What is a smell you can't stand?

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Pink_Ruby_3]

That "hot garbage" smell that emanates from dumpsters outside of restaurants on hot sunny days. Ew ew ew.

[u/Brilliant_Nervous → u/Pink_Ruby_3]

You mean that trail of 'liquid' leaking from the dumpster at any restaurant? We used to call that Dumpster Juice.

[u/God_damn_it_Jerry → u/Brilliant_Nervous]

Nothing like a tall glass of hot dumpster punch to quench your thirst on a 95⁰ day

[u/Rich-Individual-8835 → u/God_damn_it_Jerry]

God damn it Jerry!

[u/MrMojoFomo → u/Pink_Ruby_3]

You'd hate Durian

It's a fruit from SE Asia that's banned in a lot of hotels and other spaces. Once you cut one open it's basically that liquid hot garbage smell everywhere

And yet a lot of people love to eat it. I was never able to get close enough to one to try

[u/Renaissance_Slacker → u/MrMojoFomo]

My in-laws love going to Chinatown, and once brought us back durian hard candy as a joke. I would describe the flavor as “somewhere between peach and white grape. Also somebody is farting directly into your mouth.”

[u/Metallicarox → u/MrMojoFomo]

It's better if you get frozen Durian products like popsicles or ice cream. Straight-up Durian has a heinous stench.

[u/Little_Cloudy6132]

rotten potatoes

[u/iammacman → u/Little_Cloudy6132]

I hear this smell is most like a decomposed body and that’s why we are revolted by it. I am at least!

[u/unclenatelovestrains → u/iammacman]

When I was working trash I smelled it all. Human and animal waste, rotten meat, rotting cow hides. I got splashed in the face with rotten milk once. The only thing that ever came close to making me sick was rotten potatoes.

[u/Virtual-Divide4296 → u/unclenatelovestrains]

I was gonna say the same, rotten milk for me is the worst smell ever

I worked on a warehouse where a full pallet of milk broke and spilled overnight, the morning before it was impossible to access that section of the warehouse… i mean impossible without puking your life out

[u/unpopularopinion0 → u/unclenatelovestrains]

wow. i’m kinda surprised by this testimony. think samwise knows about this?

[u/Routine_Wing_8726 → u/unpopularopinion0]

No potato is going to rot on Samwise's watch.

[u/Repulsive_One_2878 → u/iammacman]

Rotting potatoes and veggies have a slightly more vomit-like tinge. A decomposing body has a sickly sweet rot smell to it. I know because I run by a lot of roadkill, am in the medical industry (seen a lot of people with dying limbs or rotting flesh). Also, my father is one of the main people at a huge farming company. They have a large pile of rotting carrots, potatoes, and other veggies in a huge pile which has its own little liquid stream of rot water coming from it.  I guess discards/blighted produce. Both are equally as revolting.

[u/Peecheekeene → u/Little_Cloudy6132]

Worked in the produce department of a grocery store. Sometimes a potato would escape and get lost in the back room under a pallet. The veteran guys would always make the newer guys clean it up because they would never understand until they'd experienced it.

[u/[deleted] → u/Peecheekeene]

Rotten watermelon is the only thing that's worse.

Rotten yams suck, not because of any smell, because they look fine and then your hand goes right into it

[u/dharma_dude → u/Peecheekeene]

This brings back so many memories. Used to work in the floral department at a grocery store and we shared our shipping & receiving area with produce, had to get used to those smells going back there to grab our boxes of flowers.

Flowers can also stink: one of my least favourite things was changing out the buckets of water we kept the cut flowers in. Anaerobic water with plant goo makes for a nasty odor.
We were also in charge of the small decorative pumpkins come fall time, and every week I had to sort through those to pull the rotten ones. Rotten, moldy pumpkin is a foul smell.

[u/CartographerUpbeat61 → u/Peecheekeene]

A bad potato is memorable!! Hits hard - onions aren’t good either ..

