What are your best tips on how to make your office smell nice — without offending any of your coworkers or clients? Reader P asks a great question about de-smelling tips for her office:

I work at a law firm, and my office is pretty close to the kitchen on my floor. My office inevitably ends up smelling like food during lunch time because of people constantly microwaving their lunch. Do you, or your readers, have any suggestions for an office-appropriate air freshener that won’t smell too floral and isn’t too overpowering, but would take care of the food smells? I hate it when people walk in and my office smells like Lean Cuisine! Thank you!

I’ve advised against office fragrances in the past (in part because I think I made that mistake when I started!), and readers are always against easily-smelled perfume at the office. 

So here are a few ideas for how to make your office smell nice without any of those artificial fresheners…

a) Get rid of built-up funk.  In addition to cleaning your office, you may want to try leaving a bowl of vinegar out overnight. The vinegar absorbs other odors… and the vinegar smell goes away pretty quickly once you get rid of the vinegar itself.

I’ve used this one many times after cooking experiments have gone poorly, or the extremely rare occasion when we’ve had a friend over and let him or her smoke in the apartment. Ask for the office carpet to be cleaned (or try it yourself with a DIY technique over the weekend).

After that, try to open the window(s) and get air circulating at least once a day.

b) Drink mint tea.  Especially before you have a meeting in your office, get a nice big cup of mint tea. (I love this mint tea especially.) You don’t even have to drink it — just having it on your desk helps mask other smells without being overwhelming.

If you’re really not a tea drinker, consider using coffee grounds, perhaps laid out in a bowl somewhere non-obvious in your office. Of all the “natural air fresheners,” I think this is the one that has the strongest possibility for the office.

Some of my favorite mint teas, below, both for smell and taste: 

Pictured (clockwise): Peppermint Chocolate / Peppermint Bark / Chocolate Mint / Moroccan Mint / Pure Peppermint

c) Get a good office plant.  Palm Trees are supposedly great air purifiers; so are rubber plants and English ivy.

A Few Other Great Ideas to Make Your Office Smell Nice

Pictured: one / two / three

Air purifiers have come a long way, including odor removing candles, affordable air purifiers, and even odor-removing charcoal bags. 

Readers, what are your best tips on how to make your office smell nice? 

Updated images via Stencil. Originally pictured.

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Here’s a topic we haven’t discussed in about a thousand years: perfume at the office. DO office-appropriate perfumes exist, ladies? If so, what are the business etiquette rules for perfume? 

When I grew up I always loved the idea of having “a scent” that people would know me by — there’s a line in When Harry Met Sally about how at the end of the day he wants to come home and smell her perfume on his clothes, and that always struck me as romantic and lovely.

When I started the blog, I was fascinated to find that readers, by and large, haaaaated perfume for the office. They got migraines, couldn’t escape the strongest of scents, and NO, in fact, they did not want the conference room or their clothes smelling like your perfume if you were no longer there.

Then, I took a long break from perfume because I was in that pregnancy corridor, and either it turned my stomach to wear it while pregnant, or I worried the baby would react negatively to it. My kids are 4 and 7, so I’m slowly starting to go back and try different perfumes — and it’s been really fascinating to me how strong and overpowering my longtime favorite perfumes are, at least to me.

I’d read some interesting stories about how perfumes that smell like nothing are really popular, though, so I’ve been sampling some of those, and I thought we’d revisit the topic: if a scent is personal to you (as in, you have to be in hugging/kissing distance to smell it), can it add to your personal sense of polish or empowerment — without annoying others in the office?

Are there business etiquette rules one should follow (like not spraying in the office bathroom or your own office) in an abundance of caution for your colleagues? Furthermore, which are the best perfumes “that smell like nothing”? 

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For my $.02, I’ve been sampling a few different brands, and my favorites are the lines from Juliette’s Got a Gun (although I’m not personally fond of the brand’s signature scent, “Not a Perfume.”) (Sephora has the sampler set that I bought back in stock! I literally love all of them except for Not a Perfume; if I had to choose I’d say Another Oud, MMMM, and Lady Vengeance are my top three.)

I wouldn’t say that they smell like “nothing,” though — it’s more like the subtle scent that you notice if you use scented handsoap, shampoo, or deodorant (but with better staying power) — it’s an understated smell that stays with you and makes you happy when you find a great scent. I also really like Glossier’s scent, but for some reason I bought it in solid form, and it’s too strong for me in that format.

