Q. Further to your correspondence over the bachelor office colleague
with personal hygiene problems, I have a bachelor friend who, I know, lies in a bath twice a day yet still stinks. The problem is clearly his clothes. His suits and trousers have become impregnated with the smells of cooking, washing-up steam and so on. It gives a misleading impression to those who do not know his habits. How should I tactfully tip him off, Mary?
A.C., London W8 A. Present your friend with a proper chef’s apron. This will partly protect his clothes but, more to the point, will give you the opportunity to say, ‘Well, it should mean you don’t have to cook in your underclothes any more.’ When he queries this strange concept, explain that you were under the illusion that most men cooked in the nude to avoid their clothes becoming impregnated with cooking smells. ‘Don’t you find yours do if you cook in them?’ you can say, rushing forward to sniff them. ‘Oh my goodness — they do a bit!’
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