me started on some of the poor kids I've seen with such greasy hair it looks like it's been stuck to their head with chip oil☹️).
Sometimes I wonder if its COL biting but then I think about people I've known that grew up in the 60's and 70's that were dirt poor taking pride in how clean their mothers managed to keep them with nothing but soap and hot water, so I think the only difference is that the pride has gone?
Has anyone else noticed this or am I just unluckily surrounded by scruffy buggers?!

There's a big difference between scruffy and unwashed.

I am happily the former, never the latter.

justbeingasmartarse · 25/01/2025 17:18

Never mind OP at least it gives you something to feel superior about.

TortolaParadise · 25/01/2025 17:10

B0xes · 14/01/2025 17:18

In a cold shower?

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Sleeping in a car?

Bbq1 · 14/01/2025 17:48

Newtonianmechanics · 25/02/2024 14:41

I looked around a house they hadn't even made the beds. Again I can look past that but I just wouldn't do the same thinh when presenting a house to sell.

When dh and I were first married we were looking for a flat to rent. We looked around one and the people showed us into one of the rooms with a man fast asleep sprawled in the bed. He didn't even stir! The other occupants didn't seem to think it strange! So bizarre!

thepastinsidethepresent · 14/01/2025 17:33

WeylandYutani · 14/01/2025 17:22

This thread is awful.
I am ND and really struggle with hygiene and self care.
I had my first shower of this year yesterday, and I feel quite proud, because it is something I really can't do. But most of MN would think I am gross. I guess I am.
I use posh stuff like Rituals, so it makes me feel and smell nice when I do shower.

You are not grim - don't be so hard on yourself. It is genuinely harder for some of us. I am also ND and have sensory processing issues which mean a shower can feel revolting some days, added to which I have pain issues that make it hard to stand even for that long on a bad day. Some days a bath is easier, some days a stand-up wash (or a sit-on-the-edge-of-the-bathtub wash) has to suffice.

TBH I don't think it's necessary for everyone to bathe/shower every single day provided they are keeping the obvious bits clean. Depends how much an individual sweats, how active they are etc, although I know that to suggest such a thing is Mumsnet anathema.

WeylandYutani · 14/01/2025 17:22

This thread is awful.
I am ND and really struggle with hygiene and self care.
I had my first shower of this year yesterday, and I feel quite proud, because it is something I really can't do. But most of MN would think I am gross. I guess I am.
I use posh stuff like Rituals, so it makes me feel and smell nice when I do shower.

B0xes · 14/01/2025 17:18

Hoglet70 · 25/02/2024 14:31

It's like 10p for a bar of Tesco Value soap so I doubt it's COL.

In a cold shower?

bombastix · 14/01/2025 17:02

The question is scruffy; most of the time seeing someone in a tracksuit and pool slides reads "I do not have a bean to my name" not, I am quietly expensive.

I appreciate teenagers want what they want. But tracksuits and pool slides is what you get to wear in prison. It is scruffy.

43ontherocksporfavor · 14/01/2025 16:35

Thebogopogopanpacificgrandprix · 14/01/2025 14:16

Have you seen the prices of tracksuits and sliders? They're not cheap.

Edited

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Have you been to Primark? 😂

K0OLA1D · 14/01/2025 16:30

bombastix · 14/01/2025 14:21

@Thebogopogopanpacificgrandprix compared to a decent outfit? Yes very cheap.

I dress myself fine without wearing tracksuits very cheaply compared to the very expensive tracksuits my teenager wants.

bombastix · 14/01/2025 14:21

@Thebogopogopanpacificgrandprix compared to a decent outfit? Yes very cheap.

Thebogopogopanpacificgrandprix · 14/01/2025 14:16

bombastix · 14/01/2025 10:28

Agree. It's poverty.

People wearing tracksuits, pool slides, sports socks. This is about what can be afforded, and it is scruffy.

Have you seen the prices of tracksuits and sliders? They're not cheap.

ChallahPlaiter · 14/01/2025 13:31

HomeIsHardToFind · 14/01/2025 13:12

Yes, clearly I am getting on with my life. We have finally moved into a lovely (spotlessly clean on viewing and moving in day) house.
I am not sure where you think I am getting satisfaction from? It certainly isn't from the stench of unwashed bodies.
Surely everyone is aware that if they go out smelling like a corpse that has been left in the sun all day that people will make a judgement?
You are right though, I don't know what people are going through. What I do know is that up until a few years ago most people didn't smell, now a lot of people absolutely stink, it can't all be terrible circumstances/poor mental health.

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Maybe you’ve had a sheltered life? I’ve always worked with people in difficult situations and hygiene has always been an issue. For so many reasons. It’s really cruel to jeer and judge and these kinds of threads bring out a lot of that behaviour.
Everyone seems to think they have the nose of a bloodhound. Truth is it’s hard to tell if someone’s not showered for 3/4 days. So any obvious smell is likely to have an ingrained cause which mocking and faux outrage won’t help.

