Have you ever had a smelly roommate?

I have two roommates in the same room. The room is a bit small for three people. Thankfully we three almost do not exchange any words these days. We used to try to have conversations at the beginning of the semester but I had a fight with the one who makes the whole room reek with terrible odour of his.

I am very sure 80% of grandpas smell much better than him. He would only go out to his classes. All he ever does is study, watch movies, or check out stuff on his facebook. That is seriously it ! I suggested him to go out and make new friends or attend some of the many events out there but he would say there is no need, no purpose, no satisfaction.

I have observed him. Believe me, he would shower once every two weeks. He wears the same blue shirt every single day. I have seen him with that specific one shirt of his in this whole semester. Even today he is wearing the same shirt and watching something in his blanket with the shirt on. I even saw him sleeping in his bed with that shirt few times. The smell is mostly from his feet. Also he would not wash his head for a week or more. Like wearing the grease as an extremely expensive hair gel he put on and does not want to wash off

The room is constantly, constantly stale, foul, and very old smelling. I am breathing this air every second while I am in this room, although I sit right next to the open window. I want to tell him something but I had a fight with him and been keeping the silence for a month now. At the same time, I do not want to be the rude one to point out. He seems absolutely clueless about this. Even if I tell, I think he would question me why there is such a need to suggest him that

Did he arrive there with the reek? You have almost made it to the end of the semester. Is your roommate depressed?

Address the issue in a respectful manner to your roommate.

I think he is a bit lonely. Yes it is almost the end of the semester. Just a month and half left for me. He was like that all the time.

The semester is almost over. At this point I would just go out and buy some room fresheners for your part of the room and crack open a window. IMO if you lived with it all year it isn’t worth stirring the pot right as finals start. Hopefully you will have a better living situation next year.

I would definitely say something. It’s not rude to say something, I think it’s rude to ignore basic hygiene principles. Not to diagnose him but he does sound like he is not doing well and is perhaps depressed, which would explain his not taking care of himself. That said, there is nothing wrong with saying, politely, “please shower and change your clothes, the smell is really bothering me”.

If you, who “almost do not exchange words with him,” can tell he’s lonely, it’s probably worse than you realize. He could be depressed, as TQ suggested. An effect of depression is low energy – getting out of bed, changing clothes, getting a shower is too much some days.

I had a roommate with a body odor issue. And a bathrobe she never washed and wore constantly that made it worse. I talked to my RA, and the RA tactfully chatted with her and said she (the RA) had noticed it, and that she suggested my roommate shower regularly, use deodorant, and wash her bathrobe regularly.

That said, sounds like you are a month or so away from being out of the situation. So you might just bear it with no comment.

Yes! Since November when I had to switch roommates. It was a nightmare. Had to involve the RA since there was no other nice way to bring it up lol. She never washed her sheets and only washed her clothes once a month and only showers during the day so she basically went to bed smelling like sweat from her daily activities. It was such a struggle. But you learn that people were not raised like you. Talk to your RA if you’re not willing to deal with it for the amount of time you have left. Also invest in some plug ins! Life savers right there

I think there are two options. First, you need to offer him to go to the shower at least races in 2 days and constantly change his clothes to clean, because it does not smell good, and it makes us feel uncomfortable to everyone around us. And since you live in one room you must respect each other. The second option is just to accept and tolerate.