How to get rid of teenage boy stinky room

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My friends all told me it would happen. That one day I would wake up and my son would smell. He would get out of the shower and still smell like he didn’t even use soap. They warned me that my son’s room would smell like a teenage boy stinky room.

Then it happened. My kid’s room smelled and I couldn’t figure out what the smell was. But it stunk. My kid stunk too. My boy was now a teenage boy with a distinctive smell.

Why does my my teenage son’s room smell?

I did everything a mom could do! I washed clothes, I washed sheets, I vacuumed. And I bought him a giant package of deodorant from Costco. Just trying to see if it would go away.

It didn’t. The teenage boy stinky room stayed the same.

If you are wondering about his shoes, they stunk. I grabbed some baking soda and dumped some in the shoes. That actually does help the shoes. We also keep the shoes out of the room so they aren’t adding to the smell problem. Thankfully, the boys are growing so fast so the shoes don’t stay very long.

This left me asking all my Facebook friends what to do about the boy smell in his room. There were so many answers all from getting him an apartment to putting a box of baking soda under his bed and many other suggestions.

I decided to do 3 things that I think has really helped the teenage boy stinky room.

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Air Purifier

I grabbed a small air purifier at Amazon. This is the one below. I chose it because of the ratings. I had no idea if it would actually help. But it has helped with the boy smell. That is all that matters to me.

An air purifier also helps with allergies, pet odors, and dust. Since it is “spring” here in Florida this is a win for me too!

One thing I think you should consider is to get an air purifier with a HEPA filter. These filters clean the air more so it works better.

Update 2022: The air purifier is SO HELPFUL. We have put them in our master bedroom too.

Defuser

Air freshener was my next thoughts to help with the smell. I tried to eliminate the problem but somehow it needed to be masked as well

I love essential oils. So I got him a defuser that we run. But we have to refill that every day. Somedays we would forget to run the defuser so I looked into getting something that wasn’t using electricity.

Then I decided to try the reed defusers and I ordered this one from Amazon. (sorry, I have a small love affair with things being delivered straight to my home.) I personally love it because it emits a light lavender smell into the room all the time and I don’t have to worry about the thing turned off. Plus I don’t have to plug it into the wall and my kid likes it too.

I chose a scent of lavender to help with his mood and to help give him better sleep.

Plants

I got a plant that is pretty hearty for his room. It’s one that is supposed to clean the air. That way it will help with the smell. I do make sure to water it once a week and we keep it near the window so that if we don’t open the shades it still gets a little light.

I have also heard that having plants in your room helps with sleep so I figured we have that going for us too. As my son gets older I know that he will be going to bed later which means less sleep.

Flooring

(Updated 2022) Recently we removed all the carpet from our home and had luxury vinyl planks installed. The flooring is amazing, but what I wasn’t expecting was the sent in their rooms to significantly decrease. I do realize that changing your flooring isn’t always practical, but I thought I would share what has helped in our home.

(Update 2023) At night we start washing his feet before bed with hydrogen peroxide. It just cleans their feet real quick and it has actually helped. I think getting the extra dirt off in the evening has helped with the smell during the day.

Final thoughts on boys stinky room

Overall, I think the smell of my son will continue even though we clean, wash clothes, buy lots of deodorants and stuff to get him to use soap in the shower (think loofas and shower gel). There is just something about boys at this age where they smell a little more.

Though my son’s room doesn’t smell like a teenage boy stinky room. I can tolerate it more and I don’t smell the room from the hallway. I honestly think the combination of the plant, air purifier, and the defuser are all working together to help the room smell better.

If the smell gets worse, I may put a box of baking soda under his bed and in his closet to see if that helps too. That would be the only thing I would add and it’s so simple to do.

If you are a parent of a teenage boy stinky room, could you share this post? I’m certain other parents would benefit from it too.

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