Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

To ask how for help in making me not smell!!! (Active nurse + Polyester uniform = total disaster)

61 replies

Flamingo1980 · 29/02/2016 21:01

I've just started my new job doing some very physically demanding nursing. They've provided me with an awful polyester uniform. I shower every morning, apply generous amounts of mitchem deodorant, and then put on a clean uniform every day.
My job is very labour intense and even though I'm not very sweaty I just get smelly so quickly. This doesn't happen in my normal clothes.
By midday I smell awful and I'm so self conscious of it. It's not even summer yet I'm terrified!!
What can I do...? Please give me all of your pearls of wisdom!!

OP posts:

Getyercoat · 29/02/2016 21:38

Triple Dry is much better than Mitchum for me.
Driclor ripped the skin off my pits.

NothingButAHoundDog · 29/02/2016 21:39

Another fan of Sure maximum protection here. You're supposed to put it on at night after a shower, but I can't get my head around showering at night so I apply after my morning shower, every day. Works a treat, although I have to say I do sweat more in other - ahem - places since I started using it! I am a really sweaty Betty

TattyDevine · 29/02/2016 21:40

I find Perspirex more tolerable on the skin than Driclor, even though they are essentially the same product with the same active ingredient...must be something in the formulation.

If it rips your skin off, that's no good, some people can't tolerate it.

grannytomine · 29/02/2016 21:44

Does it get worse the more often you wear the uniform? My DD is a bit sweaty, she would wash her clothes and herself but when her clothes got warm they would start smelling, it was in the cloth. I soaked her blouses in vinegar and she uses it at the end of the wash and has no problems.

FinallyFreeFromItAll · 29/02/2016 21:45

Go to a pharmacy - they have much stronger deodorant style thingys that actually kill the bacteria that make you smell. I realise I have worded that like a child but I can't remember what it was actually called - sorry

figureofspeech · 29/02/2016 21:45

I find washing my arms pits in anti bacterial soap like dettol and then using Michum and a cotton top works for me.

FinallyFreeFromItAll · 29/02/2016 21:51

Oh and is the smell more in the clothes or on you? If its the clothes dont use fabric softener, put distilled malt vinegar (the clear one) in the softner compartment instead. I promise they won't smell like vinegar. Clothes will just smell clean and fresh with no real fragrance. I do all my washing that way now and where I used to need a new top every day I can actually wear the same one for a couple of days without it (or me) smelling.

spongebob5 · 29/02/2016 21:54

Another vote for perspirex, brilliant stuff

happy2bhomely · 29/02/2016 21:58

There is a product available in Boots called Trust. It is in a small blue and white pot and looks like sudocreme.

It is the only thing that has worked to stop my 15 yr old ds from smelling and ruining his school shirts. He wears cotton, but he would smell so bad that even a boil wash didn't help. He would shower in the morning and evening but still smell. He started to use this and it really does work. When he got in from school, I did a sniff test and he still smelled of shower gel!

It is antibacterial I think, and it doesn't sting at all, unlike driclor and mitchum etc. It was recommended on here ages ago and it is amazing. It costs about £7-£8, but it lasts ages as you only need to use it a couple of times a week.

Klaptout · 29/02/2016 22:02

I used Driclor, only problem with it is that you sweat more in other places.

ZootSuit · 29/02/2016 22:04

I tried Driclor, Perspirex etc but found that the stinging was too much to bear, even when just applying a little bit with cotton wool!
I now use the Sure maximum protection (in the morning rather than at night) and it actually works, definitely worth a try.

FaithAscending · 29/02/2016 22:05

I'm in the same job/uniform as you! I use perspirex at night then use Sure maximum protection in the day.

MsPavlichenko · 29/02/2016 22:08

What about armpit clothes protectors (if you can still get them). You could replace a couple of times a day, and freshen up too.

monkeysox · 29/02/2016 22:09

Another vote for sure max protection here. Mens version seems to work better (bought by mistake online as was four pounds instead of five).

Nothing else works for me.

bimandbam · 29/02/2016 22:09

It might not be your body that is making your clothes smell but other peoples bodies. And it's that you can smell.

Without being too awful dp stank after a few days on hdu. And even once he was on a normal ward he couldnt shower properly. When I was doing his hospital washing it was really whiffy and it took about a week of showers to completely get rid of the hospital smell.

So it might not matter what you do. I would maybe try those scented beads you chuck in the wash. Might mean your clothes stay fresher for longer.

happy2bhomely · 29/02/2016 22:13

By the way, the Trust stuff doesn't stop wetness. It only stops the smell.

ivykaty44 · 29/02/2016 22:20

I would buy a bottle of dettol and siak uniform over night, then wash and line dry.

All expert advise given on deodarent with regards to overnight types

OzzieFem · 29/02/2016 22:36

You need an antiperspirant, not just a deodorant.I used to wear the same type of polyester uniform as you. Ended up using the Men Mitchum antiperspirant and deodorant 48 hour roll on. Never had a problem since.

OzzieFem · 29/02/2016 22:37

Forgot to add, go for the unscented one.

Fluffyears · 29/02/2016 23:16

What's the disinfectant you can wash clothes in? I would make sure your uniform is disinfected as if the smell gets in the fabric body heat will 're-activate' it.

lougle · 29/02/2016 23:40

I'm a nurse in ICU, so lots of full body turns, doing 12.5 hr shifts. I found that Sure Maximum Protection really works. I was using the normal Sure and within 3 hours I felt paranoid standing next to someone. Once I switched to SMP it lasted all day or night. You can apply it at night, wash in the morning and it will still protect. But I still apply in the morning.

lougle · 29/02/2016 23:41

The other thing to think about is whether it's just your armpits? Sometimes when you're turning a patient their smell can get onto your arms. We only tend to wash our hands, so it could be that also.

Moln · 29/02/2016 23:48

I've just discovered Sure Maximum Protection.

Have tried Mitchum, it was ok, unless I was wearing the 'wrong' clothing. This Sure Maxiumum Protection really seems to be effective (and it doesn't take forever to dry like the Mitchum roll on!!)

Fatmomma99 · 01/03/2016 00:02

what a whiffy lot you MN-ers are!

Anti-bac wipes which you can run over your body every hour or so?

DorothyGherkins · 01/03/2016 00:16

[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Accessotech-Disposable-Antiperspirant-Underarm-Armpit/dp/B00JFRAYDM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456791155&sr=8-1&keywords=disposable+underarm+pads]

I hate synthetic stuff next to the skin, especially when doing physical stuff! Have never used these, but saw them advertised and wonder what they would be like, have heard them described as panty liners for armpits!! Have a look on ebay and amazon for underarm guards/pads etc. there are loads to choose from. Some are quite expensive if you want to use them everyday, but there are some that look more affordable.

Flip

1 2 3