The ongoing experimentation of stink

Hey, sounds like you found an OK solution for the interim. The quest continues… :)

Maybe you guys need to shower or something because I've been wearing the same 2 Patagonia Cap 1 t shirts for climbing, hiking, and riding my bike all summer and they don't stink. Older Patagonia yes, new stuff…not for me at least.

Thanks Ben.

I wish they would work for me also but my personal body chemistry seems to react with poly and to much lesser degree, everything else. Gladiodor® is just a mild buffer.

Actually not all poly, I have some R .5s made out of Power Dry that work really well on stink.

Body odour (apart from the one even juveniles "know all" are familiar with…) is often caused by genetics, diet, and even medication.
That is why clean people once they sweat will produce a different odour and their own particular chemistry may react with some fabric when it does not for others.
Particular smells (for example a cheesy/fishy or vinegar like smell) will give a doctor a clue on what the problem is.
Franco

Personally mine is mostly acidic. I think it is mostly genetics because I don't think my diet really factors in too much.

…I use it to get caveman chicks!

Maybe you guys need to see a doctor. Most people smell like hot onions. I've never been around someone who smelled like cheese or vinegar. Wow….

By the way…this thread is getting waaaay too personal.

Brett,

I'm a big guy like you, so am very prone to heavy sweating. Here's a couple ideas from my experience.

I've made the assumption long ago that natural body chemistry should manage most of my possible stink. I think soaps and deoderants can mess with that chemistry. Therefore, for the most part on a daily basis, I only use soap in the shower on my neck (to help prevent 'ring around the collar', my armpits, my crotch and 'bottom', and my feet. I shampoo my hair as well. The shower water hits the rest of me, but I don't rub any of those areas with soapless or soapy hands.

Stink, I believe, is the result of bacteria that develop sometime after you've washed yourself clean. If you can delay the formation of that bacteria, you'll delay stink.

In order to attempt to do that, sometimes, I provide extra 'protection' from stink by using Betadine, an iodine based solution used in hospitals to wash up before operations. I'll lather it up just on my pits and crotch. I'll let it sit at least a minute before washing it off.

Let us know if you hit on anything that works better for you than what you've been doing.

Brett:

Henry's post makes sense to me. Do what you need to delay / minimize the formation of bacteria on your skin.

I also agree with Franco about different individuals reacting differently. I've been fortunate in this regard — I can wear the same tee shirt for a week or more without anyone really noticing (my record is 9 days — with nightly antibacterial wet wipes).

A suggestion from an Oncologist (in a nut shell), which was mentioned to have the "byproduct" of more pleasant body aroma:

90% of the time, eat organic raw fruits, nuts and vegetables (60-70% by weight), whole, non-glutinous grains (30-40% by cooked weight). This excludes meat, dairy and most processed and refined foods and helps to incline your body's ph to a more alkaline state. The 90% of the time is to be realistic. The other 10% of the time, eat whatever you want.

Oh, lookey, lookey.

"Body odour (apart from the one even juveniles "know all" are familiar with…) is often caused by genetics, ****diet*****, and even medication.
That is why clean people once they sweat will produce a different odour and their own particular chemistry may react with some fabric when it does not for others.
Particular smells (for example a cheesy/fishy or vinegar like smell) will give a doctor a clue on what the problem is.
Franco"

**** my addition.

"…" (biointegra) is spot on…at least from what I have read, been told, and experienced first hand. A change to that diet transformed several things for both my wife and I, including our odor.

When we deal with an underlying issue, many other benefits fall into place naturally.

EDIT. PS. We've been on that diet nearly 11 yrs now…though it is closer to 100% organic (some of our nuts are the only remaining non-organically grown things we eat). We both started noticing changes within a year. Could have happened sooner….but we weren't looking. It just so happened that one day I noticed something and we started talking about the other things that were happening to our bodies after thinking about it.

Threadus Resurrectus?

Stink is highly relativistic, and comes in two parts: the making of it, and the perception of it. I happen to be one of those who can smell stink easily — on myself, and on others. It's a curse, although it's often said it's a blessing if you're a chef.

My wife can't figure out why I obsess about it — she claims she can't smell me. Whereas I'll be offended by my own odor. (I'm also the guy who gets sent into the room to figure out where the dog pee'd. I can find it within seconds. I should have been a bloodhound.)

Those of you who claim you don't stink and can wear a shirt 9 days–maybe you can't smell yourself, but I could smell you from the next state over.

There's also the cultural aspect. In certain countries I won't mention, there were times I'd about gag when riding an elevator or climb a staircase with the natives. They seemed to be oblivious.

Like Brett, I'm always looking for the least-stink shirts, so appreciate the topic and thread. I've made a sizable investment into Dri-Release, both Terramar and Paradox. They do help.

Carry on.

Rusty, my and my wife's experience has been similar to you, your wife's, and Biointegras, the more we've changed our diets, lots of changes including better and less odor.

I think the only reason why i am sick right now, is because of the holidays and going off my normal diet and lifestyle. Normally eat very alkaline reacting diet, but because of the holidays, social situations, etc, have gone off my typical diet quite a bit, as well as drinking more than i normally would.

"There's also the cultural aspect. In certain countries I won't mention, there were times I'd about gag when riding an elevator or climb a staircase with the natives. They seemed to be oblivious."

I use to live in Lowell MA wherein there is a very high immigrant population from southeast Asia.

When i was just a wee youngin (1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade? don't remember), in school they had a program wherein they would partner (with our permission, i think), the good readers with the kids who were not so good readers or learning still, which often were the kids from, or their parents directly from, these other countries because obviously english wasn't their first language. We would sit next to each other, i would read the book and they would follow along, might answer a question or two, etc.

I really liked doing this except for one aspect, the gawd awful smell of the breath, like 2 month old rotting fish.

So, i can relate. Normally i wouldn't even talk about this, but i'm in a bit of a weird mood.

That's good to hear, Justin. My pits were smelling up my shirts so badly that I was embarrassed to be in social gatherings. And my poor wife….her feet were so bad that it literally made me sick to my stomach when she'd take off her socks after a day of being encased in shoes.

Thankfully, that's all taken care of now. I noticed at the same that my mouth didn't taste bad like it used to…and my skin felt different. Doesn't dry out as fast. The thing that alerted me to these changes was a growth on the end of one of my toes. I forget what the Dr called it but he advised that it be removed in ~1985. 18 yrs later, after ~1 yr of our diet change, it utterly disappeared and is still gone. Same with a wart on my hand. I brought this up to several different Dr friends and they all said the same thing: Something for the better happened to my immune system. Now if I could just figure out how to get my "number 2's" smelling purty……..

EDIT: Deleted because I didn't feel right posting it.

Those are some pretty dramatic changes Rusty. Glad your bodies are doing much better now.

#2's won't ever smell *good*, but i've noticed changes there too. My usual breakfast of late is this, Garden of Life Perfect Food (the older version) mixed in with my filtered well water.

When i do that, eat a lot of fresh salad, etc, there's not much bad smell to the 2's.

I happen to think a healthy body, good food, in many ways is a kind of "gear" that is important in backpacking–certainly helps one to do it better…

Ditto on the number 2's. I was a strict vegetarian for 18 months. Didn't notice any changes in the way my bowel movements smelled…until I started eating meat again. Whew…for me, there's a noticeable difference. Since I only eat meat about once every 7-14 days now, I notice the difference every time. Vegetarians poo still stinks-a-lot…just not quite as badly…at least when it comes from my smelly end.