# Odors you find pleaseant that are generaly thought of as repulsive. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 15, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716 "2018-01-15T20:44:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/41 "2018-01-16T13:35:22Z")
I enjoy plants whose foliage and flowers have scents that most people find loathsome. Example: the succulent genus [Stapelia](http://lee.ifas.ufl.edu/Hort/GardenPubsAZ/Carrion_Flower.pdf) has large, often decorative flowers that typically smell of rotting meat or fish, the better to attract pollinating flies. I am not alone in this, as people have been known to [congregate in celebration](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3715303/Gigantic-corpse-flower-smells-like-rotting-flesh-blooms-New-York-time-decade-crowds-flock-sniff-stench.html) when such plants bloom. I used to grow a garden perennial in the genus Gynura, whose flowers smelled of used sweatsocks. Alas, it is not hardy for me in my current location, so I have to make do with an only mildly malodorous Amorphophallus. I also like plants whose blooms have powerful sweet/spicy scents, which the fainting-on-my-divan types think are “too strong”. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/42 "2018-01-16T14:29:41Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Gasoline and oil – the smell of a mechanic’s shop. Mmmmm…90wt. Every now and then I like to rearrange the garage and accidentally knock over a transmission (leftover from some project or other). In righting it, I move in slow motion to give the gear oil a little time to spill out. I’m a sick, sick guy. And another vote for diesel exhaust for the memories links to. Curiously, the interior of 70-80s Toyotas. Not the decades of stale french fries and butt sweat, which you can get in any car, but it’s more like the smell of decomposing plastics and interior linings they used at that time. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/43 "2018-01-16T15:49:11Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Me too. > > I also enjoy a mild smell of bromine, like in the Pirates of the Caribbean. > > Around here, what with all the brush fires, I find wood smoke slightly alarming. > > A lit strike anywhere match- in moderation. _Bromine_; is that what that smell is? I adore that smell, specifically because of theme park rides. There was a stretch of road near my house growing up where you could smell it - pipe works or something, I’d assumed - and I wished it lasted longer. Nail polish has always smelled good to me, though I’ve been around people who can’t stand it. Ditto hairspray. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/44 "2018-01-16T15:55:40Z")
Put me down as another for light cigarette smoke and vinegar. I wouldn’t seek it out, but skunk spray is a neutral scent for me. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/45 "2018-01-16T15:56:31Z")
Already mentioned, but… Dairy Farm Scent. Cow manure mixed with spoiled milk, as someone mentioned above, with a bit of sweet alfalfa. Reminds me of vacations to my cousins’ dairy farm when I was younger - some of the best memories of my childhood. Also vinegar, especially warm vinegar - the scent reminds me of dyeing Easter eggs as a child. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/46 "2018-01-16T15:57:56Z")
Thought I was the only one - but I kind of like a light scent of skunk. Not freshly sprayed on my dog though. Then it’s so strong it doesn’t even smell like skunk! Horse barn Gas Like others - I hate cigarette smoke except for the first 2 seconds after one is lit. Dog feet Dog ears ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/47 "2018-01-16T16:04:54Z")
> [@B-Rad](#): > > Mmmmm…90wt. Every now and then I like to rearrange the garage and accidentally knock over a transmission (leftover from some project or other). In righting it, I move in slow motion to give the gear oil a little time to spill out. I’m a sick, sick guy. And another vote for diesel exhaust for the memories links to. > > Curiously, the interior of 70-80s Toyotas. Not the decades of stale french fries and butt sweat, which you can get in any car, but it’s more like the smell of decomposing plastics and interior linings they used at that time. I spen t my life as a mechanic and all too many times I had spilled gear oil on my clothes, the smell would stay with me sometimes for two days. I got to where I hated the smell. I love the smell of a freshly overhauled engine being started for the first time as it burns off the oil residue from the over haul. ---
**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 16, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/48 "2018-01-16T16:57:17Z")
Count me in on cigarette smoke and skunk-from-afar. I also love the smell of nail-polish remover. Ones that I don’t think have been said: The exhaust of a Go-Kart or small engine vehicle of that nature (the cars at Tomorrowland Speedway do the same). Freshly laid blacktop, like that of a parking lot. I love driving by newly paved parking lots that have been baking in the Florida sun for hours! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/49 "2018-01-16T17:05:48Z")
