Stunk out at Wal-Mart.

[Bibbyman]

Oh man!  Yesterday Mary and went shopping for "stuff".  Normally we shop some rainy day during the week but we've had no rain for quite a while and the cupboard was bare.  One stop was the Super Wal-Mart. 

Anyway,  I'm in there maybe 30 minutes and had to leave.  My eyes were burning.  My sinuses were burning.  My head was pounding.  My lungs were shutting down and I was starting to shake.  I set in the Durango while Mary finished up.  We intended to work when we got home but I was feeling too bad.  I walked around outside until later in the evening and was feeling better by bedtime.

Mary was knocked out too.

It wasn't the store so much as the people in it.  My Gowd!  Do people even realize how strong their scents are that they put on?  I'd rather live downwind of a feedlot in Kansas.  At least that smell is organic. 

I'm sure I'm not the only one that's sensitive to the smells of perfumes, colognes, body washes, deodorants, fabric softeners, on, and on. 

We wash our cloths in as scent free soap as possible.  We hang them in the great outdoors and would never use those Bounce things in the dryer.  We use scent free bath/hand soap.  We use unscented deodorant.  Still we get a lot of scents in the house from printed material and other products. Just reading a new news paper or magazine will cause my eyes to water and my nose to run and sometimes trigger a sneezing fit.

[WH_Conley]

When I saw the title I thought you had too many beans.

I know what you mean. My wife is very sensitive to some smells, female smelly water seems to be right up there at the top. I have had to change after shaves a couple of times. I finally just gave up and use rub alcohol now, when I do shave. She worked at a factory one time and this one material they brought in had a different smell to it. She thought she could tough it out. The floor person/foreman or whatever the title called me at home. They took her to the ER as she was going down. Respiratory distress.

Personally, if you can't bath, I would rather smell BO than some of the fragrances you mention.

[SwampDonkey]

No balsam fir Christmas tree for Bibby then, because they smell strong of balsam. And I have known a person or two that react badly to it.  ;)

[sprucebunny]

All those scents drive me crazy. Even passing someone on the sidewalk, my eyes will water.

I spent an hour trying to find a shampoo that I could stand the smell of. They all smell like a fruit I don't want to eat. And just when you find a product that's bearable, they change it.

There must be a very broad spectrum of sensitivity to smell. Really makes me wonder what dogs or cats smell ??? How can they stand being even more sensitive than humans ???

[SwampDonkey]

I just use baby shampoo on what little stubble I have up there. :D

[zopi]

Yeah...most stink bait makes me ill...

I have not been in a walmart for about six months...amd do not miss it.

[bill m]

My wife has the same problem. Just a small wiff of some perfumes and such will cause her to lose her voice.

[Bibbyman]

No balsam fir Christmas tree for Bibby then, because they smell strong of balsam. And I have known a person or two that react badly to it.  ;)

We sold some firewood to a customer a few years back.  We had to make sure we had no eastern red cedar in it.  They had a daughter that was deathly allergic to ERC.  I don't know where they could move to but they were in the wrong state.

Not all perfumes give me this reaction.  Sometimes a woman will walk past and have the nicest scent on, not overpowering, and it doesn't bother me.  It must be made from some other basic chemical.  

I never, ever go down the detergent isle in the supermarket unless I hold my breath.  I passed it one day and spotted a woman spiriting something like air freshener or fabric spray in the air and walking into the fog.  I came around a couple of times and she was still at it.  I would have been dead.  I'm not sure if she was testing them out or trying for a high.  

I suffered all the time when I worked in the office.  One guy was an Irish Spring user and had some aftershave cologne at his desk he's splash on a couple of times a day.  I couldn't get near him.  

My cube mate and I would come back from lunch and continue to visit a bit before getting back into work.  Every day about that time we'd be overwhelmed by some smell.  One day we tracked it down.  A lady that set some 50 feet away would "freshen up" after lunch and go back to her desk.  We let her know how far her aroma carried.  She blushed and laughed but didn't stop or cut back on the Peee-Ueeee.

[LeeB]

Add me to the list of folks that are allegic to perfumes and after shaves. Not all of them, but quite few. I've had to get up and leave from resteraunts and other such places when someone came reeking in.

[zopi]

Being on a ship...with closed ventilation...and some of the young ladies had to be trained in the limits of application...
Yuck.
When it is all guys no problem...(well, mostly...see the Martha Stewart thread...) we just all stunk. I even got to like the smell of ami.e amd lube oil working on subs...but eau de toilet? Ick.