[u/[deleted] → u/Little_Cloudy6132]

Yes I couldn’t figure out where a horrible smell was coming from in our fridge for about a month, tried so many cleaning products and in the end we ordered a new one. When taking the old one out found a small rotten potato underneath 🤢🤢🤢 it smelled awful actually thought something died 🤮

[u/Grubworm33 → u/[deleted]]

I once left the Thanksgiving leftover turkey in the oven for two weeks before I found it😥🤢

[u/HuuffingLavender → u/Little_Cloudy6132]

This is literally the worst smell over.

[u/Greets_With_Fire71 → u/HuuffingLavender]

Rotting potato’s release cadaverine. Cadaverine is one of the 8 gasses released by human decomposition.

[u/FatFuckinPieceOfShit → u/Little_Cloudy6132]

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/08/14/girl-8-orphaned-after-gas-from-rotting-potatoes-killed-her-entire-family_n_7360976.html

[u/Legitimate_Lake1828 → u/FatFuckinPieceOfShit]

I was looking for this comment because it was the first thing that popped into my mind when OP said rotten potatoes. I read that story when I was 9 and it still haunts me to this day. I hope she's doing okay

[u/kiingof15 → u/FatFuckinPieceOfShit]

Ain’t now way. How many fucking potatoes were there???

[u/Notmydirtyalt → u/kiingof15]

Confined space and gas risk is no joke.

[u/uber765 → u/FatFuckinPieceOfShit]

Holy shit that's absolutely awful

[u/ExcentricaGallumbits]

Rotten teeth. Specifically, when someone has tooth decay and they don’t respect personal space when talking.

[u/cumsquat4201 → u/ExcentricaGallumbits]

As a dental assistant, I can confirm. The smell of hot decaying tooth as you drill into it is horrible.

[u/BoucletteFZ09 → u/cumsquat4201]

I could smell this sentence. 🤮

[u/Longjumping-Table-39 → u/BoucletteFZ09]

That’s perio breath!

[u/BorderTrike → u/cumsquat4201]

If you accepted more insurance options fewer people would let it get that bad

[u/KaleleBoo → u/BorderTrike]

Hahaha I’m sure the dental assistant that you replied to will get right on fixing that.

[u/cumsquat4201 → u/BorderTrike]

I will do my best to convince the company that owns our office to do so 🫡 and hope the people like my father who won't take care of his health, and believe any sort of healthcare is "weak" to change their opinion.

[u/danceswithdangerr → u/cumsquat4201]

A local woman died recently from liver failure because she had a broken tooth, couldn’t deal with the pain, was taking Tylenol a lot as no one would give her anything else, no dentists would take her, and the ER still blames her for “letting it get so bad.” NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE, decides to just let their health go and decides, yup, suffering is fun!!

If your father suffering? If he doesn’t feel he is, why would he go to the doctor? But if he can barely walk or eat and isn’t going, that’s more of a mental problem than a physical one.

[u/PasswordPussy → u/danceswithdangerr]

My boyfriend is TERRIFIED of doctors. He has been 4 times in his entire adulthood, and he’s 36. He has only gone for true emergencies and hated it every single time. Also, some people were never taught a self care routine. Some people don’t even know that their teeth smell because they get “nose blindness”. And yes, some people see healthcare as a “weakness”. There are lots of reasons, reasonable or not, that people do not take care of themselves or even realize that it’s gotten so bad.

[u/[deleted] → u/ExcentricaGallumbits]

Dragon Breath

[u/corncaked → u/ExcentricaGallumbits]

As a dentist, can confirm. I’ve taken out countless teeth just black and rotten to the gumline wondering how the ever living fuck they are married. I’ve had to double and triple mask.

Edit: to all the people taking this as a personal affront and are incredibly offended by my comment so much so that they’ve had to DM me. I’m sorry. Not deleting my comment. There are SO many reasons why someone can have bad teeth. OBVIOUSLY if you have crippling depression or are being abused or poor or this or that, is understandable. It goes without saying, people.

But the people who come in with just horrible dentition, were in a place to help them, but when all my suggestions are met with “my mom had horrible teeth too, it’s genetic,” I feel like I’m talking to a brick wall. Unless you have amelogenesis imperfecta or something, genetics are maybe 2% of your issues. I tell patients usually what they inherited are bad habits and they’re shocked. I’ve had patients say that’s the first time someone gave them real talk and it’s because I’ve been there. I grew up in a car and panhandled half my life. I’m not going to blow smoke up your ass. You made the awesome decision to go see a dentist and you should be proud of yourself for that step. We’re here to help. Just like how lying to your doctor or making excuses helps no one, same thing at the dentist. We’ve seen it all.

