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Body Odour & Hygiene Habits

I've never noticed houses with young children smelling.

Me either, unless there's a diaper pail that needs attending to.

On the other hand, I now have several teenage boys in the house and often several teammates staying over, and getting back to Call of Duty consistently takes priority over putting their sports gear in the laundry hamper.
 
IamSundog said:
I've never noticed houses with young children smelling.
Me either, unless there's a diaper pail that needs attending to.

I don't mean a stinky smell, more that it's a smell of children. I dunno how to describe it, but it's a certain scent or musk.

I'm now starting to worry that I'm sounding like the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Band Bang :shock: "Children, I smell children..."
 
Urvogel said:
...I'm now starting to worry that I'm sounding like the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Band Bang :shock: "Children, I smell children..."

I always put mustard on them - covers a multitude of sins.
 
A "disturbing" and "nauseating" smell of sulphur reported over France yesterday (Sunday 10th May), covering the Île de France region, down as far as Le Mans. Cause is currently unknown.

https://www.ouest-france.fr/pays-de...eur-de-soufre-ressentie-jusqu-au-mans-6831289

"A third of French people don’t wash their hands after going to the toilet and less than half before eating, while a fifth of Frenchmen change their underwear twice a week at best.

These are some of the unsavoury findings of a new study into personal hygiene in France, which researchers and Gallic doctors say leaves a lot to be desired. The findings stand to reinforce stereotypes that the French take a laissez-faire approach to cleanliness."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...nue-flout-basic-personal-hygiene-rules-study/

maximus otter
 
He must have a wonderful immune system.

These days I mostly smell of Barbercue smoke....
 
"A third of French people don’t wash their hands after going to the toilet and less than half before eating, while a fifth of Frenchmen change their underwear twice a week at best.

These are some of the unsavoury findings of a new study into personal hygiene in France, which researchers and Gallic doctors say leaves a lot to be desired. The findings stand to reinforce stereotypes that the French take a laissez-faire approach to cleanliness."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...nue-flout-basic-personal-hygiene-rules-study/

maximus otter
[Gallic shrug]
 
A certain subsection of humans don't develop any underarm B.O. ever, not even after a week of not washing their pits and using no deodorant.

It's having the gene ABCC11 doubly turned-off IIUIC which occurs in around 2% of people from Europe and is found in the majority of people in north-east Asia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_odor#Genetics

I was inspired to find out about this as dear Mr Joolz is one of the lucky buggers and I wanted to know why. I just stink.
 
After reading this thread I'm curious what I smell like. No one's handy to ask at the moment. I'm tempted to keep a wad of paper tissues in my arm pit for a couple of days in order to learn. Not sure I want to report on the findings however.
 
When I was at Denes High School in Lowestoft we had a Biology teacher called Charlie Bastard.
He had a theory that washing was bad for you and you would be much healthier if you just let your bodily bacteria thrive.
You could smell him from the back of the classroom - it must have been quite challenge for his colleagues in the staff room.
Nice chap though and a really good teacher.
 
A certain subsection of humans don't develop any underarm B.O. ever, not even after a week of not washing their pits and using no deodorant.

It's having the gene ABCC11 doubly turned-off IIUIC which occurs in around 2% of people from Europe and is found in the majority of people in north-east Asia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_odor#Genetics

I was inspired to find out about this as dear Mr Joolz is one of the lucky buggers and I wanted to know why. I just stink.

Techy is like that. The former Mr Snail was also blessed. Me, I reek like a docker if I don't spray up with weapons-grade powdered aluminium.

Some deodorants are advertised as being active for 48 hours. What dirty bastards are putting that on and missing out a wash? Eww.
 
A friend of mine climbed mount Fuji on his own and then spent several days in Aokigahara (the so called 'suicide forest') without washing. He said when he finally made it down the mountain to civilization, he got on a train and everyone else in the carriage took one sniff and got off.
 
Techy is like that. The former Mr Snail was also blessed. Me, I reek like a docker if I don't spray up with weapons-grade powdered aluminium.

Some deodorants are advertised as being active for 48 hours. What dirty bastards are putting that on and missing out a wash? Eww.

We can buy 72 hour protection here. I'm not really sure what that says about us (or those who use it).
 
This stuff is great for extended trips to very hot places - it lasts 3 days or more even through multiple showers & washes

Perspi Guard 50ml Maximum Strength Antiperspirant Treatment | I ...

Saw me through spring in Kerala (30c at night!)
 
After reading this thread I'm curious what I smell like. No one's handy to ask at the moment. I'm tempted to keep a wad of paper tissues in my arm pit for a couple of days in order to learn. Not sure I want to report on the findings however.

