What makes a smelly person

[pootlingalong5]

Bit of a random one. I’ve been out all day with dd at a NT place, in the woods, paddling in water etc. Didn’t bother showering before we went as I knew I’d be getting dirty and sweaty. Got home and knew I smelt a bit, probably not so someone walking past would notice me but I could tell I wasn’t fresh, as many of us probably are not in this weather.

I’ve had a bath and feel much better now but it made me wonder about people who really do smell. I encounter them a lot in shops and on buses and have been unfortunate enough to work with a few. That’s like a constant smell that you can detect a mile off and that lingers even when they leave the room. Would it be caused by them simply not washing for days on end? Or maybe I was one of them today and just didn’t realise.

OCD? Because I would not want to expose fellow travellers on the train/tube/bus to my potential BO?

We don’t all have cars (let alone portable showers….. FFS…).

Polyester.

And sometimes even linen actually. I have to soak the armpits of my cotton tees and linen shirts before washing.

But polyester is the worst!

Wow. I had a date with someone who said exactly that. Only lasted one date…,

Is that the same as fanny waft smell (who remembers that thread?!) or is it an unwashed back bottom smell instead?

I saw a friend who i hadn't seen for a while and I said how I liked her darker hair colour. She said she hadn't dyed it it just needed washing.

Well my teens dc stunk of bo today by lunchtime as they were hot, wearing sports wear fabric and hadnt used enough deodorant.

Some people smell more than others.

Clothes can hold onto bo especially with cooler washes. People think the clothes are clean and all takes is person to warm them up and the clothes smell.

While hygiene accounts for some amount of smell, apocrine glands, and specifically the the ABCC11 gene that controls expression of those apocrine glands determine that specific pungent underarm odor BO. (google it)

Folks with inactive ABCC11 gene (the lucky ones who don't produce BO from armpits) also have dry ear wax.

If you have wet ear wax, you have active ABCC11 gene, and have underarm BO.

People generally can't seem to smell their own BO, so figuring out if you have wet vs dry ear wax is a quick way to know how much of this specific underarm BO you produce.

It’s so interesting isn’t it? I’m not sure if my parents and siblings were the same, but the first time I smelled BO was about aged 16 at the hairdressers! I also thought everybody had dry ear wax !

I think there's obviously lots of different reasons but I think lack of education on hygiene is a big reason.

I've never been told I smell but I must have in the past. I was raised by my dad and was never encouraged to shower daily, I only started doing this as an adult but it didn't come naturally. My bedding wouldn't be washed very often. I had school uniform that must have smelled, some of it was never washed and I didn't have multiple of each item. As a result over the years I've probably not washed work uniforms often enough, used towels longer than ideal, not changed bedding often enough etc. If you've not had someone set a good/normal example of hygiene you just do what you know!

Do people put deodorant on before going to bed? Surely, the main reason to shower at night is to go to bad with a clean, natural body

I'm going to ask my sisters and brothers as soon as I see them!

Some people are much more smelly than others. Probably a combo of hormones and sweatiness. For example, my sister smells quickly and strongly, so has to be very fastidious about washing herself and clothes to keep on top of it. DH on the other hand, doesn’t sweat or smell much at all. Although generally men do tend to be smellier than women.

It is often clothes not being clean that is the culprit with stinkers on the bus

Not washing their body. Not washing their clothes. Smoking.

My husband is just naturally a sweaty hot mess in temps above 19 degrees. He showers with soap 2x a day, has his clothes washed on a hot wash with nice fragranced fabric softener and uses both roll on and spray deodorant and colognes.
He still stinks because he’s just so sweaty and hot, especially right now. It’s not his fault, he just breaks down bacteria so much quicker than other people. He brings spare boxers and T-shirts to things like our DC theatre shows because he changes during the interval.

Some people are really unlucky this way, when my son turned 15, even after a shower where he properly properly washed, as in scrubbing with man’s shower gel, then roll on then spray (nice ones my other son or dh wore), there was an underlying something. I think some people don’t smell much, others do, some have poor hygiene and or wear the wrong material clothing for the day etc but I think boys and men already have a mountain to climb with the fact that underarm hair doesn’t help smell wise

Hormones definitely contribute. Both sons become much more smelly during puberty. For one of them feet were particular bad, despite showering daily, changing socks, spraying shoes etc. When I went through menopause I definitely sweated more than usual too. Had to buy specialist deodorant etc.

I think asides from health and hormones many people don’t wash their clothes often enough. Hair is another one too, especially long. I remember hugging people and the smell from their hair was definitely not fresh.

Summer innit, you notice it more.

Ps when you hit middle age smell wise for me (and my friends) it’s mind blowing how you wake up most mornings stinking. I don’t know if we enter another phase where this isn’t so but I bloody hope so!!!!

The ones on the LUAS in Dublin are drug/drink addicts who are homeless so they don’t have access to showers/wakshing machines to wash themselves or their clothes.

I think it’s partly clothing fabrics - DH’s polyester gym shirts really smell awful after one wear. He’s otherwise fine in natural fabrics.

This. I’ve seen international rugby players being interviewed straight after a really hard game, before they’ve had a chance to shower. Does the interviewer’s nose crinkle in disgust? Not that I’ve noticed.

Had the misfortune to work at a school where the head not only reeked of BO but suffered from halitosis and to cover it all up used a perfume that smelt more like fly spray. It was unbelievable.
When she left her whole room had to be redecorated etc as the smell lingered.
Often wondered how her husband put up with it. Incidentally she always wore suits and synthetic fabric blouses.

I only wake up stinking when I’m ill. Bloody honked when I had Covid.

This is fascinating, never knew about it.

Not washing their clothes.

Everyone I’ve personally known who’s been a bit smelly, hasn’t been washing their clothes frequently enough eg wearing a T-shirt multiple times.