Try soaking bedding & his clothes in 1 cup vinegar for couple of hours before adding soap & washing them, it helps get rid of "old folks" smell.GF bought lots of bags of old T shirts from TS that had them for 99 cents a bag in all colors- she didn't figure on the smell tho, when she opened them up & washed them. I think she used vinegar followed by another rinse of soda, Borax washing soda would work also- she needed the colors to stay as she cut them in strips & made a lovely rug from the pieces. Be sure he actually washes his hair well, can use some vinegar on it & rinse off. We used that after a friend's sister came out of mental institution & I don't know when they had last washed her hair!(She had been working with social services helping abused kids & ended up using her whole paycheck to buy kids stuff they needed) Could be meds, a disease, or maybe even lotion or something that is not "mixing" with his chemistry.

Dbfirewire--- I think I owe you! On your advice I smelled the light fixture (a ceiling fan with four light bulbs). It really didn't smell like much, but I noticed that during the day when I had the shades open and the light off, I wasn't noticing the smell as much. But then last night something rang a bell. With the light back on, I started to notice the odor. Then I remembered several weeks ago I took off the glass shades to wash. When I took them off, I noticed there were something like rubber bands around the base of the light sockets, I guess to prevent the glass shades from rattling. The rubber had gone brittle and was cracking so I threw it out. When I was done cleaning and went to replace the shades, I had the bright idea to stick some regular office rubber bands in there so there would be no rattle. I am pretty sure the smell was the rubber bands heating up and off-gassing. I removed the shades again last night and threw out the rubber bands. They smelled nasty, but not that strong and I couldn't tell if it was the exact same smell, but I'm pretty sure it is the culprit. I would have NEVER thought to consider the light as the source of the odor. Just goes to show how valuable this forum can be! Thinking back, I think the new smell started right about the time i put the rubber bands in the light sockets a few weeks ago, and it would also explain why I could never locate the source of the smell anywhere around the floor or furniture. The odor always seemed to float about the middle of the room. I guess within a day or two I'll know for sure if my problem is solved!

I'm reminded of our last house. We moved in in Jan, 1991. The kitchen was a concoction of:gray indoor/outdoor carpet, coppertone appliances, lilac painted walls, and cabinets painted a salmon/orange. From the single bulb in the ceiling hung it's on/off string, at the bottom of which hung a toy, stuffed doll witch. (Dubbed the "switch witch"!) Man that kitchen stunk big time, like dead animal stick. WHEN THE LIGHT WAS ON! (OK, we got a good deal on the place, and planned to remodel from the get-go) Turns out the light heated up the insulation up and in the ceiling above it. Very pungent, BAD smell. By the time the remodel was done, no more smell. Something about certain light switches, insulation, and witches! Glad you got to the root of the problem! Now we can all relax, smile, and hope some squirrel doesn't get into the rafters! (They smell like old dirty socks, BTW!) DH was appalled when I suggested that he put his socks in the laundry! He swore they were clean, but when I would go into his office (a bedroom with the computer in it), he'd be clacking away, and I'd smell the socks. Well, his sense of smell isn't up there with mine! Swore nothing wrong! Finally he got a whiff, near the A/C vent. Went up to the attic, and there you have it, old, dead, squirrel! (Took him 2 weeks to believe me!) OLD, DEAD, ROTTING SQUIRREL! Oh well, everybody have a laugh, and be thankful for the sense of smell we have isn't as good as Man's best friend's!

In early September 2012, a top-rated flooring company which was subcontracted to my general contractor completed installation and finishing of new white oak floors in two upstairs rooms and the downstairs den of our new house. The floors were stained and finished with three coats of Bona High Traffic. Each coat was allowed to dry several days before re-application. They also sanded the existing pine floors in the living room, dining room and hallway, stained them, and finished them with three coats of Bona High Traffic. The floors looked beautiful, but my wife and I immediately noticed a strong odor, despite the insistence of the flooring man and the general contractor that this was a "green" product with no smell. I had been working in the house almost every day for five weeks before the floors went in, and had never smelled this odor before the floor installation. Nonetheless, I tried to believe that perhaps it came from some other source, or that it would go away quickly. Just before we moved in, the house was cleaned and dusted extremely well by a maid service, including removing the covers on the baseboard radiators, and thoroughly vacuuming. Despite all this, after moving in, the odor became more noticeable. My wife and I first thought it might be due to the boxes or dust generated by moving. However, even after we had cleaned up the boxes and vacuumed several times with our excellent Miele vacuum with HEPA filtering, the odor persisted. I tried to think of ways to ascertain whether the smell was coming from the floors or from some other source. After a lot of trial and error, two simple experiments finally convinced me that the source was the floors: First, the smell was only present in the rooms where the floors had been treated. In the kitchen and breezeway, where we eat and sit for long periods, there was no such odor; also not in the basement where I spend time at the workbench. Second, by kneeling down and putting one's nose against the floor, the odor could be intensified. This odor cannot be detected in the kitchen, bathroom, or breeezeway floors where no Bona High Traffic finish was applied. The worst of it is that now, four full months since the application, I wake up every morning with a runny nose and sneezing from the irritation caused by the smell. It is worst in the rooms where the oak was installed. Naturally, it is most offensive in the bedroom where one spends 8 hours every night. By leaving the windows open a few inches with cross ventilation, as I do every night even in the cold, the odor is reduced, but still not completely eliminated. The only good news is that the smell is gradually receding. It is not annoying me anymore in the rooms with the pre-existing pine floors. I'm sure that after some finite amount of time the outgassing will be complete in the oak-floored rooms as well. But how long? It is four months already, and the improvement is very slow. There is no question in my mind that the odor problem comes from the floor treatment. This does not prove that it is the Bona High Traffic by itself. As the floors were also stained, it could be the interaction of the Bona High Traffic finish with the stain. Either way, there is an odor problem with the Bona High Traffic product that has not been forthrightly acknowledged by the manufacturer . The product should be able to be applied in conjunction with stains, and not leave such a persisting odor. It is disconcerting to hear people who have an interest in the matter, such as contractors who use the product, or designers who recommend it, imply that there is no odor problem. This entry is intended to cause them to hesitate before saying, "In so many years of using the product, I never had a complaint." I have suffered the odor problem, and so did two other people on this page. How many more, who haven't troubled to write it up? I think that the company needs to carry out a scientific investigation, and try to determine what is the problem (perhaps an interaction of two products, or of the product with certain woods?). It should be noted that the term "green" or "natural" does not mean odorless. A skunk is natural, but it stinks. So does sewage, or the organic esters that produce the smell of bananas. So let's get real here, acknowledge that this Bona High Traffic product affects at least some people adversely with its persisting odor, and try to get to the bottom of it an honest and scientific fashion. Thank you for hearing me out.