You reminded me of a group at my College who were collaborating with the European Space Agency a few years back. They were analysing the sweat from pads placed under the Astronauts' armpits as they did spacey things in Space. Can't tell you the results (cos I don't know) but I remember a new ESA category being set up on the procurement system so we could buy the pads VAT exempted.
 
After reading this thread I'm curious what I smell like. No one's handy to ask at the moment. I'm tempted to keep a wad of paper tissues in my arm pit for a couple of days in order to learn. Not sure I want to report on the findings however.

I've been told my own scent is like clean, warm sand, like the desert or a beach in summer. (Not at low tide, my OH assures me!)
 
I worked with a young woman who rejected deodorant, shaving armpits etc, years ago when it was still quite novel. She didn't bathe, shower, etc very often.

When it was her time of the month you could smell her. Her female colleagues found it revolting. As a young male, it was very odd, it wasn't pleasant but it was sort "interesting". I wasn't the only male who thought this.

If you've ever smelt a cat on heat it is quite similar.
 
I worked with a young woman who rejected deodorant, shaving armpits etc, years ago when it was still quite novel. She didn't bathe, shower, etc very often.

When it was her time of the month you could smell her. Her female colleagues found it revolting. As a young male, it was very odd, it wasn't pleasant but it was sort "interesting". I wasn't the only male who thought this.

If you've ever smelt a cat on heat it is quite similar.
Pheromones?
 
Many moons ago, when I used to travel by good old British Rail, I was in a carriage and seated at one end whereas the toilet was at the other. The carriage was absolutely packed. Along came one chap from the adjoining carriage to make use of the facilities. Once he had finished ‘dropping the kids off at the pool’ he walked back through to his seat. As he did, you could see a horrible version of a Mexican wave where all the passengers he passed threw their heads back at the stench that he was obviously dragging behind him! There was no escape for me and I could see my doom rapidly approaching. Now I consider myself a man of the world but that reek could peel paint off walls......I think he needed raking out with a holly bush as my old Ma used to say!
 
.I think he needed raking out with a holly bush as my old Ma used to say!

What a delightful phrase. I might drag this out for Son No 2, who has a particularly loathsome bottom at times.
 
Techy is like that. The former Mr Snail was also blessed. Me, I reek like a docker if I don't spray up with weapons-grade powdered aluminium.

Some deodorants are advertised as being active for 48 hours. What dirty bastards are putting that on and missing out a wash? Eww.

Shower in a can! *

* one of my friends used to call it. Stinker.
 
I seem to recall a U.S. Army study some years ago where they compared two groups of soldiers, one bathing regularly and the other not at all. The result after 2-3 weeks was that the non-bathing group had a LOWER skin bacteria count that the ones that bathed regularly.
 
I seem to recall a U.S. Army study some years ago where they compared two groups of soldiers, one bathing regularly and the other not at all. The result after 2-3 weeks was that the non-bathing group had a LOWER skin bacteria count that the ones that bathed regularly.
People who walk around naked all day tend not to have B.O.
Clothing tends to act as a means of keeping bacteria in close contact with the body, thus keeping the bacterial culture going.
I wonder if those soldiers were stripped to the waist?
 
I seem to recall a U.S. Army study some years ago where they compared two groups of soldiers, one bathing regularly and the other not at all. The result after 2-3 weeks was that the non-bathing group had a LOWER skin bacteria count that the ones that bathed regularly.

I used to demonstrate on an undergraduate Microbiology practical that involved bacterial counts from skin - unwashed hand, hand washed without soap, hand washed with soap and dried, hand washed with soap and air-dried, something like that. They used to see the highest counts on hands washed in warm water because it encourages the pores to open and the bacteria to come out to play!
 
I used to demonstrate on an undergraduate Microbiology practical that involved bacterial counts from skin - unwashed hand, hand washed without soap, hand washed with soap and dried, hand washed with soap and air-dried, something like that. They used to see the highest counts on hands washed in warm water because it encourages the pores to open and the bacteria to come out to play!
:oops:
But what about hot water rather than warm?
 
But what about hot water rather than warm?

Hot water opens the pores faster, I guess, and it's unlikely you'd be having a prolonged wash in water hot enough to kill the wee blighters - I've plated out bacteria left at 65 C for 5 minutes and had survivors (though that's a density thing).

Can bacteria really come flying out of your pores that quickly?

They probably get washed out during the action!
 
Hot water opens the pores faster, I guess, and it's unlikely you'd be having a prolonged wash in water hot enough to kill the wee blighters - I've plated out bacteria left at 65 C for 5 minutes and had survivors (though that's a density thing).



They probably get washed out during the action!
So the pores opens and the bacteria come flying out only for the hot water to wash them away? Maybe there is something in sluicing down with cold water after a hot bath?
 
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