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Original poster

To hate the smell of silk

66 replies

HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 18:57

Inspired by the thread where some people think rapeseed oil smells of fish, does anyone else hate the smell of silk?

I can’t stand it - I can’t wear silk clothes, gag when I walk past the cushion department in John Lewis, and hate going to homes with silk cushion covers.

Everyone I’ve mentioned it to says that silk doesn’t smell. Is this a thing or just me?!

OP posts:
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LakieLady · 08/04/2024 12:29

I've never noticed silk having a distinctive smell. I have a few silk scarves, a couple of silk shirts and a silk dress, and I've just been and given them a good sniff.

They don't smell any different from my cotton or linen ones.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 08/04/2024 12:22

@KreedKafer

I’m a textile nerd. I taught Textile science? Why the biscuit? I was just interested!

KreedKafer · 08/04/2024 11:35

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 07/04/2024 16:32

Woven sort of knit? What is this hybrid?

Iys either woven or knitted😁

Biscuit
KreedKafer · 08/04/2024 11:33

It's so strange how different people's perceptions of smells are. I can't smell silk at all! But I used to have a colleague who had a (very plain and ordinary!) tin of soup for lunch every and the smell of it almost used to make me gag. Everyone else just said they thought it had the very slight, pleasantly savoury scent you'd expect it to have. To me, it absolutely reeked. No idea why as I'm not usually bothered by smells at all - if anything, I'm less sensitive about smells than most people. But to me, that perfectly dull and innocuous soup was smell-hell.

mewkins · 08/04/2024 11:16

Is it actually polyester/nylon you can smell? That definitely has a strong smell too but different from silk.

DarlingClementine85 · 07/04/2024 18:28

I have an aversion to silk and people wearing it. I don't know what it is, but I feel like it makes people smell, and any sweat or fluid clings to the surface in an unpleasant manner.

ChorltonsWheelies · 07/04/2024 16:52

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 07/04/2024 16:32

Woven sort of knit? What is this hybrid?

Iys either woven or knitted😁

Sure, whatever. As my teenager would say, it’s not that deep. 😊

JellyIegs · 07/04/2024 16:37

On reading this I pulled my silk scrunchie out of my hair and stuck my nose right in it. I don’t think I can smell anything, maybe my shampoo a tiny bit.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 07/04/2024 16:32

Woven sort of knit? What is this hybrid?

Iys either woven or knitted😁

ChorltonsWheelies · 07/04/2024 16:14

I do think the clothes I had in the 90s had a stronger smell of it but it was also more popular in a woven sort of knitted form back then I think.

Waitingfordoggo · 07/04/2024 08:38

It smells like slightly sour milk to me. But it’s subtle and actually not unpleasant, just a bit weird.

OnHerSolidFoundations · 07/04/2024 08:34

Eh?

Original poster
HeavyPlantCrossing · 07/04/2024 07:08

So we’ve established:

  • Only some people can smell silk.
  • For those that can, some like the smell and some find it unpleasant - meaty, damp, sickly.
  • It could be the dyes used on silk that emit the smell.

I feel vindicated that I’m not mad and some other people can smell it too. I will keep on avoiding it!

Thus concludes the science part. 🙂

OP posts:
ChorltonsWheelies · 07/04/2024 00:05

Gatekeeper · 06/04/2024 22:43

Ive had silk shirts over years and they've been fine but also had some knitted silk tops which smelled so unpleasant I had to ditch them. Oddly enough the smell reminded me of the raw beef bones my cousin's dog would slobber over!

Agree that it’s usually that type of rough knitted silk that has the scent.

ChorltonsWheelies · 07/04/2024 00:04

HussellRobbs · 06/04/2024 21:15

I really don’t think they do, OP.

Show quote history

Silk can absolutely have a distinctive smell.

Gatekeeper · 06/04/2024 22:43

Ive had silk shirts over years and they've been fine but also had some knitted silk tops which smelled so unpleasant I had to ditch them. Oddly enough the smell reminded me of the raw beef bones my cousin's dog would slobber over!

LenaLamont · 06/04/2024 22:30

HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 22:22

I definitely can smell asparagus pee. I wonder if smelling silk and smelling asparagus pee are linked…

Show quote history

I doubt that, as most (not all) can smell asparagus and that doesn't seem to be the case with silk.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 06/04/2024 22:22

Actually l’ve just remembered cheap silk can have a smell. It’s seritin which is the gum which binds the cocoon together. It’s usually boiled to remove the smell, but cheap silk doesn’t remove it all,

Original poster
HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 22:22

LynetteScavo · 06/04/2024 22:07

Wool definitely has a smell. I've never noticed silk. Maybe it's like asparagus pee. I never noticed that until MN informed me it was a thing.

I definitely can smell asparagus pee. I wonder if smelling silk and smelling asparagus pee are linked…

OP posts:
ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 06/04/2024 22:19

Yes, they use different dyes according to the fibre and they definitely dye pillows before stuffing them. Usually at the yarn or fabric stage.

Its the dyes that smell with silk not the fibres. I’ve just sniffed some mulberry fibres l have that haven’t been dyed and they don’t smell.

Wool does smell when wet though.

LynetteScavo · 06/04/2024 22:07

Wool definitely has a smell. I've never noticed silk. Maybe it's like asparagus pee. I never noticed that until MN informed me it was a thing.

noodlezoodle · 06/04/2024 21:33

There is definitely a particular smell, even if not everyone can smell it. I don't mind it, but the smell of wet wool makes me gag.

SeeingRainbowsInTheGloom · 06/04/2024 21:32

I used to wear silk shirts back in the 90s and now you've reminded me they did have a particular smell. It didn't bother me and I am quite smell averse so it's interesting you can't abide it. I bought a white silk pillowcase a while ago and I don't think it smells at all, so maybe it is something to do with the die.

Original poster
HeavyPlantCrossing · 06/04/2024 21:32

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 06/04/2024 21:06

I taught Textile science for years and never noticed a smell. We used to have cocoons and raw silk fibres. No smell.

The smell is probably the dyes.

Anf it’s not made from poo! It’s made from the stuff they spin their cocoons from, it comes out of their heads not their bums.

And it’s used for satin. duchess silk and slipper satin. It’s not used for polyester.

Ah I see, do they use different dyes for silk than other fabric? Do they dye it before using it to fill pillows too, because those also smell the same? I think it might be one of those things not everyone can smell because when I’ve mentioned it to others e.g. when standing by some silk curtains recently, they couldn’t smell it at all.

OP posts:
GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 06/04/2024 21:32

I think maybe you need to be one of those supersmeller people to smell it?

It doesn’t smell to me. Hearing is my over sensitive thing.

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