How to Get Rid of Body Odor: What Actually Works

How body odour is actually produced

You have two kinds of sweat gland, and only one of them is involved in odour.

The chemistry is now understood down to the enzyme. Apocrine sweat carries an odourless precursor molecule (Cys-3M3SH). A bacterium living in the armpit, Staphylococcus hominis, cleaves it using an enzyme called PatB, releasing thioalcohols — most notably 3M3SH. These are sulphur compounds the human nose detects at extraordinarily low concentrations. A University of York team identified the enzyme in 2020, which means “body odour” is the product of a very specific job done by a small group of bacteria.

Add Corynebacterium species, which break fatty acids into sharp, goaty-smelling fragments, and you have the full picture.

Why some people never smell at all: the earwax clue

This is the least-known and most explanatory part of the subject. A single gene, ABCC11, determines both your earwax type and whether you produce underarm odour:

• Wet, sticky, yellow-brown earwax → active apocrine secretion → odour is possible.
• Dry, flaky, greyish earwax → very little apocrine secretion → noticeable odour usually never develops.

This is not folklore. Among patients seen for axillary osmidrosis, 98.7% carried the genotype associated with wet earwax, while that genotype appears in only about a third of the general population studied. The dry-type allele is common in East Asian populations and rare in people of European and African ancestry — which is why underarm odour is treated as a distinct medical condition in Japan and Korea and barely discussed as one in Europe.

Use it diagnostically: if your earwax is dry and you still notice a strong smell, your armpits are probably not the source. Look at feet, groin, scalp, clothing — or a medical cause.

How do you know if you smell?

You cannot smell yourself reliably, because the nose stops registering a constant smell (olfactory adaptation). Methods that do work:

1. The tissue test. Press a clean, unscented tissue into your armpit for 5-10 seconds, remove it, wait a few minutes, then smell it. The pause lets your nose reset.
2. The T-shirt test. Put the shirt you wore all day into a bag, open it 15-20 minutes later and smell it.
3. The morning test. Before you shower, smell your pillow and the shirt you slept in.
4. Ask someone honest. Still the most reliable method, and not something to be embarrassed about.

The 24-hour plan

1. Wash twice a day with soap or shower gel. Water alone is not enough — bacteria sit in the skin’s oil layer. Focus on armpits, groin and feet.
2. Dry thoroughly. Damp skin is ideal bacterial habitat, especially between toes and in skin folds.
3. Apply antiperspirant at night (details below).
4. Put on clean clothes. Yesterday’s shirt carries bacteria even if it looks clean.
5. Switch fabric: cotton, wool, silk, or a genuine moisture-wicking sports fabric.
6. Change socks twice a day and rest shoes for a full day between wears.
7. Trim underarm hair. Hair holds both sweat and bacteria on the surface.
8. Cut back on garlic, heavy spice and alcohol for that day.

For most people this produces a clear difference within a few days. If it does not, the problem is usually the product choice — or an underlying cause.

Deodorant or antiperspirant? They are not the same thing

Most people whose odour is a real problem need an antiperspirant. Deodorant alone leaves the bacteria’s food supply in place.

In the United States, this distinction is regulatory: antiperspirants are classed as over-the-counter drugs because they change a body function, while deodorants are cosmetics. That is why an antiperspirant carries a Drug Facts panel and a deodorant does not.

Two more details: you do not need to wash the skin first (it can increase irritation), and applying to sweaty skin simply wastes the product. If irritation appears, reduce frequency and ask a pharmacist or doctor.

When over-the-counter is not enough: the treatment ladder

• Step 1
  Clinical-strength or prescription antiperspirant. Aluminium chloride (often a 20% solution) is the standard escalation. Effects are usually noticeable within 1-2 weeks. Dryness and irritation are the common side effects.
• Step 2
  Iontophoresis. Mainly for hands and feet: a low current is passed through shallow water. Sessions run 20-30 minutes, daily or every 2-5 days at first, then about once a week or fortnight for maintenance.
• Step 3
  Botulinum toxin injections. They block the nerve signal to sweat glands. Most people notice less sweating within 7-10 days; results last 3-10 months in underarms and hands, 3-6 months in feet.
• Step 4
  Oral medication. Considered when sweating affects several areas or most of the body. Dry mouth is the most common side effect, and because sweating is reduced, overheating in hot weather becomes a real risk.
• Last resort
  Surgery. The treated area stops sweating, but the body compensates by sweating elsewhere. This is why it is rarely chosen.

