Why Do We Stink So Much? Talking Sweat Here.

My deordorant NEVER runs out.

Doesn't everyone keep a couple of spares?

Excuse me, I have to go wash my hand a few dozen times.

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I am a firm believer in deodorant, and anyone who says, they don't
need it, should ask the people they come in close contact with.

Wearing cotton, linen and silk will absorb sweat quite nicely without emitting a strong body odor - unfortunately, nowadays people wear lots of synthetic fibers that don't absorb sweat very well, and produce an unpleasant odor
all on its own, which combined with body odor can be quite daunting.

A few centuries ago, people might not have washed themselves properly,
but they wore natural fiber clothes and lots of leather which absorbs sweat and odor.

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I worked with someone once (female), who, I don't know if it was a cultural thing (she was an American but had strong ties to her heritage) or what, but there were days when I would have to leave the room if she was there. Or, if I entered a room where she'd been in the last 10 or 15 minutes, I could still smell her.

The thing was, she was highly intelligent, well educated, kind, funny and an all around nice person. She bathed and everything, but just never wore deorderant, and boy oh boy, she needed to.

It was especially wonderful when she was wearing a wool sweater and got all excited and started to sweat.

It even came up in conversation at some point, she was talking about herself and on her own said she realized she could stink, but she never wore deodorant. It was like she didn't think other people minded smelling her.

That always confused me. You know you stink, and you think others want to experience it too?

If I had a poor sense of smell, I'd be even more careful, since I'd be less sure of my....condition.

I'll admit, I have never smelled sweat on either a male or female that I thought was attractive.

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Chai wrote:

My deordorant NEVER runs out.

Doesn't everyone keep a couple of spares?

Excuse me, I have to go wash my hand a few dozen times.

Lol!

I mean when you are exercising so hard and long that you overpower it.

I used to have a treadmill at home, perhaps that was the problem? I used to have a fan on me, but perhaps it was the being indoors plus really intense exercise, over an hour or more.

Definitely shower time as soon as I got off.

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Okay: full disclosure. The idea for this thread came to me the morning I took the train down to the park to run and I was wearing the same running jersey I had used a couple of days before. Halfway across the platform I thought I smelled something really bad and once the doors closed I discovered the smell was me, or rather the 87% Polyester, 13% Spandex Nike Jersey I had hung up sweaty wet in our bathroom to let dry.

It was dry all right. And it smelled to high heaven. Bad Funk Railroad!

Worse. (Oh, yeah, it gets worse.) I ran in it that morning then went home and put through the wash with a bunch of socks and a couple of pairs of running shorts.

It still stunk.

And I thought "What the hell is going on here?" What kind of microbe has inserted itself into the product of my sweat glands?? And why?

BTW Oxy-clean deodorizes all the running stuff, but I have started to pre-soak them all overnight.

Joe(smelling like a rose)Nation

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Joe Nation wrote:

Okay: full disclosure. The idea for this thread came to me the morning I took the train down to the park to run and I was wearing the same running jersey I had used a couple of days before. Halfway across the platform I thought I smelled something really bad and once the doors closed I discovered the smell was me, or rather the 87% Polyester, 13% Spandex Nike Jersey I had hung up sweaty wet in our bathroom to let dry.

It was dry all right. And it smelled to high heaven. Bad Funk Railroad!

Worse. (Oh, yeah, it gets worse.) I ran in it that morning then went home and put through the wash with a bunch of socks and a couple of pairs of running shorts.

It still stunk.

And I thought "What the hell is going on here?" What kind of microbe has inserted itself into the product of my sweat glands?? And why?

BTW Oxy-clean deodorizes all the running stuff, but I have started to pre-soak them all overnight.

Joe(smelling like a rose)Nation

(Sobs) So I'm NOT an alien!!!!!

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Joe When we sweat a small amount of oil and fat is excreted among other things. It is these fats that end up going rancid. Certain types of synthetic materials have a stronger affinity for oils and fats.

Yep soaking is the way to go, it gives the detergents more time to dissolve the fats and oils.

I've often wondered if the food we eat makes a difference to how much our sweat smells

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dadpad wrote:

Joe When we sweat a small amount of oil and fat is excreted among other things. It is these fats that end up going rancid. Certain types of synthetic materials have a stronger affinity for oils and fats.

Yep soaking is the way to go, it gives the detergents more time to dissolve the fats and oils.

I've often wondered if the food we eat makes a difference to how much our sweat smells

Absolutely. And other...er...exudations.