[Dave Shepard]

I suffer from this as well. It's funny, people who don't suffer from over-sensitivities think you are just making it up. We had someone rent one of our shop spaces at work last winter to stain some siding. I couldn't go back in the shop for two weeks, and could smell the stain for months. I can't be anywhere near anyone frying anything, my entire respiratory system gets irritated and I can't breathe.

[sandhills]

Bibbyman, you mentioned the girl that was allergic to erc, I put one in my first little house I rented one year for a Christmas tree  :.  I was so proud, heck I even decorated it up all by myself, then I woke up about 2am physically sick, for someone that grew up around it his whole life you'd of thought I'd know better  :-\.  The tree went out the door, decorations and all, I never smelled anything that intense other than maybe anhydrous, and it took a long time to get the smell out.  That tree was only about three feet tall to boot.

[Roxie]

My youngest son is allergic to pine.  We found this out when he was four years old, and had brought the Christmas tree inside and he came down with severe bronchitis, just like he had the Christmas before.  I didn't make the connection, but his father did and we took the tree outside on the porch.  He improved.  We've used a fake tree and greens since.

The only perfumes to which I am not allergic are those with a patchouli base, and if I encounter a woman wearing Estee Lauder I have to get the inhaler out.  One day, as I was approaching the doors to our local mall, a woman that was inside a set of double doors triggered my allergy and I had to leave before I ever got inside.  She was behind two glass doors and was strong enough to incapacitate me.   :

[bill m]

I have to ask, are these allergies something everyone has always had or have they developed over time. Could it be a new chemical that is being used as a propellant in perfumes and aerosols? My wife has just developed her allergies in the past few years.

[SwampDonkey]

Could be, we are all just a big experiment. Something in the air or something stuck in the food to preserve it. Take your pick I guess. Someday they'll tell us.  I blame it on plastics, can't prove it, but it's what I strongly believe. Plastic leaves a taste or smell on anything it is in contact with. Take some store bought frozen fruit from the freezer, open and smell. Smells like plastic. :

[Dale Hatfield]

Wife and I were  making are rounds at wally world. When we come across a man with  so much stetson on that that i could smell him at the end of the row. We got to him and it took my breath away. Somewhere on the label it should read not to be used in place of a shower but after .Patchouli
oil stinks as well, we have a fair share of stink butt hippies at work that think that stuff is the cure.
Try the front row at church as a kid it was the worst. All the ol widow women  stank so bad. You get 5 or 6  of them ol gals over used  stink bad on . It could knock a kettle of hungry buzzards off a week old road kill  hog in texas.
Perfume and Laundry smells are the only ones that bug me. Any other chemical smell is fine

[Patty]

You have to wonder how those folks stand it themselves. Norm & I have had to leave a store because of the perfume some lady is wearing. We try to buy everything unscented just like the rest of you, but it is getting harder all the time. Why do manufacturers think we want to smell like peaches, or apples, or coconuts ?  :

[Bibbyman]

I've wanted to say something for a while now but thought I'd just get beat up on.  But I see I'm not alone in my suffering.

How do you tell a person that they are making themselves unpleasant to be around?  And what do you want to bet that they have our some of the people in their household have chronic breathing disorders and other ailments that, if not directly caused by, are affected by the over use of these products.

[Norm]

For me the older I've gotten the more sensitive I've become to chemical smells.


We don't use fabric softener or air fresheners in the house and the soaps we use are about as neutral as you can buy. The worst for me is the grocery store, some of these perfumes men and women wear could kill bugs! The laundry  aisle is hold your breath and buy only what we need and then make a run for it. Diesel fumes used to never bother me but now I get an instant headache if exposed too long.

Ahhh the joys of aging.  :D

[sprucebunny]

Patty, a lot of the shampoos were apricot scented, yuk.

It's gotten worse as I've got older. I'm also more sensitive to chemicals like fiberglass resin.

Along the same lines... do any of you who are sensitive to smells also find that many salad dressings and bottled oils taste rancid ? I've always thought they were inedible. Virgin olive, macademia and coconut oils keep pretty well, though.

[Patty]

I have pretty much given up bottled salad dressings, they just don't taste good at all to me. A local food market sells some good balsamic vinegar....that makes a pretty good vinaigrette when mixed with extra virgin olive oil . Norm makes an egg and safflower oil emulsification (turns into a mayonnaise type dressing) that is very good also. He adds sweet pickle relish to give it a Thousand Island dressing flavor.

We have gotten to the point where we buy very little processed food since it tastes so lousy and costs so much. He now bakes all of our bread that is to die for. I allow myself 1 slice every morning with  breakfast. 

[sawguy21]

My sniffer is pretty well shot, probably wrecked it being exposed to M.E.K., Jet B  and other nefarious chemicals. Still, some perfumes and aftershaves will send me scurrying for air as will acetone and cannabis. I hate that smell.

