Old person Smell

Ah, I am so sorry to say that this smell of lavender, for me- is the smell of my great aunt and granny.

When I first became menopausal one of the things I noticed was that I did not smell like myself. I didn't smell unpleasant but the familiar slight scent of my being was different. I decided to try HRT for many reasons and 16 years later I'm still on it, it is very reassuring to smell like me now.

I spoke to my aged mum this afternoon. She chatted for a bit then said she had to go as she’d decided it was a good day to change the bed.

PernillaVanilla - yes, I noticed that too at the menopause. I suppose I’m used to that now - but I’m sad that some of my favourite perfumes don’t smell the same on me anymore. This is obviously why.

If the Nonenol increases gradually with age I suppose it creeps up on us so most of us might not notice. And yes, MissAdventure, it makes sense, genetically to dislike the smell of frailty. Sad but true.

How horrible ! I wish there were a sniff o test somewhere ! I have just moved into a retirement flat (big mistake ...like a jail seems more like a care home than an apartment block for over 50;s !) BUT ...yes IT SMELLS (all the corridors, anyway ...not been into many other flats !) its horrible ….not musty, but collective cooking (haven't lived in a flat for more than 50 odd years ...then it was students only !) I open the windows at the end of the corridor and hope they stay open before someone else spots them ! Looking to buy something else for an escape......perhaps a holiday home somewhere …….

It's often younger people who smell the worse though. During my working life I've come across four stinkers who were so bad I couldn't be in the same room. All were under the age of 40 so this was dirty body stink from not washing themselves or their clothes. You just wonder why their family never told them.

My mil is 85 and she doesn't smell of old people so its not all old people

My OH couldn't use the gym ( it's small) this morning because of the body odour smell. No old people in there.
Well there was one, OH, until he walked out ?

NotSpaghetti. Yes I has heard that about the unripe one being bitter until it is ripe . The ones DH are sometimes a bit hard so just in case I leave them until they feel a bit softer.
Here there are called Diospiros and very juicy and tasty they are too. Will have to find out if it says the variety at the supermarket.

As a CAB volunteer I sometimes have to sit in a room working with clients who clearly have not washed or changed their clothes for days or weeks!

Another cause of being smelly is smoking, which lingers on clothes. Then the wet dogs already mentioned. Teenage boys.

I think we older people don’t have too much to worry about in comparison.

I think we older people don’t have too much to worry about in comparison.

Maybe not, but it is still not very nice I think. ?

Everyone. whatever their age, smells – strongly, weakly, nice, nasty and so on. Every nation has its own smell too, depending on the prevailing diet. That's the main reason why occidentals have a reputation among the Japanese of being grubby.

I think it's natural to have a smell.
It's a shame to wash it all away and deodorise ourselves so much.

My Japanese friend has a very keen sense of smell. Apparently, she was pretty horrified at how bad people tend to smell in the UK. The Japanese have different genetics and tend to smell clean naturally. She says old people do tend to smell bad in a particular way. Now, where's that strong deodorant?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_person_smell

My mother, unfortunately, has no longer got a good sense of smell and suffers from almost continual UTI's. I have tried to point out that some of the things she does leave a whiff of eau de Pee but she gets quite angry and yells at me for leaving her no dignity. Last time she was away we had to rip out carpets and change her bed because it was so awful. She was not a happy person. However, when she was younger she would implore me to tell her if there was a problem. I have tried to be tactful but it is difficult.

I bought some febreeze today!! And will be rather more liberal with the beeswax Polish when I do the table.

I use bicarbonate of soda to 'dry clean' the bedside rug in my lodger's room. I spray antiperspirant in his shoes too. He doesn't smell bad and is very clean - but just seems to have his own distinctive smell (which I dislike) as he's a meat and dairy eater.

A classmate at school had 'fish odour syndrome' and nobody would sit near her. Apparently, the Vietnamese and American soldiers could smell each other, despite being in thick cover, due to their different diets.

I taught a middle aged student smelled really terrible due to kidney disease. I used to put Vicks up my nostrils when I had to be near her (tip from a fireman who had to deal with corpses) and I'd spray air freshener and fling the windows open when she left.

One day she returned to retrieve her USB flashdrive as I was doing that!

@Hetty58. not just Japanese who rarely have body odour, it is China, Korea and Mongolia too, my son travelled in Asia and ran out of deodorant, went to a supermarket for some. Here there would be shelves full, there there was only a small amount for sale.
Maybe if the norm is for most people not to need deodorant cos you don't smell, even if your hygiene is no tip-top, if people start developing an old people smell it is more obvious to them if that makes sense

I remember visiting my MIL when she was in a home and that smelled of old people. Also when my friend's dad was in a geriatric ward that had the same pong!

When we looked around Homes for my aged Mother they ALL smelled strongly of pee. It was so horrible we decided to use home care for her.
I wonder if it could have been avoided with more attentiion to cleanliness and attention to inmate's personal needs? I'm sure someone will explain its staff shortages etc and thus understandable. But that's not the smell we're discussing.

I wonder do Persimmon built houses made of soap?

I was brought up in Africa and the Africans were pretty much vegetarian. They used to say that Europeans smelled of dead flesh because of all the meat we ate.

Oh dear, I have very little sense of smell! I could be stinking to high heaven and not know.
New Year’s Resolution to become obsessively clean, scrubbing self, house, cat and dog daily.

Have been reading about Nonenol, its a smell that we emit after the age of 40 approx. its to do with the fatty acids in sweat which are combatted by antioxidants when we are younger but not as we age. The Japanese have undertaken lots of studies. Apparently you can scrub the smell off as its not water soluble and ordinary soap doesn't counteract it. Persimmon soap is apparently the answer, it strips the fatty acids, naturally the soap is quite expensive and also pretty drying to your skin. But the smell of older people is not to do with poor hygiene or not washing clothing frequently.

Solonge, other mammals have primitive smell responses, usually far more developed than ours. They can easily tell the age group, sex, health status and even social standing of another - just by smell, (even of urine) then judge whether they're suitable as a mate.

It seems logical that those of breeding age would have the most interest and sensitivity to these olfactory clues. So young people probably detect 'old people' smells most keenly! I predict a huge increase in Persimmon soap sales!