Original poster

HomeIsHardToFind · 14/01/2025 13:12

ChallahPlaiter · 14/01/2025 08:56

Not read the full thread but I’d rather never shower or wash again for the rest of my life than be one of those grim people who clearly gains some weird satisfaction from judging and describing those they think are less hygienic than they are. It’s so pathetic. Yes some people smell, get on with your life. You don’t know anything about other people’s lives and what they’re going through.

Yes, clearly I am getting on with my life. We have finally moved into a lovely (spotlessly clean on viewing and moving in day) house.
I am not sure where you think I am getting satisfaction from? It certainly isn't from the stench of unwashed bodies.
Surely everyone is aware that if they go out smelling like a corpse that has been left in the sun all day that people will make a judgement?
You are right though, I don't know what people are going through. What I do know is that up until a few years ago most people didn't smell, now a lot of people absolutely stink, it can't all be terrible circumstances/poor mental health.

OP posts:

bombastix · 14/01/2025 10:28

Agree. It's poverty.

People wearing tracksuits, pool slides, sports socks. This is about what can be afforded, and it is scruffy.

wheresmyshoe · 14/01/2025 10:20

Some of my clothes definitely had a musty smell, I was careful with washing and drying so couldn't work out why until I put a hanging dehumidifier bag in my wardrobe. It filled within a few weeks, my wardrobe was overstuffed so air couldn't circulate and this was trapping moisture in my clothes.

I notice a pong on people, I assumed it was the move towards synthetic fibres. The general scruffiness seems to come from the trend towards athleisure wear which when pristine on gym bunny body styled for Instagram (male or female) has a look/style but on most of the population schlepping round the shops it is less than chic. The ubiquitous grey doesn't do anything for most people unless it/they are heavily styled.

ChallahPlaiter · 14/01/2025 08:56

Not read the full thread but I’d rather never shower or wash again for the rest of my life than be one of those grim people who clearly gains some weird satisfaction from judging and describing those they think are less hygienic than they are. It’s so pathetic. Yes some people smell, get on with your life. You don’t know anything about other people’s lives and what they’re going through.

Katemax82 · 14/01/2025 08:54

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 14/01/2025 08:41

Are the properties you’re viewing rentals where the landlord is selling up? Whenever I see similar online, I assume that the pissed-off tenants aren’t putting themselves out to have everything clean and tidy, and TBH I can’t say I blame them. IMO LLs should wait until tenants have left before doing viewings, and I say that as a LL myself.

If my landlord decided to evict us i would make it my mission to inform any viewers of the extensive black mould problem we spend so much tackling

Katemax82 · 14/01/2025 08:53

FourLeggedBuckers · 25/02/2024 16:30

I thought this was going to be about lowering aesthetic standards and people going to the supermarket in pyjamas or living in gym wear.

I’m absolutely feral about presentation, but I always start and end the day clean (I encounter a lot of mud at work!). What the OP is describing is next level grim.

You can't pass my village convenience store without some woman emerging from it in nightgown and slippers at any given time of the day! They always drive off in great big Chelsea tractors too

Thebogopogopanpacificgrandprix · 14/01/2025 08:45

gannett · 14/01/2025 08:22

Agreed that cleanliness is important in all those ways but my point was that even if you do all those things, you are still likely to be somewhat sweaty and musty on a plane.

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You are but it's a different smell to ingrained unwashed

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 14/01/2025 08:41

Are the properties you’re viewing rentals where the landlord is selling up? Whenever I see similar online, I assume that the pissed-off tenants aren’t putting themselves out to have everything clean and tidy, and TBH I can’t say I blame them. IMO LLs should wait until tenants have left before doing viewings, and I say that as a LL myself.

gannett · 14/01/2025 08:22

Thebogopogopanpacificgrandprix · 14/01/2025 08:09

There's a difference between haven't washed for 24 hours and an ingrained sense of not washing. It's not solely about daily showering but also clean clothes, washed hair etc. If you're not a daily showerer you still need a strip wash daily and you need clean bed sheets that are changed routinely too. it's odd because at a time when there is arguably more choice in personal care products than ever before people seem to be using them less and less.

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Agreed that cleanliness is important in all those ways but my point was that even if you do all those things, you are still likely to be somewhat sweaty and musty on a plane.

Thebogopogopanpacificgrandprix · 14/01/2025 08:09

gannett · 14/01/2025 07:45

Unreasonable to expect anyone to stay fresh throughout their journey. I may have left the house showered and with clean hair but by the time I've lugged my bags on the bus, the train and through the airport it's likely that I'll have become a bit sweaty. No one is at their freshest on a plane. And given that it's not the most comfortable of places to spend a few hours, there's no way I'm wearing anything other than for comfort.

Also how do you know those men weren't wearing underwear? Did you check, or just ogle?

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There's a difference between haven't washed for 24 hours and an ingrained sense of not washing. It's not solely about daily showering but also clean clothes, washed hair etc. If you're not a daily showerer you still need a strip wash daily and you need clean bed sheets that are changed routinely too. it's odd because at a time when there is arguably more choice in personal care products than ever before people seem to be using them less and less.