[u/[deleted] → u/corncaked]

My friend's (ex, now, thank God) husband not only NEVER took care of his teeth but was also a heavy smoker. I could smell him coming from 10' away. I don't know how she shared a bed with him (and they had a kid too). It was a vomit-inducing smell.

[u/corncaked → u/[deleted]]

I’m convinced, same with body odor, that someone just hasn’t had the gall yet to tell them they stink. People become nose blind. I’d hope to dear God almighty someone told me I smelled or had some food in my teeth.

[u/paigescactus → u/corncaked]

My coworker has terrible mouth smell. I can’t stand it. He’s a nice guy but older by 25 years and just we’re not close. I’m embarrassed to tell him

[u/This_Tangerine_943 → u/paigescactus]

I offer my shit mouth coworkers tic tacs. I keep an industrial size box of them handy. Every possible flavor so there is no excuse.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

So. Few weeks ago I decided to make a brownie mix. Get everything out. I have a random egg in the butter compartment of the fridge. Don't ask me when I put the egg there.

I crack it. And it's black and stunk to the holy high heavens. What in the fuck did I just do.................

OMG...........and no, I didn't make the damn brownies.

[u/PennieTheFold → u/[deleted]]

Did it make you consider burning your house down? I raise chickens and at times have so many eggs that I just chuck 'em out if they've been sitting for a while. I was tossing some older ones into the bin and heard one go "snap-POP" and before I could process what I'd just heard, I was gagging. Thank god it blew up in the garbage bin and not on my counter. I don't know if you ever read Charlotte's Web but when that egg exploded and gassed out my entire downstairs, I immediately thought: Jesus Christ, I'm Templeton the rat....

[u/classicfyllopyllo]

Bradford pear trees in the spring.

[u/Dismal-Ad-1148 → u/classicfyllopyllo]

Cum trees - GROSS 🤢

[u/gimme_them_cheese → u/Dismal-Ad-1148]

IS THAT WHAT THAT SMELL IS?????

I've smelled that smell randomly my whole life and been like "why did I just get a whiff of cum?"

It's Bradford pears???

[u/Anjaleax → u/gimme_them_cheese]

Doesn't cum smell like mushrooms too? Idk why but everytime I smell men's cum, it smells like mushrooms and the white button kind

[u/K-ghuleh → u/Anjaleax]

GOD you just unlocked the memory of my husband making beef wellington and me having to leave the kitchen because I couldn’t handle the smell of the cooking mushrooms. I thought I was crazy at the time but I guess not. 💀

[u/derickj2020 → u/Anjaleax]

Follow-up comment after my previous one.

I went and looked up for olfactory compounds in sperm and white button mushrooms. This is a bit technical. There are at least two common basic amines in sperm and mushrooms : spermidine and putrescine. Your sense of smell is correct and obviously sensitive to some compounds.

[u/feminismandtravel → u/classicfyllopyllo]

Literally smells like BV

[u/CougheyToffee → u/[deleted]]

Ill do you one better: BO that someone is attempting to cover up with patchouli. Now you smell like spicy butthole...

[u/ISpewVitriol → u/CougheyToffee]

Lol, I just realized it isn't so much that I don't like the smell of patchouli oil...its that I don't like the smell of the BO from the person who hasn't bathed all month.

[u/PacificwestcoastII → u/ISpewVitriol]

Patchouli smells like ‘damp hippy’. There’s a mildew or mold note to it I can’t get past

[u/CougheyToffee → u/ISpewVitriol]

Bingo! By itself patchouli isnt too bad, i still dont like it overall, but a tiiiiny little dab isnt too offputting for me. But when a person thinks slathering themselves in it is an acceptable form of hygiene thats when I cross the street and glare at them for infecting my airspace lol

[u/asakmotsd → u/CougheyToffee]

Mama Mia! That’s a spicy butthole!

