Please help me pinpoint the source of the smell in my teenage son's bedroom

[Smallsteps88]

I know plenty of you have raised teenagers so I’m hoping some of you will know what this is.

He’s 15. Showers every day including washing hair. Brushes his teeth once a day at least, twice if he remembers in the morning. He uses roll on deodorant daily. He spends his days barefoot and the shoes he wears out of the house are kept downstairs. His clothes are washed daily. He has a laundry basket that they stay in and it is emptied every evening. There are no dirty pants/socks/anything lurking in his room because I completely stripped the room bare last weekend, moved all furniture, washed absolutely everything, including his mattress, all surfaces, bed linen, curtains. The whole lot. He doesn’t wear pyjamas and the offending smell does transfer to his bedsheets. So it’s coming off his body but I just don’t know how! He is washed every day. It is a bodily smell but doesn’t smell like BO. It is horrible though and his room is small and gets warm and stuffy so the smell is strong. His window and curtains are open for a few hours a day. I would have them open all day but he spends a lot of time in his room and likes to close them. The smell is from him but if I sniff him he doesn’t smell. If he leaves his bedroom door open the smell comes through the house.

Please help. I feel awful constantly reminding him to open his windows and asking to sniff his hair to see if it’s clean but we really need to get to the bottom of this. The smell is really horrible.

Can anyone shed any light and/or recommend some products he/we can use to combat this?

my teen girl's room is whiffy too, despite daily baths and clean clothes etc.

her slippers are absolutely minging, they contribute a fair bit, but the rest is just Eau de Teen

DS2 used to smell like the white stuff that comes out if you squeeze long-unused ear piercing holes.

His armpits were bad but it wasn't that at all. It was his hair. Turns out when he "washed" his hair he just used a bit of lynx shower gel. We introduced the concept of proper shampoo and he's still in the reminding stage - still have to remind him to brush his teeth, shower properly etc - but it's much better, especially if I keep on top of changing sheets, drying towels etc.

DS1 has a completely different boy smell which is more how I remember my brother - constantly opening his window and curtains helps. It's a very sebum-like smell - greasy. He uses H&S sensitive rather than t-gel for scalp eczema and we've got him onto actually using face wash rather than water. And indeed changing his pjs more than once a week.....

Skunk.

@longwayoff

Skunk.

Are you suggesting he smells like a skunk? 🦨 Surely it can’t be that bad

What about putting an air purifier in his room? My cousin has two teenage boys and says it has been transformative.

Smell his pillow, not just after you've washed it but when the fabric softener smell has worn off. It may be rotting from the inside from being damp but the smell only starting as it heats up, like the smell of gym gear once you warm up the bacteria that isn't killed off.

DS's room smells like boy but it's not vile, more musty like men pheromones, and dissipates quite quickly once he opens the windows.

DS2 smells too. Not in person, but his room. I think it's hormones, jizz & farts. It did improve slightly when I got him to wash his hair with a proper antifungal shampoo but not completely. It also improved slightly after full lockdown when he wasn't in there quite do much. We could smell it in the garden if the window was open. I honestly think it's just "eau de teenage boy"

I bought a new bed for my teenager, who, like yours, showers daily, doesn't have athletes foot, had new pillows regularly, cotton bedding, aired bedroom, yadadada.

Smell gone. Expensive solution mind.

Mine is 13 and I have to keep on top of this! I change his bedding twice a week and it's all cotton. I enforce a daily shower or bath and a hair wash - and I'll bloody stand over him if need be and he knows this - he has a habit of just not bothering to wash if he can get away with it. He uses T gel shampoo and always soap - never shower gel . Soap is more effective

Complete fresh set of clothes daily. Twice daily teeth brushing. Window always open in bedroom and no mess or food in there. I also anti bac his x box controllers and iPad etc etc daily and likewise with door handles etc as he has delightfully clammy hands!

It sounds like a full time job in itself I know but it really isn't and he prefers to feel fresh and clean anyway - just needs encouragement

So I think I'd just stick with what you're doing, tell him to brush teeth twice a day, switch to soap and an aluminium free deodorant (try Wild or Native) and change bedding twice a week. All you can do really and it'll pass I'm sure

Has any dust gathered behind his bed, wardrobe, etc.?

Our eldest sons bedroom (he's now 18) used to pong. It was a the dreaded "teen smell" and we couldn't shift it.

In the end we moved everything in his room and dusted behind the wardrobe and the little that was behind the bed. His room was and is always properly cleaned, but there was a bit of a build up. That seemed to really help.

What finally did it was a new bed and mattress, as we replaced his single for a double and that nailed the smell.

He's hyper clean now, up to three showers a day ( strange teen!!) and always has his window open, even overnight. His room is sweet as anything now.

The 13 year olds, now he is starting to pong!!

Can you insist a window is open all night?

Put him in the washing machine and if the smell persists then just get rid of him... sorted !!

DS 12 leaves a musty, 'left in the washing machine' smell on his bedding and furniture. He himself doesn't seem to smell.

Has he any skin condition? Hub has psoriasis and occasionally it'll flare up around his groin and it can be smelly

He doesn’t but his dad has psoriasis so maybe he has developed it but doesn’t realise that’s what it is? He would usually say if he was having any issues like itchy skin but I’ll ask him.

Thank you everyone for all these suggestions. Loads to try that I’m sure will go a long way to helping it.

I really think it's hormones. I remember my mum would go on at my brother about smelling and gave him a complex, no one else in the house thought he smelled. I have a 15 yr old DS now who is always in the shower but there is a definite of odour from his room to me. Nobody else seems to notice though. If he's clean, room is clean, what else can you do?

I know teach in a girls school, but when I taught mixed you could tell when a class of year 9/10 had been in there before by the smell....

It interesting, I complain about it much more than a time else in the house. To me it absolutely reeks. I don't remember DS1 being the same. A friend said she went into the hall at an all boys school at an open evening & she decided the long was jizz on a massive scale

pong

It’s hormones. They all stink. I have the displeasure of getting on a bus with a load of secondary school kids a couple of times a month. It’s a very distinctive smell that I can’t describe but instantly know. It permeates everything. I feel like I smell of it when I get off.

@Smallsteps88

Has he any skin condition? Hub has psoriasis and occasionally it'll flare up around his groin and it can be smelly

He doesn’t but his dad has psoriasis so maybe he has developed it but doesn’t realise that’s what it is? He would usually say if he was having any issues like itchy skin but I’ll ask him.

Thank you everyone for all these suggestions. Loads to try that I’m sure will go a long way to helping it.

Just don't give him a complex. You seem determined that it's something you can 'fix' come hell or high water and are not considering that it's normal and will go on its own eventually.

Get some febreeze for his room and shut the door.

I’ve heard teachers say you can close your eyes and tell which year group you have in.

My ex BF has really weird smelling sweat, it turned out it was a bacteria - it smelled really weird, a bit like vinegar.

healtholine.com/sweat-smells-like-vinegar/

My 16 year old is the same all 6 ft 1 of him. We painted his room in May & that eliminated the smell. I’ve found his clothes still smell of teenager after being washed so am using more washing liquid and soda crystals & antibac laundry cleaner in his washing. Also insisting it’s emptied daily for dirty washing...it’s helping but not eliminated.

Ds smelt like this. He’s 26 now and back home due to redundancy, But it still smells the same🤢

I remember once finding a half eaten dinner on a plate concealed under his bed in an empty pizza box🤢

Dd 14, her room smells of sweat, discarded food and body spray🤢.

It’s boy smell. You can’t scrub it out. I’ve tried.