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 4

Original poster

Got bullied at school due to body odour ! Felt so ashamed

90 replies

gg1234 · 08/10/2018 17:24

Hello all
I recently joined a school as a Volunteer and I have never had any complaints of body of our from my past experiences in any firm .it was just 2 weeks that I was invited for a school meeting for a very sensitive issue .the lady told me I suspect her to be the manager that some coworker in the class has serious issues because of my body odour and I was told to go home for a while .i was really shocked I had bath in the morning and all the daily routine .am I being unreasonable for expecting the colleague to come back to me rather than putting it in the management .my partner asked me to just leave and come back home and never go again .it was extremely embarrassing and in such a situation can anything be done or anyone be questioned.

OP posts:

Chouetted · 08/10/2018 18:57

@BiscuitDrama It's a real thing, I generally wash mine twice because the first soaping doesn't quite catch. I've only noticed this since I stopped shaving them though, so that's probably a big factor.

WhatWouldTheDoctorDo · 08/10/2018 19:49

I'm sorry you've experienced this OP but now it's been brought to your attention you can definitely do something about it.

First, consider trying soap if you don't already to wash your armpits. I normally do mine twice in the shower. I definitely notice that I can get a bit whiffier now I'm getting older.

Try Mitchum deodorant, again, I've had to switch to a stronger deodorant when the one I've used faithfully for years started failing me.

Lastly look at your clothes - clothes can definitely hold on to some odour. Was everything using a biological washing powder and try adding a capsule of detail laundry liquid. Once they're dry, give them a really good sniff at the armpits. If there's a whiff of odour it's time to ditch them.

HTH. Please do try and carry on with your volunteering, it's not easy for anyone to raise this as it's so sensitive but you can get past it.

RedLife · 09/10/2018 11:33

Do you smoke? I hate being near a smoker. It makes me gag. Time to quit if so.

Totally irrelevant and bloody bossy

Loopytiles · 09/10/2018 11:42

It’d be a shame to miss out on the volunteering opportunity because of your embarrassment.

LanaorAna2 · 09/10/2018 11:49

Do you smoke? Performance Prissiness at its best - the IRL mummy i know who does this has kids whose stink could stop a truck.

Have a long, hot bath OP.

InsomniacAnonymous · 09/10/2018 11:51

"try adding a capsule of detail laundry liquid."

What on earth is that?

BookMeOnTheSudExpress · 09/10/2018 11:56

It's awful for you, but believe me, it's also awful for the manager who had to tell you.

I have had to have that talk with 2 people over the years, one male who stank of beer and dirty clothes and one woman who smelt of BO.

We currently have another teacher who has a real BO problem but she's not in my team so I won't have to have the talk. But someone will. Because the kids are taking the piss and colleagues are talking.

Good luck with sorting it out, but no, you haven't been bullied.

MrTrebus · 09/10/2018 15:48

@InsomniacAnonymous she means Dettol washing liquid

chocorabbit · 09/10/2018 15:59

This thread reminds me so much of another one a few years ago.

Maybe does your breath smell?
Do you wear the same clothes/coat put it back in wardrobe, wear again and hardly ever wash? I know of a few people whose outer garments smell althought they shower they still smell.

GallicosCats · 09/10/2018 16:07

Washing machines can also get smelly if mould builds up around the seal and detergent drawer. Give it a really good clean with some Service-it on a hot wash and clean up the door seal and detergent drawer with bathroom cleaner and bleach.

SargeantAngua · 09/10/2018 16:53

Adding a scoop of oxygen bleach to the wash really makes a difference (similar effect to the dettol mentioned above I assume).

I had to have a gentle word with DP after we'd been going out a few weeks. He washed regularly and had a clean tshirt daily but didnt realise how pongy his tshirts sometimes were under the arms. I was fruatrated none of his close friends had said anything before. The bleach in the wash really helps. He's generally quite a sweaty person anyway though and now he'll ask for a whiff check if he's going somewhere after work etc and I'll tell him if any changes are needed. We're getting married next year, so his occasional smelling and my openness in telling him about it doesn't seem to have harmed our relationship!

BigBumandMumTum · 09/10/2018 17:32

A colleague was spoken to about his body odour, he told me about it laughing at how ridiculous it is and how offended his wife was that someone had said he smells.

The problem is that he does and obviously he and his wife had gotten used to it

Dollymixture22 · 09/10/2018 22:32

A colleague once had a gentle word with me because I was overdoing it on the perfume! The bottle had proven and I was liberally splashing it about! I didn’t notice but I was giving other headaches.

I was really grateful this awkward older man bothered to tell me.

Loopytiles · 10/10/2018 11:22

giving others headaches with heady perfume!