Fresh hot asphalt as it’s being laid down on a road. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > I do smoke but will still tell you that room full of smokers isn’t all that pleasant. Stale smoke on clothes doesn’t smell particularly good to anyone. However, many people have agreed with me (smokers and non smokers) that the smell of fresh cigarette smoke, as it first drifts into a room when some lights up else where in the house/apartment is a pretty nice smell. Just those first few whiffs. After that it just smells like someone’s smoking. I usually hear from former smokers that they are repulsed by the smell of cigerette smoke. It’s been over 15 years since I quit but I still don’t mind it. Stale smoke on clothes is awful. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/50 "2018-01-16T17:18:47Z")
The smell of grease on a roller coaster lift chain on a hot summer day. Freshly extruded (hot) plastics. Car exhaust from the 1970’s Scotch tape ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/51 "2018-01-16T17:50:12Z")
> [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](#): > > Sulfer. Same thing basically but more burning black-powder from a flintlock than firecrackers. That and I still get to do it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/52 "2018-01-16T17:52:31Z")
Ditto small aircraft cabins. Ditto small old Cessna aircraft cabins + old cigar smoke ( King Edward, yes I can tell that brand from others ) = Dad ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/53 "2018-01-16T19:22:52Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > _Bromine_; is that what that smell is? I adore that smell, specifically because of theme park rides. There was a stretch of road near my house growing up where you could smell it - pipe works or something, I’d assumed - and I wished it lasted longer… Yes, in many rides Disney uses bromine instead of Chlorine. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/54 "2018-01-17T20:17:10Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Same thing basically but more burning black-powder from a flintlock than firecrackers. That and I still get to do it a lot. This, from my Brown Bess. Lots of kids ask me at events how I can handle that smell. I smile and tell them it reminds me of being on the field blasting away! To me it’s a wonderful smell. Also manure on fields in the spring. Smells like things about to grow. ---
**Author:** ![Sveltington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@Sveltington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sveltington)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/55 "2018-01-17T21:02:56Z")
Cow manure. There are a few dairy farms around me and I really like that smell when I am driving past. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/56 "2018-01-17T21:07:10Z")
Not only do I like the smell of John Mace’s farts, I like my own. Those of others, not so much. > [@NeonMadman](#): > > A lot of people find the smell of low tide at the ocean unpleasant, but for me it evokes memories of beach trips I took as a kid. Yes! I love the smell of the beach at low tide. Especially mudflats. In fact, the first raw oysters I ever ate tasted to me exactly like the mudflats smell. I was in heaven. Other oysters I’ve tasted since haven’t been the same. Wish I knew where in Puget Sound those first ones had been harvested. ---
**Author:** ![Sveltington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@Sveltington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sveltington)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/57 "2018-01-17T21:13:30Z")
I thought of another one. The scent of my 2nd Ex-husband’s underarm perspiration. It was like perfume to me, weird. 1st Ex-husband’s natural smell was not at all pleasant. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/58 "2018-01-17T21:15:57Z")
My granddaughter likes the smell of skunk, and not necessarily at a distance. When I was in college and dating the young lady who eventually took mercy on me and agreed to marry me, we would often visit her cousins, who lived about a quarter-mile from a Budweiser brewery in Van Nuys, California. Before my first visit, she and her cousins went on and on about how their neighborhood stunk so badly. The first time I visited, I absolutely snarfed up the aroma of the brewery. It reminded me of something I smelled a lot when I was growing up in Taiwan. One day, I mentioned it to my brother, and he told me that there had been a brewery in the same area where I was born and lived for 2 years. Later, he drove by the brewery in LA and called me to tell me it was just about the same smell as the one in Taiwan. I loved that smell. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/59 "2018-01-17T21:18:46Z")
When my kids were newborn babies, their poop smelled good. Like buttered popcorn. Then they started eating solid food, and the honeymoon was over. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716/60 "2018-01-17T21:19:06Z")
I like the smell of bleach but am not sure if most people find it repulsive. it reminds me of swimming pools when I was a kid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odors-you-find-pleaseant-that-are-generaly-thought-of-as-repulsive/806716.md?page=4)