Perhaps not laundering clothing as often?? Many elderly people I know wear the same clothing for several days…
Facts:
- Old people are mammals.
- Old people fight ALL the time.
- The purpose of an old person is to flip out and kill people
Nothing scientific or anything, but many years ago when I cleaned other people’s houses, I had a few clients who were elderly, so I’m a bit familiar with that “old person smell”.
Part of the smell is related to not cleaning as throughly, both their homes and their bodies. The older the person becomes, typically the worse the eyesight becomes and physical movement becomes limited. Let’s face it, if you’ve got severe arthritis, you’re less likely to sweep the kitchen floor and hop into the shower and wash your hair. Although I may have come into their house once a week to do cleaning, frequently I found items that if they’d been cleaned shortly after it occured (like spilled food), then it wouldn’t have smelled as badly.
The other thing is that the houses were frequently closed up tighter than a drum. Windows were very rarely opened and fresh air into the home was nonexistent. This is common in nursing homes as well, where state regulations frequently require the environment to be a specific temperature, which makes it impossible to crack a window for fresh air if it’ll screw up the room temperature.
Add to that the smell of mothballs, denture cleaner, BenGay, Dr. Sholls inserts, unwashed clothing, rotten food (moldy bread that’s been pushed aside and forgotten, butter that’s been sitting on the table and has never seen the inside of a frig, bananas on the table that were brown three days ago), and you’ve got the ripe pickings for The Old People Smell.
Granted, not all homes with the elderly contain these items, nor do they all have that particular lovely aroma. However, in my experiences, most had a majority of these.
I know exactly what you’re talking about! My alma mater hosts an annual lecture on Pennsylvania German culture. I was a sophomore when I first attended, and not surprisingly, one of the few students there. As I opened the door to the building in which the lecture hall is situated, I was bombarded by “old people scent”. It got progressively worse the closer I got to the hall, which turned out to be about 80% people over 60. I went to several more of these lectures over the years, and that smell was always present in this population. I’m convinced a large part of this particular aroma comes from moth balls.
[tmi]
Are you talking about general old-clothes mustiness, or the unique reek that a small number of both old people and homeless people share? 'Cause the second one smells exactly like toejam.
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A an over- mid eighties person I suggest that, rather than ask about how we smell,you children should investigate how YOU smell to others.
Generally you reek from smoke,after shave,garlic,cosmetics,periodic visitations from nature,locker rooms,dirty sox, under arm chemical applications etc. .
You have it too—and all of you don’t struggle to cover it up.
Y’wanna know what young people smell like?
Take a walk through the cosmetics department of any department store, a grocery speciallizing in Italian or Greek specialties, or a gin joint after the last patron has gone home.
You should know what it’s like to be downwind from you lot !!!
EZ
As strange as it may seem, you can actually buy a noneal compound in liquid form. I imagine that a dab behind the ears and on the wrists (and if you’re feeling extra frisky, behind the knees as well) on a Saturday night and your date will feel mighty confused… “you look hot, but you smell like my grandmother”.