# Deodorant & Female Hormones

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorant-female-hormones/6947>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 9, 2000, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorant-female-hormones/6947 "2000-02-09T06:01:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorant-female-hormones/6947/1 "2000-02-09T06:01:00Z")

</div>

My husband claims that the type of deodorant the HE wears controls my menstrual cycles, i.e., they will be late/early depending on what type of deodorant he uses. We haven’t done any structured testing of this, but is he insane?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorant-female-hormones/6947/2 "2000-02-09T06:09:00Z")

</div>

I’ve heard something to the effect that the men’s sweat regulates a woman’s cycle. But it’s a consistant exposure it, not what is used to control it, that does it.

The test I heard of placed pads under men’s pits. After a day, they used the pads to prepare an alcohol solution. Then had two test groups of women: some they put the sweat/alcohol solution on their upper lip, the others just plain alcohol. They then charted the women’s cycles. Those in the sweat group had more regular cycles that the “placebo” group.

The solution was weak enough so that no conscious effort could discern whether a woman had been given the sweat solution.

* * *

Wrong thinking is punished, right thinking is just as swiftly rewarded. You’ll find it an effective combination.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorant-female-hormones/6947/3 "2000-02-09T16:07:00Z")

</div>

That would be right. Pherenomes [sp] have that effect.

If you have teenage boys they would also have this effect.