The Axe Factor. Should you make your teenage son live outside?
“I started to panic, I thought something had died in his room. There was no dead animal, I checked. EVERYWHERE. It was then that I realized, my son stinks.” — Diane, Mom of a teenage boy.
Let’s get this out of the way, if you have a teenage son everything will smell. EVERYTHING. If it doesn’t smell like a mixture of sweat, dirt and something unknown, but possibly resembling a dead rodent, it smells like copious amounts of Axe Body Spray. Copious amounts. You didn’t know how much a tiny can could hold until you made the fatal mistake of bringing it into your house. And now you are stuck. Your son loves it. It replaces his old blankie, and he believes that he is invincible now.
This is your life now. Funky laundry and Axe body spray.
You have a teenage boy.
We’re here to help you survive it, with a few simple secrets from some house cleaners who are experts in getting rid of all kinds of smells (including teenage boy smell)
Open up the windows.
You’ve got to air that stuff out. Your filters are no match for the body spray. Opening up the windows for an hour every day is a literal breath of fresh air for your home. If it’s really overwhelming be sure to cycle air with a fan blowing OUT not in, please don’t blow the odor back into the home.
Febreeze is your friend.
Look — there is just no way around this. Go for the original scent, keep a spray bottle in your son’s room. If you have Amazon prime, put that stuff on a subscription. Encourage him to give his room a parting spray before leaving.
Odor absorbers.
You probably need 2. You’ll want ones that don’t add to the toxic fumes, instead go for natural absorbing. You’ll also want to change these out at least once a month. If your son is an athlete, you might want to go to a bulk store and buy as many as can fit in your cart.
Don’t over perfume.
Wax melts, spray, candles, these are all things that will cause a toxic smelling concoction in the air. No amount of it will overpower the body spray. Give up on your Yankee Candle.
Deep Clean:
Have the carpets, curtains and the comforter cleaned quarterly. Smell sticks to things, it seeps into the fibers of the carpet, comforter, and curtains. Or just strip out your son’s room, replace everything with linoleum and spray it down with a hose at the end of the day.
Make cleaning sheets and blankets a regular thing.
Teach your son how to do his own linens.
Trust us on this.
And it’s worth all the water.
Install an outdoor shower.
We’re not kidding. Especially if your son plays a sport. Potent teen boy + sweat = disaster. Have a bin for clothes and a robe readily available.
We’ve pinned our favorite outdoor shower ideas to help you get started.
The good news? Your son is only a teen for a few years. You will get through this. We are here to help. Our service providers are armed with whatever you need to help you eliminate the odor, so you can let your son continue to live inside the house, not in a tent outside.
Need a hand? Our house cleaners are smell-destroyers!
And our handymen can help you install that outdoor shower.
