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Original poster

Smell in work toilets...:-(

76 replies

BlazesBoylansHat · 12/04/2024 13:28

I've recently changed jobs & have moved from a small organisation to a large one.
There are 2 blocks of toilets on my floor & one of them is near the canteen which is on my floor, so potentially gets more traffic

But Oh. My. God. The smell of unwashed foof is overwhelming. On top occasions I've opened the door to go into the room where there are 3 cubicles & backed out. It's revolting.
It's not crap. It's unwashed under carriages & to be honest I'm pretty shocked by it.

The toilets are clean & looked after. I see the cleaners in & out etc..they are internal so no windows & ventilation is obviously very poor.

I work in local government & there's a dress code etc so people look presentable but Jesus christ a lot of the women using these facilities REALLY need to improve their hygiene..

I don't remember this being so bad before but I might have been spoiled when working in small offices before.

I wish people would wash more 🤢 i read the threads here with people claiming not to need/ bother showering daily & that they don't smell etc but my experience says otherwise!

I shower every morning & wear clean clothes daily. And now I've become a bit paranoid about smelling....!!

OP posts:
Shadowboy · 12/04/2024 13:47

I’ve smelt the smell before - I remember using the toilet after a colleague and it smelt of unwashed female parts - a bit like stale sex and some sort of yeasty smell. Stood next to her you couldn’t really smell it, but my god after the toilet, wow it was strong.
I smelt it again a month of so later, after the same individual- never any other time.

ChannelyourinnerElsa · 12/04/2024 13:47

I also know the smell you mean. It’s a distinctive warm sickly smell.

Cosycover · 12/04/2024 13:47

Never experienced this before. Anywhere.

AsphaltBeach · 12/04/2024 13:47

This reply has been deleted

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lifeturnsonadime · 12/04/2024 13:48

Lots of talk of not wanting men in women's toilets at the moment.

I smell a rat.

CammyChameleon · 12/04/2024 13:48

I seriously doubt that people can have a strong enough groin smell to leave the smell behind them after they have exited the toilet, without it being apparent when they're fully clothed. A couple of layers of fabric can only do so much.

I reckon that either the drains are fucked, or there are some nooks and crannies you can't see that have been neglected by the cleaner for a long time and gunge/bacteria has built up there.

ToxicChristmas · 12/04/2024 13:50

I don't think a smell like that would linger persistently if the toilets are regularly cleaned like you say. It's unlikely it's coming from a lot of unwashed vaginas. It's far more likely to be a sewage issue or a unemptied sanitary bin - I'd go for the drain issue. Gases can build up in the P trap with poor plumbing which release a similar smell. Report the issue to management.

Original poster
BlazesBoylansHat · 12/04/2024 13:50

These responses are v illuminating

I work in a building with several hundred people. I am not working with nor suiting next to the vast majority of them so no idea how they smell up close.

These particular toilets are near the canteen so get used by more than the people on my floor.

I doubted it myself when i started working here & there are times when there's less / no smell & other times when, as I said, I've literally walked back out.

I can see that other people know what I'm talking about despite the others claiming I'm weird etc

People really should wash themselves as it's v unpleasant to encounter

OP posts:
ToxicChristmas · 12/04/2024 13:52

Oh and sewer gas smells like ammonia and rotten eggs, not shit. So much like your description.

GettingtheElectric · 12/04/2024 13:53

BlazesBoylansHat · 12/04/2024 13:50

These responses are v illuminating

I work in a building with several hundred people. I am not working with nor suiting next to the vast majority of them so no idea how they smell up close.

These particular toilets are near the canteen so get used by more than the people on my floor.

I doubted it myself when i started working here & there are times when there's less / no smell & other times when, as I said, I've literally walked back out.

I can see that other people know what I'm talking about despite the others claiming I'm weird etc

People really should wash themselves as it's v unpleasant to encounter

Maybe send around an email to the entire organisation telling them you're instituting regular personal hygiene check-ups?

That or bring a she-wee to work and wee in your office.

KreedKafer · 12/04/2024 13:55

Whatever is causing the smell, I can guarantee you it is not 'unwashed foof'. Something may well stink but it's not what you think it is.

mewkins · 12/04/2024 13:56

It's probably a water leak or drainage issues. Had similar issues in the loos in a council building I worked in. All of the toilets were in the middle of the building not against outside walls and I think the pipework was really dodgy and the water used the sit there in the pipes. You could suggest to facilities better extractor fans perhaps?

Avatartar · 12/04/2024 13:57

Just report it to maintenance/your manager/cleaners/ and ask them to clean the loos/empty sani bins- it’s all you can you apart from putting up Lord Kitchener style posters pointing his finger with slogan “Your Coworkers need You to wash your Foo”

FiveTreeHill · 12/04/2024 14:07

Is it not the sanitary bins?

