Living with a roommate that smells bad puts you in an awkward and stinky situation. Honestly, how do you tell your roommate they smell bad and avoid hurting their feelings? It’s a very fine line to walk while living in your apartment. Your poor nose could be enduring scents of body odor, urine, onions, or cigarettes. Something has to give! To make your living situation sustainable, it may be time to bite the bullet and tell your roommate they smell bad.

Here are 3 powerful tips on how to deal with a smelly roommate, navigate the conversation about their hygiene, and create a less stinky environment in your apartment.

Your Roommate Smells Bad

Confronting a stinky roommate is awkward. You could completely sour the relationship with your roommate in one conversation. Are you both legally bound to live together per a 12-month lease? If you are, tread lightly when navigating the conversation about how badly your roommate smells.

Before diving further into your roommate action plan, double-check one thing…

It’s not you that smells, right? Ok good!

Communication with Smelly Roommates

Communication is key in any relationship, including your smelly roommates. Ask yourself this question:

"How does my smelly roommate prefer to communicate?"

Your communication options: face-to-face, meet at a café, meet at your dinner table, go on a walk, call, text, or leave a hand-written note.

Regardless of how you decide to communicate with your roommates, it’s something that must happen. As awkward as it feels, you need to address that your roommate smells bad. There’s a chance they aren’t even aware of how bad they smell. You could be doing them a favor by informing them of their personal hygiene.

How Bad Does Your Roommate Smell?

Now that you’re prepared to kick the conversation off with your stinky roommate, diagnose the severity of the situation. In order to clearly communicate how gross they smell in a succinct and nice way, review what you want to tell them. Ask yourself – and your nose – what level of stench is coming from my roommate.

PRO TIP: Ask a friend to come over and give you a second opinion on the smells they take in when walking through your apartment. Have your friend walk through the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room. Get their honest opinion. This will help you know what to do if your roommate smells bad.

My Roommate Smells Really Bad

Create a scale in your head to measure how badly your roommate smells. If your roommate smells really bad, you will know that the matter is serious. Especially when your friend agrees after walking through your place, you’ll need to address the stinky issue. Not everyone is aware of their own hygiene until someone tells them! Don’t be afraid to have 'the conversation'.

My Roommate Smells Awful

If you keep telling yourself that my roommate smells awful, then you need a solution fast. It’s hard knowing what to do if your roommate smells bad. No one likes to hear that stinky news about their personal hygiene. However, maybe solving it won’t be as bad as you think. For smelly roommate issues stemming from outside factors, like a cat or dog, you can get rid of the stench more easily.

Why Your Roommate Smells Bad

If you’re constantly asking yourself why my roommate smells so bad, you’ll need to put on your detective hat to figure it out. There are plenty of bad roommate qualities that can affect the environment of your living quarters.

Smelly Bathroom

How well does your roommate maintain the bathroom that you both use? Stinky bathrooms are unfortunately common when living with random roommates. Poop and urine smells can emit from the toilet into your apartment. Gross! There are cleaning supplies you can offer your roommate to take care of that stinky issue.

Roommate Body Odor (B.O.)

Naturally, humans smell. Some smell ok and others smell awful. Body odor is a natural part of being a human. However, it’s tough for us to smell our own B.O. before our roommates do. Confronting a smelly roommate about their body odor is difficult. Be as kind and gentle as possible when entering this roomie conversation.

Dirty Clothes

Not all roommates consistently wash their clothes. Eventually, this can lead to a stinky apartment. Smelly clothes can be caused by many things, including:

• Overuse of perfume
• Dirt and grime
• Not washing clothes for weeks
• Body odor
• Cigarette smoke
• Cooking smelly food in the kitchen

Thankfully, resolving a dirty clothes issue is an easier way to tell your roommate they smell bad. However, if you see huge piles of clothes and other personal items continuing to build up, this could be a red flag. You may be living with a hoarder in your house, which can lead to all sorts of nasty smells.

Cigarette Smoke

Is your roommate a bonified cigarette smoker? Cigarette smoke is one of the least enjoyable smells to live amongst if you do not smoke yourself. Stinky smoke can stick onto your roommate’s clothes and items, creating a smoky stench in your apartment.

Other Reasons that My Roommate Smells

Depending on the reason for your roommate smelling bad, it could be completely their fault or not much at all. Consider these factors when diagnosing the cause of your smelly roommate:

• Pets – pet dogs, cats, or birds can cause a roommate to smell bad
• Job – obscure jobs, like working with fish or other stinky foods, cause smells to stick onto humans. If they work with animals or work in a restaurant, they can bring smells home with them.
• Windows – lack of airflow in your apartment could allow smells to build up over time. Bathrooms without windows can become stinky. Also, if your roommate’s room doesn’t have a big window, that could also be the issue.

How to Politely Tell My Roommate They Smell

Do your best to make your approach nonpersonal. Coming out of the gate harshly blaming them will likely not get you far in remedying the problem.

If you are wondering what to do if my roommate smells bad, lead with kindness. The more polite and kind you are to start, the more will get done. Hygiene is a personal thing. As mentioned before, your roommate may have zero clue how bad they smell. It could be a quick fix for them to implement and solve the problem.

Tell your roommate that they smell in a polite manner initially. Whether they are the direct cause or not, begin telling them respectfully. Give it a few days after telling them and monitor the odors in your apartment. If you issue persists, you need to talk to your roommate again. Here, you can be firmer and develop an action plan to make them less stinky.