Do antibacterial washes help? Chlorhexidine and benzoyl peroxide

Short answer: they reduce odour, not sweat.

Chlorhexidine is an antiseptic; it lowers the number of bacteria on the skin. Since bacteria create the smell, fewer bacteria means less smell. Dermatologists use exactly this logic for axillary bromhidrosis, where antiseptic soaps and benzoyl peroxide washes limit the bacteria that break down apocrine secretions. Zinc pyrithione washes belong to the same group.

Set expectations correctly:

• They do: cut the bacterial load and noticeably reduce smell. Paired with an antiperspirant they break two links in the chain at once.
• They do not: change how much you sweat. Used alone, wetness continues.
• Cautions: keep chlorhexidine away from eyes and ears; continued use can cause dryness, irritation and, rarely, allergic reactions. Benzoyl peroxide bleaches fabric — use white towels and an old T-shirt.
• Use them as washes: lather, leave on briefly, rinse. They are not leave-on products.

Clothing and laundry: the link most people skip

The same person, on the same day, can smell different in two different shirts. There is measured evidence for this.

At Ghent University, 26 people took a spinning class wearing polyester or cotton T-shirts. The shirts were then kept for 28 hours and assessed by an independent odour panel. The polyester shirts smelled distinctly worse. The reason was microbial: Micrococcus species — known for turning fatty acids and amino acids into small, smelly volatiles — became dominant on polyester but not on cotton.

Practical consequences:

• Wear cotton, wool or silk day to day. Wool performs better than polyester even in sportswear.
• Never re-wear gym kit, and never leave it damp in a bag.
• Cold washes (30 °C and below) do not reliably kill the bacteria. Soak persistent items for an hour in four parts water to one part white vinegar, or run an occasional 60 °C wash where the care label allows.
• Use less fabric softener: its residue coats synthetic fibres and holds odour.
• Air the washing machine. A machine left shut breeds the bacteria that then transfer to clean laundry.
• Yellow, stiff underarm patches are a mix of sweat, antiperspirant and detergent residue; they trap odour. Scrub them with a bicarbonate paste before washing.

Does food really change how you smell?

Yes, but less than people assume. Sulphur compounds from certain foods travel in the blood and leave through sweat and breath:

Realistic framing: food changes the character and intensity of odour, not whether you have any. Cutting garlic and alcohol in the 24 hours before an important meeting is sensible; diet alone is not a solution. Drinking water does not “flush out” odour either — it only dilutes sweat slightly.

Where is the smell coming from?

• Armpits. The apocrine centre. Antiperspirant, trimmed hair and natural fabric is the standard package.
• Feet. Eccrine sweat plus a closed, damp shoe. Change socks twice daily, rest shoes 24 hours, dust bicarbonate inside, dry between toes. For stubborn foot odour, consider pitted keratolysis — small pits in the sole caused by bacteria.
• Groin. Folds plus moisture. Wash daily, dry properly, wear cotton underwear. Do not apply antiperspirant here.
• Scalp and hair. Hair holds smoke and cooking smells as well as its own sebum. Wash according to how quickly you get oily.
• Navel and under the breasts. Two commonly missed folds — clean with a soapy cloth and dry.
• Mouth. What gets called “body odour” is sometimes breath. Brushing the back of the tongue alone makes a clear difference.

Why body odour is often stronger in men

Three structural reasons:

1. Apocrine gland activity rises with testosterone, so odour becomes pronounced after puberty.
2. Hair density is higher — hair keeps sweat at the surface and gives bacteria more area to work on.
3. Sweat volume is on average greater, so there is more raw material.

The three things that help most map onto those causes: switch to an antiperspirant, trim underarm hair, and change fabric. Add rinsing a beard after meals, and rotating two pairs of shoes if feet are the issue.

In women: cycle, pregnancy and menopause

Odour is not constant; hormones move it.

• Menstrual cycle: sweat volume and odour perception shift around ovulation and before a period.
• Pregnancy: sweating increases and the sense of smell sharpens — many women notice their own odour for the first time then.
• Menopause: hot flushes produce sudden, heavy sweating; the odour is a consequence of that, not a separate problem.
• Hormonal contraception and various medicines can change sweating.

Heavy, persistent odour: the medical causes

If you are using the right products correctly and the smell persists, the conversation moves from hygiene to diagnosis.

Two deserve detail because they are so often missed.