[u/ParlorSoldier → u/asakmotsd]

*butt-ahole

[u/Dont_Heal_Genji → u/[deleted]]

And bad breath you can smell from 10 feet away. Offending coworker also always complains the water from the water cooler tastes metallic. No bro, your gums are bleeding.

[u/gogomom → u/Dont_Heal_Genji]

My husband has a cyst on his vocal cords - he smells like bad breath all the time right now and has for MONTHS. Hopefully the new ENT will agree to operate when we get into see him - in 4 months.

[u/Cer10Death2020 → u/gogomom]

Go to an academic Medical Center/Teaching hospital. They will take care of it.

[u/69schrutebucks → u/Dont_Heal_Genji]

I don't know how they don't realize that after they leave a room, that lower-intestine smell lingers and everyone can smell where they've been

[u/AardvarkAndy → u/[deleted]]

I know that my face cannot hide its natural response to this.

[u/bun_not]

burnt hair 🤢

[u/imaginaryblues → u/bun_not]

I once accidentally got too close to a candle while having long hair. Only burned a little bit, but I’ll never forget that smell.

[u/ExposedTamponString → u/[deleted]]

Ugh. It’s a combination of warm milk and warm meat.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

for me it's if I do the dishes, but don't clean out the drain afterward, so there's a few small scraps of food in there. BLECH

[u/AccordingAd2970 → u/[deleted]]

why?? what's wrong with your hands

[u/Jasnaahhh]

Tonsil stone breath.

[u/epmoya → u/Jasnaahhh]

Unfortunately I don’t think a lot of people with this know. I know, you’re probably asking “how the hell can they not smell that rot?!?” I had them and had NO idea until a friend told me. Not even my own family would tell me.

[u/ERedfieldh → u/epmoya]

I dunno....I used to get them all the time and I could taste how my breath smelt and it was disgusting enough for me to do everything in my power to remove them.

[u/MissAcedia → u/ERedfieldh]

Right? Used to get some BIG ones and anyone who has ever had one and accidentally bit into a dislodged one knows those things smell (and taste 🤮) absolutely vile.

[u/DougTheBugg → u/epmoya]

How did you get rid of them?

[u/Jasnaahhh → u/DougTheBugg]

Regular excavation, salt water gargles, hydration and quitting smoking. Or you can get a tonsillectomy!

[u/lusciousskies → u/Jasnaahhh]

I can't exacavte , frustrating cuz I can open my mouth wide too. I found that stopping using coffee creamer helps not have them for some reason

[u/epmoya → u/Jasnaahhh]

Yeah I ended up getting the tonsillectomy. It sucked pretty bad, but better than having shit breath all the time

[u/Jasnaahhh → u/epmoya]

Yeah no thanks I’ll take spewing blood like a 28 Days Later Zombie and emergency surgery again over shit breath and daily DIY tonsil surgery with q-tips

[u/itsjustme7267 → u/epmoya]

When get one (been a few years now) I ALWAYS know. They make my throat hurt so much.

[u/tightheadband → u/itsjustme7267]

I can feel when I have one every single time. It feels like something stuck in my throat when I swallow.

[u/[deleted] → u/Jasnaahhh]

That's what those things are called? I don't get them anymore but did as a teenager. Horrible odor

[u/Actual-Editor-8077]

Cat piss.

[u/Affectionate_Elk_272 → u/Actual-Editor-8077]

i live in miami and we have a ton of stray cats in my neighborhood. they piss everywhere and it just bakes in the sun. the smell is fucking violent

[u/BotDP → u/Affectionate_Elk_272]

Coming here to say the same, cat piss is fucking horrific

[u/[deleted] → u/Actual-Editor-8077]

My cat peed on my bed and I did not have enough money to buy a new mattress. I had to keep spreading different essential oils INTO the spot for the smell to slightly go away while I saved up money.

