Why there is always around a horrible smell of sweat in Poland

We have the same problem in the U.S. among certain ethnic groups when they live in clusters. It's the custom in some countries to have a Saturday night bath and that's it for the week.

I couldn't live like that!!! But I do work with some dirty dirty people, bless 'em. I have to keep clean and I'm forever washing my hands.

I still maintain that if you wash your clothes, wear clean clothes and have a bath, there is no need to smell like a hards days work - btw ya cheeky little Manc I'm one of those suit wearing public transport using people, however I don't stink ;-)

Rain man :)

All appologies. That being the case... SHOULDN'T YOU BE WORKING??!! Heh heh!

I am ;-)

Heh heh! I get away with it too. Tis great, innit?

Oh really, I'm from New York which is one of the most clustered and proximate cities in the U.S. and I haven't noticed what you are talking about to the point where it becomes a problem for the universal "we".

Do you mind for the sake of argument elaborating on some of the ethnic groups with whom "we" have observed this "problem"?

I think the smelll people secrete has a lot to do with the food we consume, it stands to reason that people that eat spicy food will have an odour different to those that don't eat spicy food, hence the reason people from certain eithnic backgrounds will smell somewhat differently to those of other ethnic backgrounds.

I think if they don't shower, they probably don't have internet either :p

You can get a good antiperspirant for about 12-15 zł. That's an equivalent of about 4 bottles of beer, 2-3 packs of cigarettes, 8 - 10 loaves of bread. And, mind you, you don't use all at once. Most people can afford spending 12 zł per month for an antiperspirant.


Unfortunately, some groups of Polish people have the same custom (mainly old, uneducated and poor). I've even heard that a real man bathes only once a week.

OK, I will try to answer the question. I use public transport almost every day and very often I have to stand next to someone who stinks like hell. And sometimes I'm really frustrated. It's true, that a lot of people in Poland stink.

People in Poland have very different hygienic habits. Apart from people who wash at least every day, change their clothes frequently enough and use antiperspirants, there are those who treat hygiene like peasants did in 19th century. E.g. for many people a deodorant is not something to keep you from sweating, but a thingy that women use to smell nice when they can't afford perfume. There's a lot of men in Poland who never use deodorant and don't even think it's something to do with hygiene. They also wash too rarely and wear one shirt for a week. Women are usually more careful about their hygiene even

the ones from the same social backgrounds. The biggest problem is with old people - their natural B.O. is worse than young people's, so they should be even more careful about hygiene. But, very often, they aren't careful about hygiene at all. Their senses are numbed, they can't feel they stink, so they think everything is OK and they don't wash themselves. No, they don't think one should wash BEFORE one starts to stink. I used to have a neighbour - an old lady - who smelt really bad. Her flat smelt, too. When she opened her door, the whole staircase stank unbearably. I could smell it long after she shut her door.

When you get on a bus, it's very probable, that you'll come across one of the stinking ones.

So the answer is: it's not about hard work, poverty genetics or anything. It's about bad habits still cultivated in some social backgrounds.

And to non-Polish people surprised reading this: I know you might been to Poland and have met only nice, civilized Poles who have nothing to do with such barbarians. But remember - when you go to Poland you only talk to people from certain social backgrounds. You usually meet those nice, civilized, tolerant, European, polite Poles. But you can't judge the whole society basing on them. You usually only get to know people who speak some English - i.e. the better-educated part of the society. But those people who carry that Saturday night bath custom usually don't speak any foreign languages or even proper Polish.

So best thing to do is go out on saturdaynight, let's conclude that from the article :-)

Europeans are known for not bathing and shaving legs and arm pits. Maybe they are not as obsessed as we are but then there are plenty skanky people this side of the pond also.

Huh? That's a stereotype from the 80's about EU and inaccurate. Some people may be au naturale, but the USA has hippies too :) Have you ever been outside the US, besides Cananda?

There are definitely some spices that eaten regularly result in body odor, but that is not the same as "spicy" food. The Thais and many Southeast and Northern Asians eat spicy food from chili peppers, and have the least body odor. In fact, to them, the cheese and alcohol consumption among Europeans produce a distinct and strong odor as well. So, the comment of "certain ethnic backgrounds" needs to be specific to avoid being a sweeping generalization, and even then lifestyle is a major factor.

When you compare the bathing and grooming habits of say 19th Century rural Chinese peasants and poor rural Poles to their more Western assimilated counterparts, it is a fallacy to simply discern body odor by ethnicity or race. That would be the same as assuming all Europeans smell because they consume cheese and alcohol and still bathe weekly at the local bathhouse. In Asia, some Europeans may smell because they have simply not adapted to a tropical habit of bathing two to three times daily.

Lol...


And that was the point I was making. Thank you for agreeing because certain foods, such as onions, garlic, exotic spices cause us to smell. We are what we eat, we sweat out through out glands which we take in to our body.

There is some true in it- some people don't have need to wash very often in Poland. I think that they have enough money for water bills, and deodorant they just don't bother.

I rember some old saying - czeste mycie skraca zycie i skora sie wyciera.

Onions, garlic and exotic spices indeed makes you smell. Especially while cooking - cutting onions makes your hands stink. But it's enough to wash them thoroughly. Garlic also cause bad breath, but brushing your teeth helps.

I repeat: it's about water, soap, clean clothes and deodorant, NOT anything else.

