Old person Smell

My mum was 93 and used Channel No.5 all the time even in hospital. I found a half used bottle in her flat after she died and kept it because it was too good to throw out. Trouble is if I use it I smell like my mum. I do worry about old lady smells in general though!

I go to my local library once or twice a week to use the free Internet facilities & there is definitely a nasty smell there, it's not old people smell, it's a combination of stale sweat, unwashed bodies & unwashed clothes, male & female, various ages. I always make sure the first thing I do when I arrive home is to give my hands a thorough wash

My mother is 82 and the only thing she smells of is Dolce & Gabbana The Only One! She keeps her house and clothes very clean, flushes out the washing machine with anti bacterial every couple months and isn’t overweight. I know some overweight people can get fungal infections in hot places which have a sour smell ( cider vinegar helps) and some washing machines are so over loaded they don’t wash clothes they just grow bacteria which smell but that applies to any age.

I was browsing a discount perfume site for sale bargains and saw that one of the perfumes in the sale was Rive Gauche, which I used to wear in the 1970s, and had indeed been wearing at the party where I first met my husband. I hadn’t seen one of the scent’s unmistakable black, blue and silver metal aerosol containers for decades, so decided to buy some. Knowing how quickly any scent, whether of toast, fried onions, daffodils, the seashore or, indeed, fusty wardrobes, will transport us back to places and times long left behind, we were both very disappointed to find that my new Rive Gauche scent was completely unrecognisable to either of us. It reminded me of the scented drawer liners I was familiar with from staying with my elderly maiden aunts in the fifties, or of their Cusson’s hand soap. Yes, it brought back my lost youth, but not as I’d expected! In short, it smelt of ‘old ladies’. I did a bit of online research and discovered that the Rive Gauche perfume had been ‘updated’ several times in the last 50 years (as often happens, as perfume fashions change), so it would never have reminded me of the heady days of youth. But it did remind me that even then, old people had a distinctive smell, however fastidious they might be about personal cleanliness. I don’t think we should worry about how young people perceive our smell - we can do nothing about it!

Certain blood thinners that people take create a distinct, pungent odor- It effects men more than women and has been described as smelling like musty chicken soup- Women on the other hand smell more like an amalgam of urine, yeast and cake- My nephew discussed this in classes with EMT- Scent is commonly used to detect what medications and individual may be taking, the odor of their body, breath and home-

I am with gaunt47 on this. It is more than likely to be infrequent clothes changing. My mother, aged 89, and for whom I am full time carer, has regular clothes changes, is assisted to wash each day, wears perfume, and has no odour. There are many elderly who may simply not have the energy to keep themselves and their surroundings clean, which could be when a certain froustiness ( a word my old school hockey mistress used to describe girls who didn't pay attention to their personal hygiene) may be discerned.

I used to do homecare for an elderly gentleman. He lived with his bedridden wife and middle aged son. Absolutely lovely people!
Regularly I would call in the evening to put dad to bed and his trousers, which he'd wear all week, would be soaked with urine. I'd change him, say to the son, "Oh these are for the wash," (which another family member did for them) and the two men would say, "Oh it's only a bit of water, they'll dry out on the radiator for tomorrow...."
I used to warn my colleague who did the morning call. She said the trousers were so stiff by then they would stand up by themselves.
I know we all have different opinions on personal hygiene but we were being paid by Social Services to wash and care for this gentleman, it was very tricky trying to be tactful.

I am heading for 69. I shower every day. I will ask my children to tell me if I start to smell. I live on a boat and have a cassette toilet...I do worry about that...hahaha.

I'm away to hang myself out on the line !

You’ve got me worried now as well! We moved into a bungalow where old people had lived and my children did mention once that the house smelled of old people but since then we’ve changed every carpet but one.

My mum’s urine did smell strongly when she was in her 80’s and I’ve a very strong sense of smell and can smell myself sometimes in a similar way which I’m worried about but I’m ‘only’ 70!

Also my husband sleeps in a different room and he’s always had a very strong body odour, not sweat or anything nasty, just his smell. I air his room particularly every day. I thought it was his carpet but the new one has got the smell now, not much I can do about that! I’m going to insist my daughter tells me immediately! What is that stuff?

well maybe its because they cant be bopthered with all the cleaning of furniture and bathing daily, or msaybe they so crippled with arthritis they cant reach the bits they would like to.it doesnt bother me.maybe you could offer some help.like say that you love having a bath how about ytou./she might be grateful for a lovely hot bath.(my mum was when she was ill with ovarian cancer ,she really looked forward to her weekly bath.

And I’m on chemo and aspirin to thin the blood! I’ve no chance!

Youngsters should talk! They can (and do!) stink of last nights curry sauce recently vomited, T-shirts that have been worn for at least a week and the boys still manage to overdo Brut aftershave. In lieu of a good wash presumably.

I'm not sure which of the above list is the worst?

What a cheerful thread!

Rest assured, I don't care what Google says, older people do not smell if they wash regularly, change their clothes and air the house - just as with the rest of the population.

I do some private home nursing, basically older people who can afford a private nurse, and they do not intrinsically smell!

Honestly, I'd hate anyone to worry that they smell by virtue of their age.

We are a mix of chemistry .. Even if a medical condition is mild the body releases a particular scent ..

Some people smell like ammonia, others smell like cornfields-

Urinary incontinence

LuckyLegs - the name of the smell is nonenal and I've no idea how its pronounced. None Nal? Non e nal? No nen al? And for all you super clean people, it doesn't matter how often we wash ourselves and our clothes or furnishings - we all start producing it from the tender age of 40.
Anyway it seems persimmon soap can deodourise it, but this soap is made in Japan and with Amazon there's a hefty shipping cost.
I did see a recipe for making it - but I'm too old to bother

I don’t think it’s anything to do with cleanliness or incontinence. I think it must be that hormone that was mentioned as I’ve noticed it before. My late mother was very clean and her home immaculate but I did become aware of that old person smell in the latter couple of years. Also noticed it on one of my ex neighbours and he was so clean and smart. He was only in his 70’s but had cancer and in the year before he died I noticed when I was talking to him there was the slight ‘old person’ smell. He had a lovely wife, about 10 yrs younger, and a beautiful home so he wasn’t deteriorating hygiene wise. Not a nice thought but I wonder if we give off a chemical when death isn’t too far away?

My parents are in their 90's and I never walked into their home without saying, "Oh, it smells so good in here!" My mom always had plug-ins, wax melts or Lamp Bergers going. Neither did either of them ever have a smell. My dad has gone down now, and there is a urine odor from his clothes, but we are careful to change his bed and wash his clothes often.

It's a while since I house-hunted but we always thought that a house which smelled of over-cooked cabbage indicated an old person.
It's rarer these days to sense that musty smell. I got a whiff of it a few weeks ago. It was unpleasant, like stale sweat. I felt sorry for the old man, he was smartly dressed but probably had lost his sense of smell.

Sometimes certain medications can make people smell.
Especially some antidepressants.
I'm taking note of all these comments and will ask friends and relatives what they think. About me, I mean.
And our house.

I am 63 and often ask my children do I smell funny or does the house smell. This is because sometimes I think I smell of cardboard, but I am on chemo so think that must alter body chemistry and smelling ability.
It’s good to be conscious of it though.x

As an ex nurse I often found some elderly people smelled of urine. Probably caused by a little leakage. With all these absorbent pant liners and things now this shouldn't occur!

Anne64 an old lady smell definitely does not smell of urine. It's a totally different smell.