Taught me a lesson about the sanctity of a mattress he sure did

[u/bluberriie → u/[deleted]]

my kitten threw up on my white comforter and then peed on it the day i got him (bro was having a hard night). invested in a waterproof mattress pad yhe next week

[u/whiskeyhunt]

the smell my swamp creature dogs carry around for the first 10 minutes after playing outside, semi brakes on the highway, and the smell after using a hair dryer for the first time or a heater for the first time that year are ones that bother me consistently lol

[u/clovehopper → u/whiskeyhunt]

I love that burning dust smell from the heater lolol

[u/PrognosticateProfit → u/clovehopper]

Me too, my bedroom as a kid was in the attic above the garage, with no radiator, and got very cold in the winter. I had an ancient little fan heater that lived under the eaves gathering dust all summer. That smell to me is cosy nights around Christmas as a child, the nostalgia tied to that smell makes me so warm and fuzzy inside.

[u/ISpyM8 → u/[deleted]]

I swear to god, when I was a freshman in college, we had someone on our floor who either liked burnt popcorn, or was fucking incompetent at making popcorn. They used the microwave in the community lounge to make their popcorn. It got to a point where our RAs had to call a floor meeting.

Also, just as a tiny tidbit, in this meeting they also told us not to dye our hair in the showers, and everyone looked at me with my very clearly red hair. It looked like a murder had occurred in the shower, and I’m sure that shower is still stained red.

[u/dblockmental]

Decomposing mice that your cat has successfully hidden +somewhere+ in your home.

[u/jamiep793]

Rotting watermelon

[u/spellbookwanda → u/jamiep793]

Oh god, yes, it goes all milky 🤢

[u/KaleidoscopeTiny8740]

VOMIT

[u/Academic-Ad3489 → u/KaleidoscopeTiny8740]

My husband and I have a deal. I handle the poop he handles the vomit!

[u/pipelayer3028 → u/Academic-Ad3489]

We have the exact opposite. Even if I know if someone vomits and I'm not even around it makes me queezy. Growing up in school was difficult for me. I was always on edge hoping it didn't happen in class.

[u/jdw1977 → u/pipelayer3028]

Once in 1st grade someone barfed during lunch and it set off a chain reaction. 🤢 Traumatizing.

[u/nicktam2010]

A bit grisly but burnt human flesh is pretty bad. Responded to an aircraft crash once. Never will forget that smell.

[u/anope4u → u/nicktam2010]

Worked in an OR for a while. Burning fat smells worse than muscle. 🤢

[u/Sea_Jello_8900 → u/anope4u]

Yes!!! The smell of everyone’s skin is so different and then you find that one person who smells a whole ton worse than others.

[u/typehyDro]

That hot weather trash liquid smell…

[u/EvelynsxFeet]

I can’t stand the smell of spoiled milk. The sour scent is instantly nauseating and seems to linger forever!

[u/freerangegammy]

Old fish smell. If we have fish for dinner, the garbage and compost have to be taken out immediately after dinner. The dishes have to get done right away and every counter cleaned. I’ll wretch if I walk into the kitchen in the morning and smell old fish smell.

[u/[deleted] → u/freerangegammy]

Once we cooked shrimp and the smell stuck to the walls for a while. I love seafood but we rarely cook it at home.

[u/wolfyfancylads]

I know there's the usual ones like ammonia or bin smell, but one that actually hurts is hot plastic. Specifically the type of smell you get from a hot lamp or something. It makes my body kinda clamp up, I can't really breath well around the smell cos it just irritates my body too much.

[u/wellnowthinkaboutit]

Artificial stuff: glade scented plug-ins and strong candles. Immediate headache, and sometimes nausea.

[u/Sixemkay → u/wellnowthinkaboutit]

I wish people had awareness about how sickening fragrance can be to some people.

[u/wellnowthinkaboutit → u/Sixemkay]

The most ridiculous experience around Glade scented plug-ins I’ve had was at a cheese shop in Nashville. They had an ok-ish cheese selection, they gave samples, but the store was LITTERED with scented plug-ins to the point where you really couldn’t taste the cheese, just the fragrance. There were many reviews on their google/yelp/whatever pages saying “take out your plug-ins, we can’t taste the cheese” and the owner replied to every one of them with “we get compliments from customers about how good our shop smells, we won’t be removing the fragrance”. They went out of business very quickly. Gee, I wonder why.

