Honking of body odour!

Yep, and I've noticed some men try to cram as many clothes as possible on the radiator or clothes drier. They don't give the clothes room to breathe and dry properly.

I think people have moved to natural deodorants and away from antiperspirants… which as good for the environment as you think they are, don’t work.

Thankfully I generally can't smell things unless they're really bad.

The only times I've had issues with colleagues having BO was with a male colleague who smelled fusty (think it was his clothes not washed properly) and a heavily pregnant colleague who had a distinct sour/sweet smell throughout her pregnancy. When she sat next to me, I had to literally stop breathing and try to unobtrusively move away a bit. But I think she realised what I was doing.

Or the trend for natural deodorants is still ongoing...

Some of them work. Fussy works fine for me,no BO here.

I’m menopausal and have to hold my nose a lot. With a colleague yesterday and in a cab too. I could barely breathe

I watched an interesting video by Prof Hannah Fry about the temperature in the Tube. The tunnels are dug through clay which holds on to heat. It has now absorbed as much as it can take and will only get warmer.
Travelling by Tube is going to get honking muggy!
P.S. Vodka or rubbing alcohol dabbed on the armpits of clothes kills the bacteria that makes BO.

Adding onto synthetic fabrics and eco washing cycles, I think the use of shower gel instead of soap also contributes.

I like a nice shower gel on most of my skin, but if I don't use a proper soap on my armpits I can get horrible BO by the afternoon.

People don’t wear more synthetic fabrics now than they used to wear 20 years ago, though. People have been wearing a huge amount of synthetic fabric since the 1960s and, if anything, a lot of modern synthetics are more breathable than they used to be.

It’s also got nothing to do with armpit shaving as a PP suggested. There is nothing about armpit hair that makes people more smelly or less hygienic. If you have hair there, sweat will obviously attach to it. But if you don’t have hair there, the same sweat simply attaches to your clothes instead and will smell exactly the same. The only reason to shave your armpits is your personal aesthetic or sensory preference - just like pubic hair. I think a lot of women like to believe it’s for hygiene because they don’t want to admit to themselves that they’re conforming to a sexist beauty standard.

I shave my armpits, legs and bikini line, because I like it, but I’m also aware that reason I like it is probably just because I’ve been conditioned to think it’s nice for women to be smooth 🤷🏻‍♀️

I wonder if it's because of synthetic fabrics. I don't particularly smell bad I don't think but there's certain clothes I own that start smelling pretty quickly.

Op I think it's people washing clothes on low temperature and with eco liquid etc.

I think it is the material used in a lot of clothing together with people washing clothes at lower temps.

If you wear a brand new t shirt is it the same? Or better. As I'd bet it is your clothes. I'd recommend using laundry sanitizer in every wash, and dry the clothes quickly and thoroughly before putting away.

I know a lot of people lost their sense of smell from covid so it could be that more people can't smell their own b.o. so don't realise it's an issue?

It’s a kind of damp, doggy, old cheese smell. It’s on synthetic coats that are sweated into, farted into and never ever cleaned. Nearly always worn by men and they make a kind of smelly air when the sit down/get up near you.

On my bus commute this morning, I had the joy of eau de meat (smelled like a butchers shop - boke) interspersed with occasional wafts of rancid fart.

I carry a bottle of expensive but quite subtle perfume in my work bag and put a little spray on my wrist to mask it when it's very bad but do reserve this for the worst offenders as I'm conscious that my idea of subtle and acceptable perfume might not be everyone's taste.

There were men in the supermarket last week that must have had urine dried into their clothes. The ammonia and BO was awful.

But is also smell a lot of BO on women. Polyester work clothes are not good.

I know what BO smells like, but what is “old bum” smell when it’s at home? Poo? Farts?

I have noticed these smells my whole life. I seem to have a very sensitive sense of smell and find myself wincing all the time. If I’m having a conversation with someone and they smell of sweat or garlic/onion or general bad breath, even very faintly, I can’t concentrate on a single word they’re saying. I can’t stand strong perfume either, not on myself or anyone else. I used to get told off all the time for smelling things that apparently weren’t there, so I just keep my mouth shut now😆

I'm in peri and definitely way more sensitive to BO. I remember having to leave a shopping centre on a hot summers day as I was feeling physically sick from the stench. Although I noticed the shopping centre had also massively reduced it's air con, which wouldn't have helped.

I was in a small Tescos the other day and the lad stacking shelves reeked of BO. I can't understand why in that scenario a manager isn't saying something. It's very off putting to customers, well it was to me, couldn't wait to get out of there!

But I know it is partially me, as when I ask someone with me if they can smell it they will usually say faintly, where to me it is over powering.

There does seem to be an increase in young male teens smelling offensively of BO. I do also notice that a lot of young teen boys in my area stay wrapped up i hoodies, track suit bottoms and puffer jackets etc.. even when it is warm, which can't help the situation. I recall in early summer this year the air was like soup it was so warm and there were a couple of teen lads skulking at the train station in Canada Goose jackets.

The worst recent experience as on a very hot day in France this July (it was about 37 degrees) and we were on a busy local commuter train and a group of young teen boys got on and they stunk to high heaven. It was a very unpleasant hour.

I have noticed this since Covid. Did people lose the routine of washing themselves and their clothes? Is it cost of living? I’m possibly more sensitive to smell now I’m early 40s, however it does seem to be getting worse. It’s nearly always males too which gives me such rage. Some cultures don’t tend to use deodorant which doesn’t help. It’s muggy weather at the moment. But even so- my train to work the other day had a male beside me whose coat smelt like old bum. Another male who stank of stale BO. Yet another young male with that bad breath and greasy hair smell. This is about half eight in the morning and they were in ‘work’ clothes; they simply can’t have bothered showering. I pity anyone with a medical condition who can’t help it, and people in scenarios where they can’t wash clothes, but I also think there are a lot of lazy and dirty people around and respect for communal spaces has disintegrated.