New workmate smells awful

@longapple...have you tried putting your clothes through a short rinse and adding some white (distilled) vinegar ? I often buy vintage clothes which, although they may be clean often have a musty smell, then I just wash them as normal afterwards, you won't smell the vinegar at all but it really does leave them fresh.

your boss needs to deal with it.

Someone I worked with a long time ago carried the odour of sweat and horses into work. She mucked out their stables in her work gear before coming in.

Your boss needs to deal with this.

many years ago as a very young manager I had an employee who absolutely stank. I didn’t work with him often but my team complained. I took him aside and started gently asking if everything was ok. As it happened he had a bereavement he hadn’t shared with us all and in paying for the funeral he was left with no money, he wasn’t showering, washing or eating properly, he absolutely broke down.

We gave him money and time off. He repaid that favour by over 10 years of dedication to his job, I left and he was still there.

sometimes people just need a helping hand.

Rae you sure its not cannabis? We have someone who absolutely stunk of what my colleagues assumed was unwashed clothes and BO. It wasn't it was weed, they were smoking it most nights and you could smell them from 2 offices away and for around 2-3 hrs after they left for the day.

It’s awful when people smell. I know some people can’t help it, but if that were me and I had a medical condition which meant I smelt bad I would be doing everything I could to reduce the smell and cover it up.

I had to be in a car with someone who smelt bad recently. He smelt awful walking over to the car and omg the stench that wafted out of the door as I opened it almost made me heave. The car was only a year old as well. I had to have the window open the whole time.

I had some clothes that got smelly really fast I. The day and did some research. As far as I remember it can be caused by being unlucky and having certain proteins in sweat, a type of bacteria that feeds on the proteins live in fabric (worse in the deodorant buildup you get in armpits and the sweat wicking type clothes, but can just be in the fabric). They don't get killed washing below 60. As soon as the person sweats the bacteria feed on protein and BO smell appears.
I solved it by washing the clothes I noticed being smelly at 60 occasionally. Some people online talked about a pet febreze that kills the bacteria but I didn't want to smell like dog spray either 😂

You could have a factual chat at morning tea, when you are both alone.

Is your clothes dryer playing up this week?
Your outfit smells very musty today. You should look into that.
It happened to my clothes when the dryer left them damp.
It's a really nice skirt and the last thing you need is for it to start to rot.
Would you like the name of a detergent I used that got rid of the musty smell on my blouses?

No judgement, just observation.
Making it about her clothes.
Making it about a smell you detect today.
Making it fixable.
Offering help.

The girl might have no dryer and a dickie washing machine.

I agree with notifying your HR; they should resolve the issue.

My old horrible boss only washed on a Sunday. So over the week the smell would get worse and worse. He had some health problems so the smell used to become unbearable by the end of the week. He was also very overweight and cheap so had very few clothes.
Staff used fo take last minute holiday so they weren’t exposed to it when it was getting bad.
His boss would do nothing about it as he knew my boss would say it was bullying.
He’s somewhere new and I saw a picture and he’s piled on the weight even more. I’m sorry for the people he works with now.

I had to tell 2 staff their odours had been the subject of an ss complaint. They worked on a care contract and the client said they left a BO smell in his home.

He could not open a window.
First one went ok. She was a heavy smoker but carried deodorant. She was clearly embarassed. Second one went ballistic and in total denial. Her partner rang me saying she did not smell and made threats against me.
Your manager needs to step up here. It is unprofessional to have that type of odour in the workplace.
Fwiw the staff member chose leaving over dealing with it. Other staff later described.the odour as appalling but had felt intimidated just as she tried to scare me.
Speak to your manager again. Dont try to deal with it yourself.

Do not buy hygiene products for Christmas.
Do not email her.
Do not attempt to deal with this yourself.
Let your manager know it's an issue. That is all you can do

Oh and to be clear I still think an email should come from a manager and absolutely not a colleague.

There's a midway point between an anonymous note and a conversation - a polite and overly friendly email with the compassionate approaches and talking points mentioned here included would be best IMO.

It gives the recipient the option to respond or open a dialog if they choose. It also acts as a safety net against any accusations of bullying; if the recipient becomes disgruntled, it's easy to prove what was said.