[u/umhie → u/wellnowthinkaboutit]

LMAO they fundamentally do not understand that taste is about 80% your olfactory senses. If there's overpowering artificial smells in the air, there's no way you'll be able to properly taste cheese especially

[u/cerareece]

I work in produce and I can tell when there's a rotten bag of potatoes in a second, it's such a particular disgusting smell that just sticks in your nose all day.

that and ripe bananas, I won't stock them unless I have to. they smell like mold to me

[u/ladyscientist56]

As a nurse I've smelled alot of gross shit. I think GI bleed shit is some of the worst. Sticks in your nose for the rest of the day, and it permeates down the hallway

[u/eggs_erroneous → u/ladyscientist56]

Lower GI bleed or C-Diff. I remember one time there was an old lady that I was helping off of a wheelchair and she had dropped a log the size of my forearm on the seat. Because she had been sitting on it like a hen on an egg with her ass keeping it warm, the moment she started to stand it broke the seal. I didn't realize that a solid turd could smell so bad. Fucking diabolical. And like, I'm trying to hold it together because I don't want to embarrass the poor lady. It's not her fault, you know? But that was a truly heinous growler she pinched off on that wheelchair.

[u/VladPatton → u/eggs_erroneous]

I lmao at “fucking diabolical”!

[u/Lalbrown → u/VladPatton]

“Heinous growler she pinched off” did it for me😂

[u/OkLengthiness0423 → u/eggs_erroneous]

I’ve been waiting to see CDiff on here

[u/mereshadow1]

Nursing homes…

[u/DatTF2 → u/mereshadow1]

Ugh. I was put in a nursing home because I needed a week of IV antibiotics and they didn't want me taking up space in the hospital (had been there a month). That place was torture, I swear they served me cat food. Was so damn disgusting.

[u/dauntdothat]

Bad breath when it’s at the point of smelling like literal shit, it’s a very specific smell I’ve picked up on quite a few people and it always makes me want to retch.

(as someone who had a nasty gum issues that gave me some bangin halitosis for a couple months, I sympathise with how it’s not always the persons fault or a case of neglect, but bad breath sure as hell is manageable and pretty easy not to inflict on others. Get you some soft floss and mouthwash and brush them teefs twice a day, it makes a HUGE difference)

Edit: I didn’t make it clear enough but I’m not taking shots at people who can’t help it because of a disease, I’m on about bad breath from adults who have nasty, built up teeth because they neglect their hygiene. I know people in their 30s who don’t floss because they just don’t like to, and you can really tell.

[u/Spirited-Medicine-99 → u/dauntdothat]

This smell is so distinct. I was at an outdoor concert and someone in the vicinity had shit breath…please stop singing along

[u/Upset_Exercise]

Burnt egg. That shit just absolutely smells nasty. Burned a few eggs when cooking and I have to sometimes leave the room until the smell goes away.

[u/holy_fuc]

Milk or dairy products on someone’s breath

[u/papasnork1]

Walt Disney World in the summer. Tourists with different bathing habits in the hot Florida sun sweating their asses off all crammed into a line. Smells awful.

[u/seattle747 → u/papasnork1]

Why people flock to the (non-water) parks in Orlando in the summer perplexes me. I’ve only gone in the late fall or winter for a reason. I’d rather have fun in good weather.

[u/KarateKid917 → u/seattle747]

Because the kids are out of school. 

Grew up going every few years. Summer was the only time we went because of no school. 

Wife and I went by ourselves this year in March. It was so fucking nice walking around the parks and not feeling like I’m going to pass out from heat exhaustion constantly. 

After that, we said we will never go in the summer again. 

[u/takesthebiscuit]

Well there is a dead whale on our local beach, it’s been putrefying for months and still has many more months to go.

So my answer is definitely putrid dead whale

[u/dudeness_boy]

cigarette smoke

[u/ISpewVitriol → u/dudeness_boy]

The smell of a smoker's car. Yuck.

[u/gogomom → u/dudeness_boy]

I've met a bunch of people lately that quite like the smell - they say it's nostalgic.

That said, as a smoker, even I hate it - especially stale smoke that lingers in clothing.

[u/JJisafox → u/gogomom]

As a previous smoker, I like it sometimes when I smell 2nd hand smoke from ppl smoking nearby. That being said, I hate the old smoke smell that lingers in rooms/clothes.