I loooove Phlur’s Hepcat, but I might put it more with Le Labo (I have this one) as a “modern perfume” and less of a “not a perfume” — the scent is stronger and more traditionally “perfume/cologne” and less soapy, at least in the modern sense of the word.

Let’s hear from you, readers — do you think office-appropriate perfumes exist, or is all perfume at the office on the “no go” list?

Which do you think the best perfumes to wear to work are — and what are the business etiquette rules for perfume? 

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What are the best practices to prevent stinky shoes? How do you destink your shoes once they’re already funky? Reader K has a delicate question regarding stinky shoes:

I need advice on how to keep my shoes from developing a bad odor. I wear hose 90% of the time with my dress work shoes, and they develop a foul odor within just a few weeks of wear. I have tried odor eaters without success, old pantyhose filled with baking soda, rotating my shoes to never wear them two days in a row – nothing works. I haven’t normally had smelly shoes or feet, but now that I am in a professional environment and wear dress shoes instead of socks/sneakers, I can’t get a handle on this. I don’t notice the smell when my shoes are on, but when I take them off at home, look out. I am afraid that it will keep getting worse and my feet will smell all the time!

Interesting. We’ve talked about delicate issues such as body odor, sweaty feet in pumps, what to do when drycleaning doesn’t remove smells, and general shoe care for women, but I don’t believe we’ve talked about how to prevent stinky shoes. Reader K herself mentioned some of the other oft-cited advice, but I might stress a few things:

• Give your shoes at least a day off — it lets the leather dry out.
• Products like Silver Linings have insoles “infused with antimicrobial silver ions for women who wear shoes without socks.” (They’re available at Amazon, but here’s the product page for more behind the technology.) Readers have also previously recommended Summer Soles, for open-toed shoes.
• Look into ventilated shoes, like Geox — they’re designed to let air circulate better. They’re sold at the usual spots (Zappos, Amazon, Nordstrom), but here’s a link to their product page about the technology behind the shoes.
• Avoid plastic shoes that don’t breathe at all.
• Try the freezer — put your shoes in a ziplock bag, then stick them in the freezer for 24-48 hours. (This is also supposedly a great way to defunk your expensive denim.)
• Wear socks.  Trouser socks, knee-high pantyhose, even shoe liners all exist for exactly this purpose. I tend to prefer toe liners when they don’t interrupt the line of the shoe. Here’s a link to our older discussion on what hose to wear with pumps (if any).

Here’s an extensive thread on Reddit with more tips for battling smelly feet; Mashable also has some advice.

Ladies, have you taken measures to prevent stinky shoes? What are your best practices for avoiding funk, and then your best suggestions for destinking your shoes?

Social media picture credit: Deposit Photos / © belchonock.

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I have asked numerous other people (coworkers and friends) and so far no one has given a polite and appropriate response to my dilemma. I work with a lawyer who smells awful. At first I thought it might have just been a random thing but more often than not he smells awful. Lately, he’s gotten into this habit of talking very close to me and once (I am not exaggerating here) I nearly lost my lunch. It’s much worse in the summer (he has an office with lots of windows and direct sunlight so the smells are intensified). What do I say to politely let him know he is emitting a bad odor? Do I leave anonymous mints on his desk and hope he takes the hint? Please help me. I don’t want to be rude but I need to say something.

(Pictured: a screenshot from this YouTube clip of the movie Labyrinth.)

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Reader E has a fabulous question that we have always wondered about: what to do when dry cleaning did not remove the smell…

I just got some dresses back from the cleaner – a good one that I’ve been using for years – and noted that the underarm areas smelled less than fresh. What can I do about this, short of sending the dresses back to the cleaner (and possibly having them no fresher)?

I’ve been trying to switch to washable shirts – detergent + Oxy Clean do a better job of getting rid of the stink. But meanwhile, what of the dresses?

Honestly, we’ve had this problem also where dry cleaning did not remove the smell, and don’t know what to say. We’ve taken them back to the drycleaner, sprayed Febreeze, and more. We almost worry that once the clothes have been drycleaned the stink is, well, stuck on them.