I had a teacher who smoked a lot (back in the days where there was smoking in the staffroom), ate lots of mints and wore really strong perfume, something like Opium. The smell in her classroom was liked by some pupils, hated by others!

Talith · 10/10/2018 12:11

Sounds upsetting but maybe use this as a chance to just check off all possibilities. You say you bathe daily but do you wash your hair? Hair that's not washed frequently can smell greasy and very unpleasant. Cooking smells especially oil can accumulate on clothing especially coats etc if they're hung nearby. Unwashed clothes can smell manky or mildewy if not thoroughly dried. I get persil micro liquid when I find it on offer now since it makes my clothing smell far better than random supermarket powder.

Periods can be really smelly too and sometimes we are too close to notice it. Double the amount of sanitary protection changes maybe and don't rule out something like femfresh wipes. I know people think femfresh is the devil's work but short of having a wash on a heavy day in the work toilets they can at least help freshen up if like me you'll be burning through tampons plus towels.

Obv smoke lingers too. Very difficult to tell when it's you or someone else in the house. I used to get through 20 a day and smoked indoors. I must have reeked.

You're only human don't beat yourself up.

WhatWouldTheDoctorDo · 10/10/2018 13:15

Yes, dettol laundry liquid, not detail laundry liquid! Autocorrect failure...

Toughtips · 10/10/2018 13:27

You've got to take this on the chin. It's obviously strong if people have noticed enough to complain.

I used to work with a lady who smelt quite badly.

Change your deo, wash clothes better and have a good quick drying process.

See doc if it doesn't improve.

Ask honest friend to do smell test.

Good luck and i hope you find a resolution

Toughtips · 10/10/2018 13:29

I once used rightguard and it made just one armpit reek of bo.

I showered n soaped it lots and it still smelt abit.

Changed to roll on and all sorted.

Bluntness100 · 10/10/2018 13:34

I'm not sure the op is coming back.

In addition, her second post makes me think she was maybe semi aware there was an issue and was more affronted by the fact she was spoken to about it. She commented that she needed to be more mindful of her body odour in future,

I do wonder when something like this comes up, if people are actually aware when they suffer from body odour issues, can they not smell it, or can they maybe not recognise the extent of it, ie do they think it's not that bad, or maybe they think it's deeply personal and shoild never be remarked on, like weight.

I worked with a man who has significant body odour issues once, it felt like he was unhygienic, for example even his socks were all baggy round the ankles like they hadn't been washed in a long time. People complained, one even asked me not to bring him into his office any more as he couldn't take the smell and it lingered for a long time after. It really was very bad,

I always wondered if he knew and just didn't care enough, or if he genuinely didn't know, or maybe he felt it was less significant than it was. I don't know, it is difficult to understand really.

OliviaStabler · 10/10/2018 19:10

I remember once my company were interviewing and I was walking to the loo when I smelt absolutely awful BO from this one girl in the waiting area. She absolutely stank. This wasn't a whiff, she stank. I was so glad I didn't have to go near her and felt so sorry no one had ever said anything to her as this couldn't have been a one off.

Original poster

gg1234 · 10/10/2018 21:16

Thanks all for all your suggestions. Yes I will not be coming back to that school for Vol again and luckily I called up my previous email school where I did Volunteering for about 3 months and never had such a complaint and they were happy to take me back (just due to long distance I avoided his school) but yes they gave me a lesson for lifetime and I am quite happy about it. The lesson is to never take your dress-up(which includes your odour 'nice and clean clothing' your hair do) for granted even if you are going for Volunteer position.

OP posts:

Bluntness100 · 10/10/2018 22:15

Ach,op, I don't know how to phrase this, but having no nasty body odour, and smelling clean should be something we all aim for every day, even if we don't interact with others. Does that make sense?

It should be our norm. 💐

Tunnocks34 · 10/10/2018 22:22

I feel for you, I hope you’re ok OP.

The same thing happened to me today, except I was already contious of it, as I forgot to put deodorant on this morning. Got to lunch time, and one of my year 11s told me ‘I smelt of BO’ I laughed but it was embarrassing.

Luckily I managed to source some deodorant and baby wipes to see me through the rest of the day.

Tunnocks34 · 10/10/2018 22:24

Note: I do not normally smell like BO. I am very clean, shower daily as well as clean clothes and deodorant!

SnipSnipMisterBurgess · 10/10/2018 22:35

Op, hope you get your mojo back and that you can move on, hopefully you won’t have a recurrence.

I used to go to a hobby where the woman I sat beside smelt off. She did wash and had her hair nice, but she used to wear the same trackie bottom each week. It was obviously what she changed into for comfort after work (I knew her at work too) and I’d say she just threw them on without a thought each night.

Flip

1 2 3 4