I'm not sure exactly what unwashed foof smells like but the odd time I walk into a toilet that smells a bit genitally it's definitely the sanitary bins. If someone's genitals smell so bad that the toilet reeks ages after they've been in there then you'd smell it through the whole building.

Mammyloveswine · 12/04/2024 14:34

FiveTreeHill · 12/04/2024 14:07

Is it not the sanitary bins?

I'm not sure exactly what unwashed foof smells like but the odd time I walk into a toilet that smells a bit genitally it's definitely the sanitary bins. If someone's genitals smell so bad that the toilet reeks ages after they've been in there then you'd smell it through the whole building.

This!

And your poor colleague you were judging-given you could smell it again a month after she was probably on her period/or had monthly discharge and had changed a pad.

Of course I'm sure your own vulva smells like roses all the time Hmm

EvenStillIWantTo · 12/04/2024 14:52

KreedKafer · 12/04/2024 13:55

Whatever is causing the smell, I can guarantee you it is not 'unwashed foof'. Something may well stink but it's not what you think it is.

You can guarantee it? How's that then?

JillyTheJinx · 12/04/2024 15:16

lifeturnsonadime · 12/04/2024 13:48

Lots of talk of not wanting men in women's toilets at the moment.

I smell a rat.

Where as the OP smells 'foof.' 🤣🤣🤣

FiveTreeHill · 12/04/2024 15:31

Shadowboy · 12/04/2024 13:47

I’ve smelt the smell before - I remember using the toilet after a colleague and it smelt of unwashed female parts - a bit like stale sex and some sort of yeasty smell. Stood next to her you couldn’t really smell it, but my god after the toilet, wow it was strong.
I smelt it again a month of so later, after the same individual- never any other time.

If it smells like yeast it's probably yeast I.e thrush. Which is not poor hygiene and poor colleagues was probably treating

GettingtheElectric · 12/04/2024 15:31

FiveTreeHill · 12/04/2024 14:07

Is it not the sanitary bins?

I'm not sure exactly what unwashed foof smells like but the odd time I walk into a toilet that smells a bit genitally it's definitely the sanitary bins. If someone's genitals smell so bad that the toilet reeks ages after they've been in there then you'd smell it through the whole building.

Yes, unless the smelly colleagues spend all their days in the loo. Or leave their 'foofs' in the loo while they go back to their desks, because they went for the detachable option when it came to designing their own genitalia.

Or the OP is having nasal hallucinations.

EvenStillIWantTo · 12/04/2024 15:34

When I could smell it, I know exactly who it was. Man, that lingered.

Icannoteven · 12/04/2024 15:44

I know what you mean OP. I reckon it’s caused by people wearing tights or cheap and nasty polyester work trousers rather than not washing their foofs, per-se. Offices don’t generally have the most fanny-friendly dress codes. I know because I am an avid foof washer, I shower once a day minimum, but on occasion, I have worn the wrong kind of fabric and ended up getting a little whiff of this smell from myself.

For the uninitiated, think of the smell of the average ladies toilet at the swimming pool.

Original poster
BlazesBoylansHat · 12/04/2024 15:45

I'm not a troll, nor a man pushing anti women narrative.
I'm a woman in my 50s & I have been on MN a long time now.

My user name is a literary reference & nothing to do with this post.

It's v interesting that so many people are so quick to shut down the very suggestion that some women just don't wash enough. And I'm not alone in encountering this.

It's not a single colleague, it's not someone I can identify. Its a toilet that has a high volume of users.

It's sometimes similar in train stations / airports. I've gone into a cubicle after another person & it's been unpleasant. They're mostly transitory uses of toilets but this is one I have now experienced over a few weeks.

It's not drains / bins/ cleaning fluids. It is unwashed human.

Why is this such a challenging concept for so many posters?

OP posts:
EvenStillIWantTo · 12/04/2024 16:23

It's weird eh! If this was a thread about how bad men's toilets smell people would be tripping over themselves to agree. You can't admit that women might have smelly genitals though apparently.

I think the PP about wearing tights/polyester trousers has a good point.

Original poster
BlazesBoylansHat · 12/04/2024 16:28

Absolutely agree @EvenStillIWantTo !

It could be the tights / trousers although we don't have a uniform. People wear whatever they want within a smart casual spectrum veering to smarter the higher up the ranks you are.

But I'm finding it fascinating how people are tripping over themselves to tell me I'm wrong or weird or somehow being mean for suggesting that better hygiene would be v beneficial for a surprising number of people in my work place 🤔

OP posts:
AntonFeckoff · 12/04/2024 16:30

I agree it’s strange so many posters are upset by this thread. Unwashed genitalia have a smell, male or female. In the same way as if you didn’t wash your armpits regularly they would smell too, and surely everyone recognises the lingering odour of armpit sweat? Not sure why people are finding it so hard to believe.

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