We wish we could say the problem were limited to some particular fabric, but we’ve noticed it with natural fibers as well as polyester. Perhaps there’s a secret trick we’re missing that a reader can clue us in on?

The best advice we can offer is to let your clothes airdry completely between wearings. Hang them up outside the closet before you put them away, and do the same before you take them to the drycleaner.

Psst: you may want to try some of these products for dry cleaning at home…

But readers, we’re really curious — any other tips? What have you done when dry cleaning did not remove the smell?

Pictured (2019 Update): Deposit Photos / piotr_marcinski. (Originally pictured:  Stinky Bklyn, originally uploaded to Flickr by abbyladybug.)

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Today’s reader mail comes from a reader with a serious problem… she has belatedly realized she has body odor, and worries it’s affected the way her colleagues view her.

I happened to see my mother at lunchtime today and when I walked over to her, she had a strong reaction – she said I smelled! I had just come from work and was going back to work, so I was obviously very upset. When I inquired a little further, she said that I actually have a body odor issue, apparently on a somewhat regular basis. I was shocked. First because I truly had no idea; second because neither my mother nor sisters nor other close friends have ever given me any indication I had a problem. Now I’ve moved on to mortification. I’m reliving every moment of my professional and professional life and wondering if I’m thought of as the stinky girl.

I realize that I need to take steps like finding a stronger deodorant-antiperspirant (I thought my old one worked fine), dry clean my suits more frequently (I used to do it once every few months), etc. But is there anything I can do to address the negative impact this must have had on my image – professional and otherwise?

To give a little more background info: I’m nearly 32 years old and have been working in my current job for a little over a year. I just received a very decent raise at my review. I’m also happily married to a man who has never mentioned that I have any body odor issues. At the same time, I don’t doubt my mother’s word…we’re close and she’s said she’s hesitated telling me for quite some time. (I wish she’d told me sooner!)

I have vowed I will never be smelly again. Do you or your readers have any other advice for damage control?

Wowza — we’re sorry to hear this. We’ve already talked about antiperspirant and deodorants here (with tons of great recommendations from readers in the comments). In terms of other tips — we would guess that drycleaning once every few months is fine, so long as you’re wearing decent layers beneath the suit. For example, if perspiration is a problem, don’t wear sleeveless shells — wear t-shirts or other pieces with sleeves. We hate to say it, but you may also want to reconsider your underwear and your drycleaning situation — skimpier underwear might necessitate more frequent cleanings. (We had a lot of good comments on specific brands of boy shorts on this post.)

In terms of other things that might be causing odor — if you can, give your shoes a “day off” in order to air out — there are also odor-eating things that can be placed in shoes. If you wear sweaters or other pieces multiple times before washing, keep those clothes in a different spot than “clean clothes.” (For example, I try to wear sweaters at least twice in order to prolong the life of the sweater; I have a separate place where I keep those sweaters after I’ve worn them.)  You may want to consider putting a dryer sheet or two, or cedar balls, in that spot.

{related: here’s what to try when the drycleaner can’t remove the smell}

Finally: you may want to see a doctor — we’ve heard of instances where a body odor issue could be medically related.

{related: office-appropriate perfumes: do they exist?}

Now, in terms of damage control — for our $.02,  do not say anything to folks. First, it sounds like it hasn’t been a hindrance in your advancement (you got a new job in the midst of a recession, you just got a raise). Second, what would you say?*  Just make the problem disappear and things should be good. Readers, what say you? Have you ever belatedly realized you have body odor? How did you deal with the career fallout (if any) after you got it sorted out?

Pictured:  196/365 Need new shoes, originally uploaded to Flickr by stuartpilbrow. 2019 image updates (woman smelling flower) via stencil.

* This author’s personal backstory here is that I did a great job of screwing up my eyes a while back. Allergies, dry office air, and overuse of contacts (paired with typical office blunders like staring at a monitor without blinking enough, working for really long hours, and so forth) — I had basically been exfoliating my corneas. After I finally got on a good treatment course there was a serious concern about what, if anything, I should say to superiors I worked with. After all, my eyes had been bloodshot for months — what if they thought I was on drugs, or that I was in my office crying all day? My father and other friends pleaded with me to not say anything, and, ultimately, I didn’t. Looking back, I’m convinced that was the right call for my situation.

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