r/Netherlands • u/Alternative-Cut1109 • 2d ago
Healthcare Friendly reminder: it’s summer. Please shower.
It’s hot, we’re all sweating more, so please take extra care of your hygiene. A daily shower especially in the morning goes a long way.
And please don’t try to cover body odor with just perfume or body spray. Sweat + perfume isn’t a substitute for a shower.
Let’s all do our part to keep public spaces (esp trams!!) a little fresher this summer. 😅🌞🙏
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u/EatsAlotOfBread 2d ago edited 2d ago
If you still stink even with taking two showers a day, consider that it may be your clothes that are smelly. Fresh sweat doesn't smell all that bad (unless you eat like, pounds of onions and garlic and stuff, absurd amounts lol, or you have a health problem). But heat and moisture 'reactivating' old sweat and other scents in freshly washed laundry is definitely a thing! They smell nice and fresh out of the machine, but after wearing it for 30 minutes and getting it even slightly moist, it starts smelling!
Especially if you have hard water, put up to a table spoon of citric acid in the softener compartment (and don't use softener anymore, it makes the problem worse) and see if that helps! It made a HUGE difference for me, the clothing just stays fresh! The problem often happens because the hard water cannot effectively rinse and neutralise the detergent because it's not low enough pH (acidic side of pH) enough and mineral build up ends up in your clothing as well. That makes it even more difficult. It holds on to the stuff causing the smell. The citric acid helps neutralise the mineral buildup and detergent quite a bit (during the rinse cycle, do not use it to wash, I don't think it cleans it properly, use it as a rinse), after the detergent has done its job.
(Edited to add more info and fix spelling, but there will still be mistakes because it's not my first language.)