If ever there was a good reason for a company to get some commercial air freshener, it is having an office full of sweaty people in summer.
Whether it is the hot weather that has been particularly severe this year, or having a building that traps heat, a lack of air conditioning or even a lack of windows that open (as can happen in some listed buildings), the unfortunate reality is that not every office space is designed to keep temperatures as they should be.
Ideally that should be tackled to an extent by allowing staff to dress appropriately in summer and take off their ties. However, even then things could still be pretty sweaty.
All that begs the question: Why does sweat smell bad? The answer lies in the fact that bacteria are being secreted when you sweat, with these breaking down various proteins, but this also means that some people will smell worse than others- and not just because they might sweat more.
Of course, one prime reason is that some people just have poor personal hygiene and fail to clean areas with lots of sweat glands, such as your armpits.
Other reasons can be health related. Diabetes, an over-active thyroid and taking certain medications can all be factors in smellier sweat.
Diet is also a potential part of the problem, as spicy and sugary food have an impact, while some people’s genetics mean they sweat more if they consume foods containing a lot of choline, like meat and fish.
There are people who don’t sweat much or even at all, a condition known as anhidrosis, something to which Prince Andrew famously drew attention when he claimed he had been affected by it. It is not necessarily harmful – former England cricketer Alastair Cook famously doesn’t sweat but this never stopped him playing a long innings – but it is rare; most folk in your office will sweat.
For that reason, it is always important to take steps to control the sweaty odour in your office, especially in hot weather.
