# Arrest for bad hygiene? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 25, 2017, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrest-for-bad-hygiene/805261 "2017-12-25T04:42:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrest-for-bad-hygiene/805261/21 "2017-12-29T01:46:05Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I went to college with a woman who smelled like formaldehyde. She was from another country, and she didn’t shower for several weeks at a time, but I don’t know how that made her smell like formaldehyde. It’s a really specific and distinct smell; she didn’t smell like BO. She smelled exactly like formaldehyde. Her roommate was good friends with my roommate, and ended up staying in a sleeping bag on our floor for a while before she got the RA to move her. This… I feel like I must know you! There was a former Russian figure skater- she had dropped out of the “program” but she had the physique, flexibility, and strength and attractiveness still. She was in her 3rd year at a Ivy-level college when I met her. She triple majored in math, biochemistry, and ??? She was insanely bright and hot, but my god she smelled horrible. But the parade of guys through her room was like none other- and she had freshman roommates every year as they were the cheapest rooms. I had concluded it was formaldehyde and onions. You could not handle being near her without your eyes watering. But she was a competitive athlete or had been, she had to have known about good hygiene but there was no way that smell was natural unless she had a rotting abscess somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrest-for-bad-hygiene/805261/22 "2017-12-30T03:48:12Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I don’t understand people so odorous that it bothers others. How can they not know? Presumably if they can buy a plane ticket they afford a bar of soap. Do they just not care? Is there a disorder that can cause horrible odor? Tow things that come to mind are alcohol-withdrawal and zero-carbohydrate diets [www.cracked.com 5-things-nobody-tells-you-about-quitting-drinking](http://www.cracked.com/article_18824_5-things-nobody-tells-you-about-quitting-drinking.html) ---
**Author:** ![SeniorCitizen007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@SeniorCitizen007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeniorCitizen007)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrest-for-bad-hygiene/805261/23 "2017-12-30T12:24:40Z")
My first job involved working with Calcium carbide … when I travelled home on the bus after work I often had a strong smell of acetylene about me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arrest-for-bad-hygiene/805261.md?page=1)