[SwampDonkey]

I've stopped buying salad dressings and pretty much stopped salads. About the only thing I kept out of the salad is peppers and onions, the rest is worthless nutrition wise. I steam cabbage with pepper and sometimes some broccoli, micro-nuke some squash, boil some cob corn, but I can't give up a good tater.  I get this Asian Zsechwan (fake) VH sauce with ginger in it that I like a table spoonful on the cabbage. ;) And like you (Norm and Patti), I can only take my own home made bread (no one but me here to make it ;) ). Bread you buy now is very expensive, over 4 bucks a loaf for multigrain and small loaves. Heck I can make 16 loaves of bread (my loaves are twice as big) from a 25 lb bag of flour for $12 with all the rest of the ingredients, can't be more than $30 total (including 5 lb bag of Whole Wheat flour) in 2 months.  My bread has 14 grains in it and use honey for sweetener.  8)

I don't react to any smells or odors, but some stuff is worst than skunk.

[Dale Hatfield]

Dont get me wrong. I use a dot or 2 of  stink purty. But the people that knock ya over  ,make ya run for cover , must  be using a gallon a month.

[ElectricAl]

Our whole family suffer harsh affects from the petroleum based fragrances and food additives. 

I'll have headaches for 3 days after going to the least smelly hardware store which is Menards. 
I won't go in Homedepot  or Lowes .

I hate to go to town so much I make a list of what is needed. The list just builds until something is needed right away. That's when I go.  This is not a shopping trip. I have a list and get what we need and get out.
I may get to town 1 or 2 times a month.
A couple times a year the list will be big enough it will take an hour to get every ones "Stuff" at Menards.
By the time I get out I can't see straight, my balance is off, and I make slow decisions while driving.
I'm a public hazard on the road.  And if it's dark out, it's a challenge to make the 15 mile drive.


Walmart and Target are the absolute worst offenders in toxic air. Just driving by is risky.
There is no way you'll ever find me in those stores. Never !


A couple years ago I agreed to attend a family event at a county park.
We had not gone to a family event in maybe 15 years because my parents and sisters smell like cheap dates to put it nice.
Anyway we provided all our own food because we don't trust the crap they eat.

We have a local locker processes a beef for us.
Anyway we brought our burgers and my aunt brought burger from Walmart.

I tell you with all honesty her burger smelled like the store.
The stink was so bad I could not smell the meat. 

[Paul_H]

I can smell the hate for your family from here  

[zopi]

Not fond of any of those places...easy to not go there...no money! lol

[Ironwood]

I had a roomate in the Army who piled on the Colgne, gave me an immeadiate headache.

I am getting more chemically sensitive. Some of these people and businesses are killing themselves and their customers as well.

Ironwood

[thecfarm]

I have breathing problems and know what you mean and are going through.

[Linda]

Oh boy can I relate!!! 

The really bad thing is going to a doctor's office...where they are supposed to help you be healthier.  Instead I end up sick for 3 days!

If only people knew how many cancer causing chemicals can be in just one perfume/cologne, they might think twice about using so much (if any).  Most people that wear it get so used to the smell that they can't tell they still smell later in the day, so they put more on.  In reality, they still smell almost as much as when they first put it on.

One time when Al went to the dentist he came home with his clothes reeking of perfume so bad that I had to air them outside for 3-4 days (in between daily washings to get the smell off)!  :

We use Fragrance Free Clearly Natural Brand glycerine bar soap (good for dry skin/hair) & Kirk's Original Coco Castile bar soap (better for oily skin/hair). They both do a fabulous job cleaning body AND HAIR, don't leave any nasty perfume smells, & they cost lots less than expensive shampoo.  For laundry we use All Free & Clear or Seventh Generation detergent.  Seventh Generation has lots of other wonderful cleaning products (for dishes, etc.).  Vinegar, baking soda & plain soap & water are great inexpensive cleaners for most everyday cleaning needs.

[metalspinner]

I know this thread is about the scents we purposely add to ourselves, but...

My oldest son is 11 and about to turn 12.

OMG! Some funk has engulfed his body and is funkifying the entire house. :D :D 

He used to be able to wear these sandle things as shoes, but I've thrown those out. He took them off in the car once. I had to pull over and we all piled out gagging.  The smell had a weight to it that lingered for days in the van.  We were all sticking our heads out the windows of the van the rest of the way home. And I better not see/smell him wearing his tennis shoes without socks! :

My wife and I went to the store and shopped for every anti-smell, deodorizer, neutralizer for all of his body parts and articles of clothing we could find.

