How do people not know they smell?

I once worked with someone who suffered from a medical condition like the above. I really did feel sorry for them. Colleagues were very matter of fact and just opened windows.

No ones ever told them and they don't shower often or eat bulbs of garlic every day...

It's horrid isn't it? If you commute, always sit in the aisle seat so you can control who sits next to you....

There is a specific health condition which causes BO, however clean the person and their clothes - I had a colleague who suffered from it and felt very sorry for him. Can't remember the name of it now, but it might have been the same for the person you worked with.

I think people get nose blind to their own smell.

Completely agree.

Boss rocked up last week: he stank. Proper body odour. Just unacceptable.

On the tube this pm and oh my life, there are some stinky folk out there.

Agree. There’s a point at which it becomes anti-social.

Mumsnet is bonkers. People who smell like fabric softener and perfume should be shot apparently, but God forbid anyone complains about having their senses assaulted by the smell of unwashed arse crack.

You must have strange washing machines/detergents in the UK. It's quite normal to wash in cold water here and we don't smell.

There was the delightful aroma of sweaty crotch and rotting trainers from a guy who got off the bus before us yesterday. Things are worse since Covid with people not washing their hair to the point it’s visibly greasy and you can smell it from several feet away. I do have a very keen sense of smell though and get repulsed easily. I can’t stand the smell of greasy hair but the sweaty crotch and rotting trainers were something else. So many stink of weed too. There was a young woman who got on the bus last week and Ds and I had to cover our noses with our hoodies because it was that strong. Being asthmatic doesn’t help with strong smells. Lots of fried food type smells on people’s clothes since Covid too. Maybe that’s a cost of living thing with people choosing cheaper fryable foods and not washing their clothes as often. I love making a roast dinner but hate the way the smell of the oil and veg clings to my hair and clothes. I should probably get one of those cook’s candles to see if it helps. Then there’s the delightful wet dog and damp clothes that have been left in the washing machine too long smell. It’s not something I experienced much before covid so perhaps people who lost their sense of smell aren’t able to smell how bad things are. I’m anxious about smelling because I know how awful I find other people and don’t want to inflict anything on others. Even accounting for lack of sense of smell, you’d think people would know to wash their body, brush their teeth, change their clothes etc daily. Especially with the heatwaves we’ve been having. It’s been disgustingly sweaty.

I encountered a very smelly person in a shop today. Not BO just a general unwashed smell: greasy hair, stale clothes, that sort of thing. The smell followed them down the aisle like a cloud of putrid gas.

You wonder if these are children who weren’t keen on bath time and their parents just gave up. And lucky us now we have to deal with the smell. More likely to be a mental health issue though.

I had a particularly roughy time growing up and personal hygiene isn’t something I was taught about, I think I was just meant to habit form and get it but I’m autistic and didn’t pick it up. I was in my 20s before I fully understood what I was supposed to do and I think this came along with the internet and the fact I had a friend who I met up with regularly who was always mentioning having a shower and sorting her hair. I never cleaned my teeth for a good ten years, rarely showered and must have been quite smelly. No wonder my friend always mentioned her showers. I’m so embarrassed, particularly of my late teen sexual encounters, of how dirty I was. I just needed support and got none. Nobody back then was reporting dirty children for safeguarding, nobody was asking why children were not ‘conforming’, we were just left to it.

I think sometimes it's cultural...probably not the right word but we often have new youngish Indian doctors who start work and the smell is so bad you can smell it 15 minutes after they've left the room. But other times they don't smell at all. They obviously are talked to by somebody as it normally resolves but the first few weeks everyone is talking about it and I can't see how they don't notice themselves. But they don't and they are lovely in every other way.

Have you ever tried not judging people?

These are presumably the same people who are always claiming on MN that washing too much is bad for your skin, and they just rinse themselves with water once a week and dab tea tree oil on their pits and they don’t smell at all

My sense of smell has practically gone since I had covid the first time and I worry all the time if I smell. I just can't always tell as it comes and goes.

As for your people OP, I wonder if it was their clothes rather than their bodies. So many people think low temperatures clean clothes but they don't, you need at least 30C for a normal wash and 40 to 60C for towels and bedding to get rid of the bacteria.

It’s awful, I would be so embarrassed. Teen is at a summer scheme and the leader has sent a message about personal hygiene to the group. Teen says some of the group members are wearing the same clothes for three/four days. 🤢. Teen is nearly becoming paranoid it’s them smelling. I had a good sniff tonight and confirmed def not my child stinking the place out. (Clean clothes daily and showers in morning and in the evening after the gym)
Is it cost of living - water, washing powder, anti perspiration sprays as these all cost money ??

They were not taught to is the usual answer, or have other reasons.

If you want to try an experiment in this and have any children under about 3 - I dare you to stop telling you kids to clean their teeth!!! See if they spontaneously start doing it later.
(Obviously not serious - it's important for kids to brush their teeth. But the point is habits are taught, they are not magic.)

I think you’d be surprised at the number of people who were never taught how to properly take care of themselves.

There’s a young lad who works in a local shop who absolutely stinks of putrid BO and that sour damp smell of clothes that have been left in the machine too long. It’s quite literally eye watering. Obviously I don’t know the reason but you’d think his boss would have a quiet word.

If that’s the case they’re probably unwell.

I worked with someone who was lovely, very well turned out, clean and ironed outfits but who had this awful clinging lingering smell - not BO but like damp washing and wet dog. It made you catch yourself if you were downwind or not expecting it and hung around in the room after she left. It’s sad because she was very capable but I expect that the smell was the reason she didn’t have her contract renewed.

I don’t think it’s as simple as being scummy for no reason. A decision not to bathe is a decision to hurt your own well-being. There must be a reason driving it.

I used to work in a council rent office and could never quite get my head around how many people didn't brush their teeth before leaving the house in the morning.

So many people are just gross.

How do you know both of them were drivers?