# Strange smell in my dorm -- what could it be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 9, 2003, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516 "2003-10-09T18:48:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516/21 "2003-10-09T22:44:51Z")
You know, when I saw the thread title I immediately assumed it would be pot smoke. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516/22 "2003-10-09T23:05:19Z")
[http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp?S=1476475&nav=1ugFIRz1](http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp?S=1476475&nav=1ugFIRz1) your dorm is on fire. RUN!!! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516/23 "2003-10-09T23:34:19Z")
Those _really_ cheap ramen noodles. ---
**Author:** ![xbuckeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9e8a1a/32.png) [@xbuckeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xbuckeye)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516/24 "2003-10-09T23:46:51Z")
I’d check your neighbors rooms if you have forced-air heat or air, you probably share airspace. Haven’t seen the neighbors around? get the res hall staff to key in and look for bodies…suicide happens in dorms. Remeber neighbors above and below you. Also, check building air intake, it is probably right next to the loading dock where ancient diesel powered garbage truck ide for long periods of time. Cover air vents in your room with the duct tape and garbage bags you were saving for terrorism…this is as close as it will get and open the windows as much as weather and suicide prevention will allow. ---
**Author:** ![Finnie\_the\_Pooh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@Finnie\_the\_Pooh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finnie_the_Pooh)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516/25 "2003-10-10T02:43:38Z")
I’m sure that it’s some sort of a mold growing inside a wall or in a carpet. Better tell the maintenance to check for that, some of those puppies can cause headaches and flu-like symptoms, especially in people who are prone to allergies. I find them occasionally in some of our schools. ---
**Author:** ![peritrochoid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@peritrochoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peritrochoid)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516/26 "2003-10-10T03:02:12Z")
My guess is an embalmed body dissolving in a tub of acid. In fact, I’d be very surprised if that’s not right. ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516/27 "2003-10-10T05:24:12Z")
And if there isn’t anybody in a bathtub full of acid, check under the beds for dead hookers. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516/28 "2003-10-10T05:43:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by EddyTeddyFreddy \* > \*\*Ah, it’s a 1920’s style “Roach Spray”. \*\* [_“Quick, Henry, the Flit!”_](http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dsads/index.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![NevarMore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7feea3/32.png) [@NevarMore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NevarMore)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516/29 "2003-10-10T05:50:28Z")
I just spent two years in the dorms. Its better not to know what that smell is sometimes. Bust out the lysol, a fan, and an open window. ---
**Author:** ![Nichol\_storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Nichol\_storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nichol_storm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2003, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516/30 "2003-11-11T23:49:26Z")
It turned out that the girls in the suite next to mine busted a lava lamp and didn’t tell anybody. At least the chemical smell was accounted for, without any dissolving bodies or dead hookers! Whew! ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516/31 "2003-11-12T00:51:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mullinator \* > \*\*I’ve found that my life is much simpler if you always assume, until proven otherwise, that monkey feces are somehow involved. \*\* _Sig!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516/32 "2003-11-12T01:49:59Z")
A lava lamp caused that much of a chemical smell? Enough to make people feel sick? I never thought that lava lamps were so…potent. ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516/33 "2003-11-12T02:09:45Z")
It was a 1920’s style Lava Lamp. ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516/34 "2003-11-12T07:42:23Z")
Shoot. I was betting that it was going to be either Fear or Bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516/35 "2003-11-12T11:48:29Z")
I was going to suggest someone had a methamphetamine lab. Glad to know it was just the hippies with a lava lamp. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516/36 "2003-11-12T12:27:18Z")
Teen Spirit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-smell-in-my-dorm-what-could-it-be/206516.md?page=1)