This reminds me of a situation I was in when I was young and worked in a café environment. There was a girl my age who worked there who was very disliked by the team, but she also had very poor personal hygiene. I was coming over from another branch and the manager took a (lechy) shine to me. He told me to come in on standby one day, and it turns out they were planning on sending the girl with odour issues home if she came in smelling.

I do get it especially in an environment that is preparing and handling food and drinks, but blimey it must have been absolutely mortifying for that girl.

The problem is that what one person sees as a discreet, kind note, another sees as a poison pen letter.

This HAS to come from the manager or HR. Will it be a pleasant conversation for anyone involved? Absolutely not - but it is a necessary one. I remember an old boss of mine had to do it once regularly one of the IT technicians. She was a cow most of the time, but I have to say she handled it really well (and a damn sight better than the manager, who played dumb and said he hadn’t noticed).

I would speak to the estates and facilities department and see if they have a hose, like the ones firemen use, that you could borrow...

From my experience, HR are a complete waste of time, but I definitely agree with the others that it should be her manager... also remember to switch off all PCs and electricity.

I used to work with a guy that reeked. He was was lovely as a person. He was pulled up about his hygiene, but he was using all he had to go to work, and had nothing left to deal with his personal hygiene. That is a is a common thing with ND people.

I have had breast cancer and the armpit where the nodes were removed can smell pretty BO'ish if it's warm weather despite scrubbing with soap and a sponge and ample amounts of deodorant. I have to carry deodorant with me all the time. I also sweat like mad post-men because of all the meds I am on. I mean dripping sweat. Thank heavens I work from home now!

Hygiene issues can certainly be part of a health condition, so this needs to be handled sensitively as she might be aware and doing all she can.

A note is a terrible idea! Agree manager needs to deal with it. Have had experience of this years ago but culprit was a man, very nice man but absolutely stinking. He smelled of sour laundry, sweat and yesterday's vodka (very heavy drinker, I think). Vomit inducing. Manager hopeless, had a general talk about personal hygiene at team meeting, no change. Union rep went to personnel manager (a fuckwit) who seemed to think it was women being unreasonable because "men sweat"🤔 union rep ended up doing it himself.

I work with someone like this too. It's a strange BO smell, sometimes worse than others.Not regular BO.

I suspect he's unable to wash properly because of his mobility issues, which are getting worse - I suspect he's going to need to get someone in to help him but likely has no provision for that and won't have the money to pay anyone.

As terrible as bad BO is, some poor sods like me and your colleague can't help it unfortunately 😢 I'm always acutely aware if my BO even starts to whiff in the slightest, and even take a spare top/antiperspirant and body wipes with me occasionally when I go out.

I remember once in the sixth form, I had a dreadful art lesson when my top was too tight under a velvet jacket and the armpits really started to reek. It wasn't great and I felt so embarrassed as I knew the smell was horrible, but I couldn't go home and change. A classmate kept making comments about how the smell made her feel sick, but luckily didn't realise it was me. She just kept pulling faces, making comments, and holding her nose in a typical teenager way. I was pretty mortified and never let myself wear anything that could smell or hold bacteria so easily to smell quickly again.

I have a vast collection of sleeveless tops now, and always have to wear layers, even in the depths of winter 😅🤣

Think this is pretty common in all workplaces.

Definitely one for management. As others have said, this is why they are paid more.

poor hygiene and smells would immediately flag safeguarding to me. Unless a person is truly nose blind, generally there is some vulnerability in situations like this:m.

Someone I work with smells. It's weird, it's definitely a body odour but not your typical BO smell. Sometimes I think people have conditions where they can't help it and probably stop noticing it.
This person is very well respected and liked within the team. Nobody has mentioned it (not to me anyway).

Omg, I actually guffawed out loud at this GIF and probably woke my DC! 😅🤣

We had this problem in another office and the man smelt as though he changed his clothes (had a laundry service) but rarely washed or just threw some water about in the shower. It got really bad. Sadly, his wife had passed recently so we thought that he was depressed and neglectful of himself. However, the smell got worse. I think the manager finally said something because the colleague resumed washing again.

Ooh, funnily enough DH was talking about pretty much the same situation earlier. In that case, he's further up the hierarchy than the guy in question, and it's a small company, so it might be up to DH to address it. We agreed that someone needs to say something - as plainly and as tactfully as possible. It's the same sort of thing as putting your feet up on the desks, or persistently using the tea milk on your cereal - something that you might not think is annoying, but which really is.