Yes, I agree in the universal "we" as in we humans, are what we eat, which is then exacerbated or minimized through our bathing and grooming habits. But, this cuts across all ethnic groups, either in cosmopolitan cities where everyone is eating multi-ethnic cuisines of which onion and garlic is quite pedestrian now, and/or specific habits that are cultural or economic. Some ethnic groups actually consume food and teas which eliminate body odors. Therefore, all ethnic groups are capable of body odor, depending on their habits and from which perspective you are judging, but they are not always the generalized stereotype.

It's also a fact that some people sweat more than others, which also lends another dynamic. There are some very poor people on the planet who manage to stay clean and tidy. It sounds like the introduction of the crystal as a cheap deodorizer might go a long way in Poland, as well as sage tea, lol.

>>>onion and garlic is quite pedestrian now>>>

French eat lots garlic ( Allo , Allo..) but they don't seem to smell so much-:)

i can't tell you how many times i heard that in Poland haha. i gotta say my folks always had a problem with me wanting to have a shower/bath everyday when i still lived at home. and they would be at the door asking what i'm doing if i've taken more than 10 minutes in there haha... i think it's one of those darn silly rules stuck in so many Poles' heads that if you don't work physically you don't need to shower everyday, there are so many Polish people i know who only bathe/shower once a week, or once a month, and to them a person washing themselves everyday is a freak and a pansy! a waster. families out there still tend to take a bath in the same water one person after another, and then use that water to wash clothes or water the garden haha...

and as for some ethnic groups smelling cos of the stuff they eat... i've met people from many different cultures and i gotta say that it's almost a rule that Indians and Turks absolutely REEK. it's like a mixture of sweat, dirt and curry or whatever spices they use every day. it's just men who stink though. i read an article about Indian men a while ago and it said personal hygiene is the last thing on their list of chores. i'm not being racist here or anything, just a personal observation.

Some of the old European rivalries amongst each other would say it was because of their French perfume, lol. Don't get me wrong - I love French perfume! ;)


I think it is the tumeric. I have also noticed a strong tumeric smell with some Indians who are newly arrived, but not with Indian friends who have lived or been absorbed by Western culture. So, it has to go back to habits and culture, of which diet and grooming are a part, no?

My body odor is naturally very mild, but I can definitely smell a difference in natural body odor after certain strong cheeses and lots of spice like tumeric and onion. But gosh, just bathe, because spicy food is just too good to give up, ha ha.

Again, I'm a big supporter of the natural crystal and herbal tea, but that's me, lol. I still think that the cheap, natural crystals out of Southeast Asia could be a big hit in Poland for some industrious import/export business person.

to me, they stink of sweat and God knows what else, but they definitely don't shower very often!


i gotta say i hate spicy food... i just can't eat it cos it burns my mouth and makes my eyes and nose water! blahhhhh.

To answer the question from the thread title: it's from people working their butts off! now get off yours and go work up a sweat!

seriously though, when did it become a "bad thing" to smell like a person naturally does? I use deodorant and i'm a cologne ***** and hate it if i think i smell funky but when i stop and question myself i gotta wonder why as a society we're so opposed to what is abject about us. In this way (and many others) we are completely at odds with the rest of nature.

Western society is a strange animal.

Nice post, Foreigner, but I have to tell you it is not just Western society. East Asian and Southeast Asian cultures look down on people with body odor, and have elevated the concept of "freshness" to one of racial superiority.

So no, it's definitely not just Western society.

I remember my grand mother used to say "we were poor but we could always aford soap and water" (she had issues with smelly people, povery is not an excuse) - she bathed every day until the day she died - I really could not imagine going home and not having a bath - it's so nice to take the days grime off your body (I only work in an office btw not a coal mine) and to slip into clean clothes and relax - similarly to wake in the morning and wash and dress to freshen yourself for the day ahead...So is a cultural thing or is it down to personal choice?

I don't think it's the lack of showering.....it's the lack of deodorants.......

East Asian and Southeast Asian cultures look down on people with body odor, and have elevated the concept of "freshness" to one of racial superiority.

So no, it's definitely not just Western society.[/quote]
Touche

In many hot countries, a certain amount of BO is acceptable for various reasons. One is the lack of water and showers, two cause a lot of men do tedious manual work and hardly have time for luxuries such as a shower. They would clean up at the end of the day using water buckets and the like. This would remove the sweat but wont provide the same freshness that a full shower + deodorant would do. Still though. It is acceptable as at worst they will have some residual BO but nothing discomforting.

Not long ago this used to be the case in the west too, its just that the younger generation somehow think that Dove and Axe have always been around.

As anyone whod done any manual work knows, fresh sweat as such is almost odourless and hardly discomforting . The BO is essentially caused by the bacterial breakdown of perspiration. Hence the sweat should be removed as soon as reasonably possible. A shower, or an old fashioned wash up is usualy enough.

Those who stink just dont bathe enough. Nothing to do with deodorants.

There's no excuse for BO, at the end of the day it just comes down to poor hygiene.
If you live in a hot climat, bathe more. If you live in a cold climat like Northern Europe, then it just shows you don't wash properly. End of.

Reminds me of Marie-Antoinette's famous quote "Let them eat cake".

Guess it didn't occur to you that "bathing" requires scarce resources that some people might not or can not have or afford.

Did you know that some people on this planet still have to walk a few miles daily to get access to water? That is any water, not just drinking water.

PJ