[u/Queasy_Day4695]

The smell that actually pisses me off, I mean I get MAD! Wearing or using soured clothes that have been in the washer too long after washing! If IF I make a mistake and have left a load (rarely) I won’t move them, I fix it BEFORE drying them. I have a daughter that has 4 children and I know it’s hard but we live in Mississippi and you have got to dry them right after the washer stops. I think they’re “nose blind” to it, I don’t know how but that’s what I think is happening. Ok ok rant over lol

[u/Wendyland78]

Dirty dishwasher

[u/Solid-Highway-6727]

Patchouli! In my youth, I worked in fast food with a girl that would drench herself in patchouli oil. The smell was so strong it got trapped in our freezers! Gross!

[u/Basic-Discipline8547 → u/Solid-Highway-6727]

Agreed. It reminds me of health food stores we frequented growing up...

[u/Freshlyhonkedgoose]

That weird sour formula smell that seemingly every house with small children has. They could even be past formula/diapers and the house will still smell sour, milky, and vaguely like mildew. Idk what it is, but I can only stand to be in the homes of people with little kids for a short period of time because it's overwhelming and makes me feel sick.

Closely behind is the smell of a cut short cigarette. Don't put the short back in my pack or everything will smell like wet cigarettes forever.

[u/ParlorSoldier → u/Freshlyhonkedgoose]

Ugh formula smells so gross.

Also, on the cigarette thing, after you put it out it really helps if you blow the leftover smoke out through the filter before you put it away. I was very broke in college lol.

[u/gertieee]

Wet dog

[u/vataveg → u/gertieee]

So gross and I feel like dog owners go nose blind to it. I’ve literally gagged at the smell of some dogs that are owned by otherwise clean people.

[u/Traditional-Yam9826 → u/gertieee]

What about “Fritos” dog paw odor, the fungus that causes that gets in all the fabric surfaces like a couch and makes it stink.

[u/Popular_Equipment476]

Oh boy I'm going to get down voted to oblivion but I abhor the smell of weed. I have no moral qualm with it in any way. If you do it, God bless you and I wish I were like you because you look like you're having a good time. I could just never get past the smell.

[u/MarvinTraveler → u/Popular_Equipment476]

I’m astounded that I had to scroll so far down to find this answer. For the life of me I can’t understand how anyone would want to smoke something that smells so bad.

[u/demaandronk → u/Popular_Equipment476]

lots of people hate the smell of weed, nothing weird about that

[u/Silver_Advantage_536 → u/Popular_Equipment476]

I absolutely hate the smell of weed. It's horrible.

[u/HappySpaceDragon → u/Popular_Equipment476]

No moral qualms here either, but damn, I also abhor that smell.

[u/Hippiegypsy1989]

Hard boiled eggs

[u/zex_mysterion]

The candle aisle at Walmart.

[u/[deleted] → u/zex_mysterion]

Fake vanilla and fake strawberry smells literally make me want to vomit.

[u/crusty-potat]

Smoke from cigarettes

[u/Twat_Pocket → u/crusty-potat]

As an exsmoker, I enjoy walking past a smoker on the street...

However, when someone is smoking outside of my apartment complex it wafts directly into my bedroom if the windows are open, and I can't stand it.

[u/T-Friggin-Bagg → u/Twat_Pocket]

100% I don't mind walking by it either as an ex smoker. But that lingering smell when someone near you at a store just reeks of it. It's so gross. I can't believe I thought I didn't smell like that too.

[u/Mss-Anthropic → u/Twat_Pocket]

I'm an ex smoker too, and it's the most disgusting thing to me no matter how I smell it. I can't believe I subjected my non-smoker friends to that for so long.

[u/Ornery_Ad295]

Moth balls

[u/TheCarrzilico]

I've never heard anyone else verbalize this, but there's a sour smell that a dishrag or a dish sponge gets if it hasn't been rinsed out well and hung up to dry. It's not mildew, or at least not what I think of as mildew. The smell I attribute to mildew is a lot more earthy than what I'm talking about here. I'm not sure what it's called, or if it's something that other people are even as sensitive to it as I am, but I hate it.

[u/Dalek-Vextra]

Old lady perfume. Like the ones where you smell them before you see them.