Erythrasma is a superficial skin infection caused by Corynebacterium minutissimum. It produces red-brown, finely scaled patches in the armpits, groin, under the breasts and between the toes, with a distinct smell. There is a neat diagnostic trick: under a Wood’s lamp the patch fluoresces coral red, because the bacterium produces porphyrins. Treatment is a topical or oral antibiotic — this odour clears with a prescription, not a deodorant.

Trimethylaminuria (“fish odour syndrome”) results from reduced activity of the FMO3 enzyme. The body cannot break down trimethylamine from choline-rich foods, so it leaves in sweat, breath and urine. It smells fishy to some noses and like refuse to others, and washing does not touch it. There is no cure, but symptoms can be reduced by limiting eggs, offal, legumes, brassicas, soya and certain seafood, under guidance.

Natural remedies: what they can and cannot do

Smelling good, not just neutral

“Not smelling bad” and “smelling good” are different goals, and they have an order.

1. Remove the odour first. Perfume does not cover body odour; it combines with it, usually for the worse.
2. Layer within one family: shower gel → body lotion → light spray. Lotion gives fragrance something to hold onto; dry skin releases it quickly.
3. Apply fragrance to pulse points (wrists, sides of the neck, inner elbows) and do not rub it in.
4. Do not forget hair and clothes. Most of what a room notices comes from fabric, not skin.
5. Change bedding weekly. The source of “morning smell” is often the pillow.
6. Use less than you think. In an enclosed space, too much fragrance is as unpleasant as the problem it hides.

Twelve common mistakes

1. Applying antiperspirant in the morning to damp skin. No plug forms; the product is wasted.
2. Assuming a deodorant is an antiperspirant. If you sweat heavily, deodorant alone will not do it.
3. Covering odour with fragrance.
4. Washing with water only. Bacteria remain in the oil layer.
5. Not drying properly. Moisture is the ideal bacterial environment.
6. Re-wearing clothes, especially synthetics.
7. Wearing the same shoes daily. They need 24 hours to dry.
8. Applying bicarbonate, lemon or vinegar neat and often. Irritation lasts longer than the odour did.
9. Giving up on an antiperspirant after three days. It usually takes 1-2 weeks.
10. Expecting full hair removal to end odour. Trimming helps; shaving irritation can make things worse.
11. Treating persistent odour as a hygiene failure. Erythrasma and trimethylaminuria do not respond to deodorant.
12. Panicking about a child’s odour. Apocrine glands switch on at puberty; see a doctor only if it starts unusually early.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you get rid of body odour? Work three levers together: fewer bacteria (wash twice daily with soap, add an antibacterial wash if needed), less sweat (an antiperspirant applied at night), and better fabric (clean cotton or wool). Most people see a clear difference within 1-2 weeks.

What gets rid of body odour fastest? The most effective pairing is an antiperspirant plus an antibacterial wash, with clean natural-fibre clothing. Fragrance does not remove odour; it sits on top of it.

What causes body odour? Sweat is nearly odourless. Skin bacteria — particularly Staphylococcus hominis — break down odourless precursors in apocrine sweat and release sulphur-containing thioalcohols. Those are what you smell.

Is it sweat or bacteria that smells? Bacteria. Sweat is their food.

When should I apply antiperspirant? At night, before bed, on dry skin. Sweating is minimal then, so the aluminium salts can form plugs in the sweat ducts. Showering in the morning does not undo it.

How long does an antiperspirant take to work? Usually 1-2 weeks. Apply nightly until sweating is controlled, then once or twice a week.

What is the difference between deodorant and antiperspirant? Deodorant targets the smell — it suppresses bacteria and adds fragrance. Antiperspirant uses aluminium salts to reduce how much you sweat. If odour is a real problem, you generally need the antiperspirant.

Does chlorhexidine help with body odour? Yes, indirectly: it lowers the bacterial load, so there is less odour. It does not reduce sweating. Use it as a wash, keep it away from eyes and ears, and stop if the skin becomes irritated. Benzoyl peroxide washes work the same way but bleach fabric.

Do natural remedies work? Sage has a recognised traditional use against excessive sweating. Alum, diluted vinegar and diluted tea tree oil can suppress surface bacteria. All have limited effect and none of them resolves a significant odour problem alone.

Is crystal (alum) deodorant aluminium-free? No. Alum is potassium aluminium sulphate — an aluminium salt. It is also not an antiperspirant and will not reduce sweating.

