# "Non-traditional" Favorite Smells **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 23, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026 "2016-01-23T22:29:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/21 "2016-01-24T00:42:41Z")
I’ve always thought of the smell of gas as you fill up at the station to be oddly pleasant. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/22 "2016-01-24T01:17:52Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Burnt toast…reminds me of my dad, who liked his toast slightly burnt. Every time I smell it, I think of him. Try burning flour tortillas on the stovetop. Absolutely wonderful! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/23 "2016-01-24T02:04:06Z")
> [@somepumpkin](#): > > Burnt 2-stroke oil at the racetrack. I hope that’s what heaven smells like. Yeah! Bean Oil! I’ve been known to fire up my chainsaw in my shop just to fill it with smelly goodness. Of course, I ride RZ350’s, so I get my share. Also, P-Tex and ski wax. I tune my skis and the shop is just _full_ of smoke. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/24 "2016-01-24T02:09:37Z")
The smell of an old grocery store. With wooden floors. Sends me back in time. Every time. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/25 "2016-01-24T02:16:12Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Very light rain on dusty pavement. And that smell you get just before it rains. Plus the smell of fresh water and damp earth wherever vegetation grows, e.g., along a creek. Reminds me of playing Army when I was a kid. Oh, yeah: The smell of green caps fired from a well-oiled Mattel tommy gun. And the smell of canvas (pre-synthetic) Army surplus gear and waterproofed leather. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/26 "2016-01-24T02:25:59Z")
Blacktop. Whenever I drive past a parking lot being paved, or re-doing a road in the summer? Love it. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/27 "2016-01-24T02:28:54Z")
Y’all have named quite a few of my favorites already. Good ones, too. One that may have gone by the wayside by now, and one I didn’t see already, would be the sweeping compound they used to sweep the floors in the elementary school where I spent my early years (back in the 40s). I always looked for that aroma in incense and room sprays! 🙂 I could name a dozen of those, too, but they’re too traditional for the thread, I guess. I’ve always been partial to wood smoke, especially from evergreens like pine and cedar. And I have happy memories associated with suntan lotion. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/28 "2016-01-24T02:29:25Z")
More standard: Anything containing real vanilla extract and/or cocoa powder. Baked custard with nutmeg. Scottish shortbread in the oven. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/29 "2016-01-24T02:40:47Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > **Creosote \>** The stuff that coats railroad ties and telephone poles (I think that’s what it’s called) Also reminds me of playing Army down by the railroad tracks, when kids could get away with that sort of thing. I spent the summer of 2005 living in Jurmala, Latvia. Ten-minute walk through a pine forest to the shore of the Baltic. After more than ten years of living in a very polluted city (Moscow), this was pure heaven! ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/30 "2016-01-24T02:40:48Z")
Cow manure on farms in South Central PA. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/31 "2016-01-24T03:20:45Z")
The smell of an old car. A pre-1975 car. In my family’s garage when I was a kid, late at night, when my dad was rigging something up to keep it going for a little while longer. It’s some combination of gasoline and oil and rust and vinyl. Whenever I get into my Corvair, the smell immediately transports me back to that garage. I kind of like the smell of hospitals. I think it’s mostly the soap they seem to be partial to. When I was first dating my wife, and I’d meet up with her after she got off shift at the hospital, I’d tease her that she smelled like hospital soap. Now the smell always makes me think of that. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/32 "2016-01-24T03:32:31Z")
Puppy breath. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/33 "2016-01-24T03:48:06Z")
The smell of cats. Like when you put your nose into a cat’s fur. ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/34 "2016-01-24T04:03:39Z")
The desert after a rain. The smell of light rain on dust and asphalt, as others have mentioned. Play-Doh. Dang, I love the smell when you pop open a canister. A new plastic egg full of Silly Putty when you first open it after finding it in your Christmas stocking as a kid. When I broke the seal and popped open an old Aurora model kit, especially one of the monster model kits. That smell, that polystyrene smell. I’ll never forget it. ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/35 "2016-01-24T06:47:57Z")
Newly opened Crayola wax crayons, cheap tequila, bicycle inner tubes, carbolic soap, and freshly sanded plywood. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/36 "2016-01-24T06:54:25Z")
A new board game, the printing leaves a wonderful smell. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/37 "2016-01-24T07:09:06Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I kind of miss the smell of leaded gasoline. I was just a kid when they stopped making it, but I remember really liking the aroma. Yep, unleaded gas does not smell as pleasant. Old car smell. It’s generally the smell of antifreeze rotting the carpet mat. At least, I’ve had modern cars develop old car smell after their heater cores failed. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/38 "2016-01-24T07:56:02Z")
Old diesel fuel Mineral spirits Creosote ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/39 "2016-01-24T09:09:52Z")
It’s been a long time, but I loved the smell of the ink on freshly printed mimeographs. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026/40 "2016-01-24T09:12:54Z")
I am intrigued by the numerous times creosote is mentioned. The bush is very old. > **[Larrea tridentata](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larrea_tridentata)** > > Larrea tridentata, called creosote bush and greasewood as a plant, chaparral as a medicinal herb, and gobernadora (Spanish for "governess") in Mexico, due to its ability to secure more water by inhibiting the growth of nearby plants.\[citation needed\] In Sonora, it is more commonly called hediondilla; Spanish hediondo = "smelly". > It is a flowering plant in the family Zygophyllaceae. The specific name tridentata refers to its three-toothed leaves. > Larrea tridentata is a prominent species in the... > [@](#): > > The “King Clone” creosote ring is one of the oldest living organisms on Earth. It has been alive an estimated 11,700 years, in the central Mojave Desert near present-day Lucerne Valley, California. This single clonal colony plant of Larrea tridentata reaches up to 67 feet (20 m) in diameter, with an average diameter of 45 feet (14 m). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-traditional-favorite-smells/744026.md?page=3)