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oooooohhhh.....I feel whoozy....

putting clothes back on that you've sweated in......oooooohhhh.....

polyester will hold onto odors if you let them sit long enough. Good idea about soaking in the oxy clean.

If you come home and need to change your clothes, you need to take a brief shower first to wash off all the days yuck.

your clothes will thank you, so will the person next to you in the subway.

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Man, this whole stinky people thing just drives me nuts. I wish everyone was OCD about their cleanliness like Chai is!

At the college I go to, it's like some kind of freakin badge of honor to smell like crap. You walk into a classroom, and the whole room just reeks, thanks to one or two jackasses that think it's just not naaaaturalllll to use deodorant or something. I swear, a couple of times, I've given very serious consideration to just standing up, announcing that I'm leaving the class and that I want whoever is responsible for the stench to realize that they are filthy and that everyone hates their stink. I wonder if I'd be ostracized for not being hip enough, or if I'd be thanked for breaking the silence.... Laughing

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cyphercat wrote:

Man, this whole stinky people thing just drives me nuts. I wish everyone was OCD about their cleanliness like Chai is!

At the college I go to, it's like some kind of freakin badge of honor to smell like crap. You walk into a classroom, and the whole room just reeks, thanks to one or two jackasses that think it's just not naaaaturalllll to use deodorant or something. I swear, a couple of times, I've given very serious consideration to just standing up, announcing that I'm leaving the class and that I want whoever is responsible for the stench to realize that they are filthy and that everyone hates their stink. I wonder if I'd be ostracized for not being hip enough, or if I'd be thanked for breaking the silence....

This from a lifeform whose greeting ritual features intense savouring of other cats' arses?

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I'm not OCD about physical cleanliness.

wait, I have to go clip my nails, and file them, but first I'll have to soak them so I can scrape underneath them to get the dirt out.

seriously...I think I told this story here once before....

When I was I think about 5 my brothers thought it would be a great idea to give my mother a birthday present of one of the hand mold thingies, with the little kids and print in them...mine.

I thought it was a great idea too, until I saw that they were mixing up plater of paris in a pie tin, and then wanted me to put my HAND in it!!! Shocked

I took off running, and they didn't catch me for 2 blocks. I was all the way down to Doris Ballmans house before they tackled me.

They dragged me screaming and crying back to the house, and then couldn't get me to uncurl my hand. Somehow I slipped away again, but, they were blocking the door to the outside. So, I locked myself in the bathroom and hid in the shower.

They picked the lock and threatened to kill me if I didn't put my hand in that goop.

I was so exhaused by that time, I gave up. But not without a vow to hate them both forever.

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and what made it worse was when her mother saw the gift she said

"Honey, you didn't put your hand in that goop, didyah? Eeeww?"

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What other creature or critter stinks as much as we do? Even horses never smell terrible, they just smell horsey. And as much as we talk about a wet dog, we stink way more and have, as cyphercat has attested, much worse attitudes about it.

Cat: Hip or not, you gottta breathe. Bring a bunch of Stick-ups to class and announce that anyone who wants one can have one.

Joe(or just stick one onto the natural one's desk)Nation

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well, i find that the closer i get to a horse stable, the less i want to be conscious of anything.

that could be the horses i'm smelling, or something else, but if it was just cleaned out, would i have the same problem with it? i'm guessing yes. that "horsey" smell must be powerful enough for me.

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If perfumes are given in gift why not deodorants?

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that's almost like the difference between giving a woman mascara and giving her a paper bag.

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An unusual choice in either event. Confused

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hmm, i love horse stables smell. and the horsey smell. but i rode for 4 years, guess i got used to it. but i also like me a man with his manly smell (not the 3 days unshowered sweating profusely rancid smell) - but a little bit of fresh BO can actually be umm, exciting.
it also doesn't bother me to shower once every other day, unless i go to the gym. they say it's healthier for the skin.
one way or another, it has to be a really strong and pungent bo to bother me.

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I TOLD you this stinking stuff would be damaging in an evolutionary way.
Wash Up! The Elephants can smell you a mile away.

Soooo, if the elephants get a whiff of the huntermen they book it for the tall grass, wouldn't all the creatures do the same? Am I crazy to think that we stink more than deer do? (and I have been been able to catch a whiff of them on lurking-through-the-forest-tours. I think we do.

Joe(bears stink more than we do. At least their dens do. Puuuuiee)Nation

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Bears--especially male bears--have a big problem with their deliberate obesity. By mid-July--the end of mating season--a bear's stream of urine can't clear his paunch.

Hence a well-fed bear smells like a walking cesspool.

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Why Do We Stink So Much? Talking Sweat Here.

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