Is aluminium in antiperspirants harmful? Germany’s federal risk assessment institute (BfR) updated its assessment in 2020 on the basis of new human studies, concluding that skin absorption of aluminium is much lower than previously estimated and that health harm from daily use of aluminium chlorohydrate antiperspirants is unlikely.

How can I tell if I smell? Your nose adapts to your own smell. Press a clean tissue into your armpit, wait a few minutes and smell it; or seal the shirt you wore all day in a bag and open it 15-20 minutes later. The most reliable method is to ask someone honest.

Why does body odour change? Puberty, hormonal shifts, the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, menopause, diet, stress, weight, medication and some illnesses all alter both the intensity and the character.

Why do some people not smell at all? A single variation in the ABCC11 gene sets both earwax type and apocrine secretion. People with dry-type earwax secrete very little and usually develop no noticeable odour.

How do men get rid of body odour? The same three steps, applied consistently: night-time antiperspirant, trimmed underarm hair, and natural fabrics. If feet are the issue, rotate shoes.

How do I fix severe body odour? Give the correct products two full weeks. If that fails, see a doctor about the ladder: prescription antiperspirant, iontophoresis, botulinum toxin, oral medication.

Why won’t my body odour go away? The two most missed causes are erythrasma (a bacterial skin infection that fluoresces coral red under a Wood’s lamp) and trimethylaminuria (fish odour syndrome). Diabetes, liver and kidney disease, thyroid overactivity and some medicines can also be responsible.

Why do I smell like fish? A fishy smell that does not wash off can indicate trimethylaminuria, in which the body cannot break down trimethylamine from choline-rich foods. See a doctor for diagnosis and dietary guidance.

Which fabrics smell least? Cotton, wool and silk. In one study, polyester shirts worn for a workout and kept for 28 hours smelled significantly worse than cotton, with odour-producing Micrococcus dominating on the polyester.

How do I get the smell out of gym clothes? Soak for an hour in four parts water to one part white vinegar before washing, cut back on fabric softener, run an occasional 60 °C wash where the label allows, and never leave kit damp in a bag.

Does shaving armpit hair stop odour? Not completely, but it reduces it — hair keeps sweat and bacteria at the surface. Trimming is often better than shaving, because shaving irritation can increase bacterial load.

How do I stop foot odour? Wash and dry feet twice daily including between the toes, change socks twice a day, rest shoes for 24 hours, and dust bicarbonate inside them. See a doctor if you can see small pits in the sole.

How much does garlic affect body odour? Sulphur compounds leave through sweat and breath, so it clearly changes the character of the smell — but no diet removes body odour altogether.

Is body odour in children normal? Apocrine glands activate at puberty, so odour is expected then. If it starts unusually early, see a doctor about precocious puberty.

Sources

1. NHS — Body odour (BO): self-care, what to avoid, and when to see a GP. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/body-odour-bo/
2. NHS — Excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis). https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/excessive-sweating-hyperhidrosis/
3. American Academy of Dermatology — Hyperhidrosis: diagnosis and treatment. https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/a-z/hyperhidrosis-treatment
4. Rudden M. et al., Scientific Reports (2020) — The molecular basis of thioalcohol production in human body odour. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-68860-z
5. University of York — Life in the pits: scientists identify the key enzyme behind BO. https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2020/research/enzyme-body-odour/
6. Nakano M. et al. — A strong association of axillary osmidrosis with the wet earwax type determined by genotyping of the ABCC11 gene. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2731057/
7. Callewaert C. et al., Applied and Environmental Microbiology (2014) — Microbial odor profile of polyester and cotton clothes after a fitness session. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4178636/
8. International Hyperhidrosis Society — Antiperspirant basics. https://www.sweathelp.org/hyperhidrosis-treatments/antiperspirants/antiperspirant-basics.html
9. DermNet — Erythrasma. https://dermnetnz.org/topics/erythrasma
10. Cleveland Clinic — Trimethylaminuria (fish odor syndrome). https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22356-trimethylaminuria-fish-odor-syndrome
11. BfR (German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) — Aluminium in antiperspirants: 2020 re-assessment. https://www.bfr.bund.de/de/fragen_und_antworten_zur_bfr_neubewertung_vom_20__juli_2020_von_aluminium_in_antitranspirantien-252646.html
12. EMA / HMPC — Assessment report on Salvia officinalis L., folium (traditional use: excessive sweating). https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/herbal-report/final-assessment-report-salvia-officinalis-l-folium-and-salvia-officinalis-l-aetheroleum-revision-1_en.pdf