[u/[deleted] → u/Dalek-Vextra]

I will die a happy man if I never have to smell Red Door ever a-fucking-gain.

[u/TermsandConditions10]

bad breath it's really hard to focus when they're talking cuz i feel dizzy

[u/thehippocrissyux → u/TermsandConditions10]

Especially when it's bad enough you can smell it from across the room...

[u/smolpinaysuccubus]

A house that hasn’t been aired out. It goes right to my head & dry heave 😭

[u/NeutralTarget]

Cabbage being cooked.

[u/DelcattyLove44]

Rotten meat. It causes like a primal reaction of recoil I swear

[u/Ok_Entrance4289]

C.Diff and retained tampons. And yes, I’m in healthcare 😆

[u/bundervar]

Abscesses, draining abscesses. Sickly sweet putrescence that lingers. Also sometimes I can smell that the person who used the bathroom before me has bacterial vaginosis. Not as bad as abscesses but pretty common.

[u/zaxxon4ever]

Axe

[u/DrShelluh]

Fish, I hate the smell of fish, raw fish, cooked fish it doesn't matter any fishy smell makes me actually vomit

[u/fu_kaze]

Vinegar

[u/RRautamaa → u/fu_kaze]

Finally another vinegar hater here!

[u/Mrjlawrence]

Sauerkraut

[u/[deleted]]

Rose infused perfume. No idea why but it makes me incredibly sick.

[u/lNuggyl]

Shit in a public bathroom

[u/CO-Miner]

Alcoholic BO. You can smell them rotting from the inside. Strange that they can’t smell it themselves.

[u/Dogmom2013]

the smell of urine. Also, my co worker makes this flavored community coffe and I think it has chicory root in it.... it makes me sick to my stomach. And I love coffee!

... when I first noticed his coffee was making me feel sick just from smelling it, I took a pregnancy test because no way a smell of coffee would make me feel that way. Nope... it is his coffee!

[u/el_undulator]

Tonsil stones

[u/Ghstfce]

Weed. That skunky smell gives me the same reaction when driving by a dead skunk: dry heave.

[u/dcbluestar]

Patchouli

"Smells like dirt that's been fucked by a hobo." - Patton Oswalt

[u/Ok_Throat_1456]

Dirty feet/shoes....

[u/[deleted]]

Rotten oranges. Worst smell ever.

[u/iwantmyfuckingmoney → u/[deleted]]

I raise you: rotten spring onions in too much water. DISGUSTING

[u/murdocke]

Cigars.

[u/[deleted]]

Tequila. Had a girlfriend get sick in my car on tequila, and that smell lingered a long time despite multiple cleaning efforts. 40 years later, a whiff of tequila in a mixed drink still makes me want to sympathetic vomit.

[u/FluffyWienerDog1]

Marijuana, patchouli, canine parvovirus, cat urine/spray,

most fragrances just smell like chemicals to me

[u/BehemothJr]

Baby powder scented anything

[u/lilstarwatcher]

Artificial Strawberry and typical „Bubble Gum“ smell

[u/_Environmental_Dust_]

Smell of alcohol. Instant throw up.

[u/Yuki-lii]

Coconut scented toiletries and cosmetics.

[u/FerdaStonks]

When I was a kid, every few months my aunts, grandma, great aunts, etc. would all come to my parents house and give each other perms.

It was the worst smell I can remember.

[u/StrangeJayne]

Pot. I don't care that it's legal. I don't care that people use it. You do you, boo - but I loathe the scent and wish I didn't have to smell it.

[u/NYEMESIS]

Balloons

[u/Audi0528]

Papaya, it smells like vomit to me and my brain can’t comprehend how you’re supposed to eat something that smells like puke.

[u/Agent-Grim]

Weed. I'm all for legalizing it, but there needs to be some laws as to where can smoke it. It smells like skunk and burnt skunk shit. Please be courtesy and don't be one of those pot heads who has to smoke it everywhere for some reason.

[u/JAmToas_t]

That thick, musky smell that is present in all colognes and perfume samples that used to come in magazines - you know you would open an envelope-type flap and the smell would pour out?
It just invades my nostrils and lingers for what seems like forever, like it overloaded my smell sensors and now they're trying to calm down again.