Can you imagine being a 6th grade teacher and dealing with a classroom full of this each day?

[Bibbyman]

I don't know if it's a biological age they go through or what.  Our granddaughter Alex had stinky feet and shoes for a few years.  We were always after her to keep her feet washed, put on clean socks, etc.  We had powder for her shoes but she still had awful foot and shoe Oder.  She rode shotgun with me on a delivery to West Plains.  Along the way she pulled her shoes off.  Gowd! It was awful!  We had to stop and put her shoes in the tool box on the outside. 

[Roxie]

Metalspinner, when my brother was about his age, my Dad ordered him to the shower.  After my brother had been in there for 10 minutes, my Dad stuck his head in the door of the bathroom, and my brother was standing outside the shower stall with just his head stuck in the water.  My Dad got a scrub brush and gave him a "GI scrub" and my brother never, ever did that again.  

Good memories!   :D :D

[SwampDonkey]

 :D :D :D :D Roxie

My uncle always has bad foot odor, worst I ever smelt.

[beenthere]

We prolly can smell others, but can't smell our own. 

[Ironwood]

We had a BIG ole boy from Tennessee in Basic Training aptly named Tennessee. He refused to shower properly, they threw a party for him (I wasnt there), they used wire brushes on him. He smelled like a rose after that. Although poor fella didnt take him too long to start stinking again. Just his chemistry I guess


Ironwood

[SwampDonkey]

We prolly can smell others, but can't smell our own. 

Some people's feet sweat a lot, mine don't. If I stink from being in the woods I can smell it, saw exhaust and all. I tried to use that to my advantage once when a couple of female cousin's came at me for hugs.  But they said I don't care.  They were from out by Paul H's way.  ;D :D :D Their father was a woodsman so they were used it. ;)

[Bibbyman]

I think the food we eat and the smells around us where we live contribute a lot to our "natural" smell.

Kind of a long story.

A half a live ago Mary and I took evening classes.  We just stayed in town and grabbed something to eat between work and class.  One place we hit about every week was a Chinese restaurant.  It was ran by a couple with the help of their daughter who was about twelve when we first started eating there.  The mother could speak enough English to run the cash register and deal with the customers.  Her husband could hardly make a conversation.  They relied on their daughter who could speak fluent English to wait on tables. 

Odd thing was that these people were not Asian but from Central America – Nicaragua or Costa Rica, as I remember.   They had come to this country to escape some political unrest.  They had friends or relatives in Florida but soon moved to Columbia, MO where they worked in a restaurant and then to Jefferson City and opened this restaurant. 

They were both educated.  He was an architect and she a lawyer but they were not able to practice those professions here.  They had got their citizenship and had the documents posted on the wall of the restaurant. They were proud "Americans".

They just had the one daughter, Rebecca, and they lavished everything on her.  She was not spoiled.  She worked her little butt off and was a great kid.

Our paths crossed again.  Son Chris was planning to join the Marines when he got out of high school.  To get a jump on the process, he joined the Sea Cadets.  The Sea Cadets were kind of a junior version of the Navy were kid 12-18 years old could get some kind of training.  Anyway, as it happened, Rebecca was also in the same group of about a dozen doing the program. 

One Saturday the kids had a rifle instruction class at the local ROTC range.  I took Chris over to the class.  While the kids took turns on the range, others stood out in the outer lobby and visited as did I.  Rebecca was visiting with some of her friends when her dad showed up.  He had taken a few minutes out of the kitchen to come see her shoot.  You could tell she was very upset and embarrassed at her dad showing up in front of her friends and pretty much shunned him.   I went over and shook his hand and we visited.  He reeked of the smells of the spices and foods he'd been cooking in the Chinese kitchen.   

I could see Rebecca in the background with her friends making excuses for her dad. 

I felt it was one of the times when I fell short.   I should have got Rebecca aside and told her how much pride she should have in her dad for working so hard to give so much to her.  And that his smell was that of honest work that was done to provide them with a better life.  But I didn't.

[jim king]

I don´t like the smell of perfume either but here you couldn´t smell it anyway in the local market.  The bottle of red stuff in this meat market is blood from a bull.  They say a good shot of that in the morning makes a better person of you.

[Bill Gaiche]

Boy Jim if thats the case I live with and around a bunch of nogoods. Good story though. bg

[tomsteve]

i can relate. i kind of wonder iffen the nasty colognes/ perfumes i smell are sold there.i was downstate for the holidays and went into a pretty pricey store with my neice. my oil stained jeans, well worn tennis shoes and worked in carhart jacket didnt quite fit in, but the perfumes and colognes i smelled had $$$$$$ all over em and didnt bother me.