# The scent of public restroom soap **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 15, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scent-of-public-restroom-soap/772071 "2016-11-15T17:05:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scent-of-public-restroom-soap/772071/1 "2016-11-15T17:05:27Z")
This is a combination of GQ and IMHO, so feel free to answer with actual facts — Has anyone noticed that distinctive smell on your hands after washing them using public restroom soap? I find it a particularly off-putting scent. Does anyone else find it unpleasant? I’m wondering what the scent is of. Is it the natural scent of generic soap ingredients? Is is a cheap fragrance that is commonly added? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scent-of-public-restroom-soap/772071/2 "2016-11-15T17:16:47Z")
My guess is added fragrance; it is appalling; it is everywhere. This won’t win me any female friends, here, but they probably pick out restroom soap for the ladies’ room (based on “‘pleasantness’ of smell” _gag_), and the men’s gets stuck with it because they’re not going to store two kinds of soap. Men would prefer Orange GOJO hand cleaner, but what you gonna do? Now, get out there and pay for that meal! (I was convinced, once upon a time, that they just put dish-washing liquid in the dispensers. _double ick_) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scent-of-public-restroom-soap/772071/3 "2016-11-15T17:22:18Z")
You think it’s something that women like? It’s not a scent I have ever detected women using on themselves. The women I know, when buying hand soap for personal use, choose all kinds of strong scents—fruity, floral, food—and I dislike a lot of them, but none of them are like the cheap-smelling scent of public restroom soap. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scent-of-public-restroom-soap/772071/4 "2016-11-15T17:28:32Z")
I will retract that statement and say it’s picked for lowest cost. When your sinuses are as bad as mine, it all reeks the same. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scent-of-public-restroom-soap/772071/5 "2016-11-15T17:35:29Z")
Meh. I don’t mind it actually. I wouldn’t want to bathe in it, but for hands it’s fine. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scent-of-public-restroom-soap/772071/6 "2016-11-15T17:36:58Z")
Missed the edit window: I could almost stand the smell, but it feels like it never comes off your hands, no matter how long you rinse. You could sandpaper your digits and it wouldn’t come off. When I get home from some such situation, I grab the Isopropyl alcohol and scrub my hands. It mostly works. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scent-of-public-restroom-soap/772071/7 "2016-11-15T17:48:04Z")
Ugh, I detest that smell … I carry soap chips with me [which reminds me, time to make[more](https://www.globalsugarart.com/snowflake-chocolate-mold-by-ck.html?fee=3&fep=5303&gclid=CPqOqryoq9ACFY9MDQod_F4F5g)] I can fit 3 or 4 in an old tictac container, if you stash a supply in your bag, remember to put in the tiny teabag of [dessicant](http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00tBkEugMUIezP/1gram-Silica-Gel-Desiccant-DSG1T-B-.jpg) scrounged from something else. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scent-of-public-restroom-soap/772071/8 "2016-11-15T17:48:09Z")
I think it’s supposed to be a neutral, sterile smell - like how you expect a hospital to smell. You just find that kind of odor particularly off-putting. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scent-of-public-restroom-soap/772071/9 "2016-11-15T17:56:58Z")
Though, wouldn’t it be funny if all the restroom soap is unscented and that’s why only then can you smell the soap’s base DISSOLVING YOUR SKIN! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scent-of-public-restroom-soap/772071/10 "2016-11-15T18:03:45Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > I think it’s supposed to be a neutral, sterile smell - like how you expect a hospital to smell. You just find that kind of odor particularly off-putting. So, what is it supposed to be? The smell of some kind of sterilizing agent? Any particular one? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-scent-of-public-restroom-soap/772071/11 "2016-11-15T20:57:18Z")
Pine-sol?