# Is there a way to smell your own breath? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 8, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-smell-your-own-breath/531756 "2010-03-08T19:22:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-smell-your-own-breath/531756/1 "2010-03-08T19:22:12Z")
The closing your hand over your mouth and breathing out thing sort of works, but I think that there should be a better way. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-smell-your-own-breath/531756/2 "2010-03-08T19:25:06Z")
Lick your hand, then smell your saliva. ---
**Author:** ![MitzeKatze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ad7895/32.png) [@MitzeKatze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MitzeKatze)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-smell-your-own-breath/531756/3 "2010-03-08T19:26:11Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > Lick your hand, then smell your saliva. That’s exactly what I was going to say as well. ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-smell-your-own-breath/531756/4 "2010-03-08T20:37:59Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > Lick your hand, then smell your saliva. And if it is too bad, have somebody else lick your hand and smell their saliva. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-smell-your-own-breath/531756/5 "2010-03-08T20:55:22Z")
If you don’t like the licking your own hand idea I saw someone recommend the similar activity of rubbing a metal spoon around the back of your mouth and then smelling it. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-smell-your-own-breath/531756/6 "2010-03-08T21:03:50Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > Lick your hand, then smell your saliva. Oooh, that’s gross. How about if I just spit into my nose? ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-smell-your-own-breath/531756/7 "2010-03-08T22:08:27Z")
Dude, I have to break something to you - your whole mouth is full of saliva! Just covered in it! And your throat! Isn’t that just totally disgusting!?!?! Seriously, just wash your hand afterwards, but if you find your own saliva totally gross, do you manage to kiss other people? Ever held a baby? They dribble saliva everywhere, you know, and that’s the clear, non-smelly leaking fluid. (The rest you probably don’t want to hear about.) ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-smell-your-own-breath/531756/8 "2010-03-09T03:27:59Z")
Am I the only one…? Puff out your cheeks full of air, then push the air out of your mouth while simultaneously inhaling through your nose. If you aim the airstream up toward your nostrils, you can breathe your own breath in. Not as hard as it sounds. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-smell-your-own-breath/531756/9 "2010-03-09T03:28:59Z")
Wake up in the morning? I can always smell it then. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-smell-your-own-breath/531756/10 "2010-03-09T03:35:28Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > Dude, I have to break something to you - your whole mouth is full of saliva! Just covered in it! And your throat! Isn’t that just totally disgusting!?!?! > > Seriously, just wash your hand afterwards, but if you find your own saliva totally gross, do you manage to kiss other people? Ever held a baby? They dribble saliva everywhere, you know, and that’s the clear, non-smelly leaking fluid. (The rest you probably don’t want to hear about.) It’s not the saliva that’s gross, it’s the licking your hand part. Hands are dirty and should not normally be licked. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-smell-your-own-breath/531756/11 "2010-03-09T03:43:20Z")
Chalk another one up for the back of your hand- learned that in high school. \*You can wash your hands first if that’s an issue (the cleanliness of your hands). ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-smell-your-own-breath/531756/12 "2010-03-09T03:51:45Z")
Well, if licking one’s hand is too gross, I suppose my suggestion to hock up a loogie is out of bounds too. This is embarassing to admit\*, but I’ve always found my saliva and my phlegm to smell differently – the latter smelling worse, of course. (\*not that they’re different, but that _I would know such a thing_) But then, I’ve always been plagued by a chronic cough and post-nasal drip, and infected sinuses don’t tend to contribute to a fragrance of sunshine and rose petals; IOW, YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-smell-your-own-breath/531756/13 "2010-03-09T04:03:06Z")
Brush your teeth with salt.