(not the OP here) Whatever works for you is fine. But I’ve never known anyone so sensitive to the smell of laundry detergent that they could smell it on someone else’s clean, dry clothing. I think it’s irrational to shell out extra money on unscented products at my own inconvenience for the infinitesimal chance I might walk past someone with a dislike for the smell of Tide. I’ve been using the same laundry soap for years (Era) and it’s never been a problem. I like the way it smells on my collar and if anyone else can smell my clothes at work, they are too goddamn close.
I really think people worry too much about subtle scents like deodorant and laundry soap. Wear the scent you like. As long as you aren’t coating yourself in clouds of Axe or cheap dime store perfume, you will be fine. If someone has a devastating allergy to Tide or Old Spice, the onus should be on them to mention it and NOT on everyone around them to magically know and avoid using it.
Sure used to make an unscented gel, but if they still do I can’t find it anywhere these days. (I used to literally stock up 1700 miles away from college while home on breaks because I couldn’t find any where I was.) These days I just buy whatever is cheap that comes in a gel. That tends to be Right Guard on a per-ounce basis.
I like classic Old Spice, but I’m not a fan of the old solids. And either I became sensitized or they changed the formula in the High Endurance stuff so that it starts to bother me after a couple days of using it.
Do unscented detergents cost more? I switched to the All Small and Mighty Free and Clear (geeze, think that’s enough adjectives?) in grad school because it was easier to haul a little bottle of detergent at 3x concentration to the laundromat. I didn’t like the stuff they made that did have a fragrance added.
I use Classic Old Spice, at first because it was what I stole from my dad’s medicine cabinet when I was a kid, then because my wife told me to keep wearing it.
Caution: I am a martini-drinking, pipe-smoking bearded man. Old Spice may not work for you if your image is not similar enough to this.
Actually now that I’ve switched to unscented everything I can often smell other people’s detergents and such from quite a distance. I can tell you the person 2 cubes over from me is using Tide. Sometimes I can tell which detergent people use while walking behind them on the street. Sometimes I can tell when a woman walks into the bathroom what detergent she uses. If you have a detergent that is heavily scented it will be noticable to some people. Sometimes they may enjoy the smell, sometimes they may not. Sometimes they may be allergic to it. Sometimes they may have very strong emotions tied to that smell that bring up positive or negative feelings. If that doesn’t matter to you that is fine, but for someone who is already concerned about the scent of their deoderant or laundry detergent and how other people react to it that might be something worth considering.
I used to use Mennen speed stick, unscented. My wife just bought me a new speed stick last month. With the new bar, when I’m taking a shower the next day, it’s like my underarms are covered in wax. I can’t wash it off.
It turns out they had changed the formula, and it’s awful.
I came in here to post exactly this about [del]Old Spit[/del] [del]Old Mice[/del] Old Spice.
I use dry idea because it feels totally dry when it goes on even though it’s a watery-sounding liquid. I don’t know how they get a liquid to have that powdery bone-dry feeling. Black magic, probably.
I use Degree something or other, because all of the girl deodorants smell like mincy-ass pansy flowers or vanilla or some super-girly-power shit. I don’t need to be smelling that all day, thanks. Give me a nice citrus or spicy or medicinal smell any day.
While I was in college, I wore Old Spice aftershave as a scent, and really freaked some of my male friends out.
I douse myself hourly with the adrenal secretions of an oversexed wolverine. Most people can’t handle how good it smells but my nose has adapted through the power of my mind. What does it smell like? I’ll tell you. It smells like winning!
I’m a little past my 20’s (like an entire generation) but I’ve been using unscented Mitchum for decades. It’s not that scented deordorants smell bad, it’s that they smell cheap – unnuanced, I guess. If I want to smell good, I’ll find a good aftershave or cologne with a really good balance to it. I’ve never found a deodorant that smells right.