When I was younger, I liked the look of dirt against skin (it started with mud), but I was initially put off by its smell when I first tried to play with it - it smelt strongly of decomposing grass being football pitch mud. Garden soil turned to mud had a different but strange smell also (and the sharp bits were a problem). It didn't take long to associate these smells with getting dirty, and over time for these smells to be a huge turn-on - like walking through mud in wellies and its smell suddenly catching your nose, making you eye's drift out of focus and a yearning to begin to rise inside.

So dirty smells went from something I didn't particularly like to something I love. I was wondering whether this is usual within the wamming community, so created the poll below.

Too right it does! In my case anything with a slightly vinegary twang gives me the frights! I once had a catering size container of tomato ketchup poured over my head. That stuff isn't just tomatoes, I can tell you, So be careful what you wish for...

L x

I wouldn't say smell adds to my experience in a "sexual" or necessarily even a "sensual" way for me.

Basically if something smells good, it doesn't necessarily add to the experience. But it something smells BAD, it definitely is a boner kill for me. Nasty stuff doesn't do it for me. Honestly and particularly STRONG scents bother me even if they're "good". For example, I can't walk past a Bath and Body works without feeling nauseous.

Normally it has no effect, but for some reason I used tomato soup one day; great texture, feel and look but then the smell hit me and I nearly threw up. No Idea why as I still eat it quite happily.

I don't think smell turns me on at all though.

Scent is a strong element of my kink, especially with mud. I know it's not a conventionally "good" smell, but I almost can't have too much of it.
It's a bit more variable with things like food mess - I like to be able to smell something just for the full sensory experience, but some things just aren't it.

Some smells are a turn-on and others a turn-off. In the indoor environment I prefer sweet and sweat to savoury & cosmetics. Outside I love the earthy smell of mud, including quite stinky mud. When I smell it, I wish I could wallow.

Same.

I am often very sensitive to smells (and other sensory stimuli), and if the smell is too "bad" or strong, it can ruin the experience for me. On the other hand, the smell of beer is part of the reason I get so turned on having it poured all over me (or pouring it all over someone else).

Well said, this is very much how I feel. Also with the smell of rain, the urge to suit up, go out and get totally wet and muddy starts rising.

Conclusion: Interesting, divisive!

Taking out the 4 neural votes, it's 16 votes that feel that the smell is arousing or adds to the experience, and 16 votes that either don't like it or feels that it detracts from the experience.

Positive 16:16 Negative.

I wonder if it's due to the difference between enjoying slippery substances and wanting to get dirty/filthy? What is nice is that lots of people feel the same as you, and there's also lots who are different to create variety, interest, and intrigue.

That's definitely an element of it for me. I do enjoy the feel of slippery substances, but I've played with HEC gunge a number of times both solo at home and with others, and it's not quite what I'm looking for. I think it's because it's such a "clean" odourless gel, basically thickened tap water.
Mud just has another thing to it entirely, that I'm drawn to much more. Though things like foodstuffs can be appealing to me too.

I've never been in any mud that stinks, but I would LOVE to. To me it would make it soooooo much more erotic...

Stinky stuff definitely turns me off....but I've been a brave boy and rook my gungings in the past & kinda liked having to put up with whatever was dumped on me.

BUT there was one time I got a huge load of something dumped all over me that I have a really retching aversion too. It mist have been in a separate room with a tight lid on because the whiff was unbearable. I was actually sick, which was not cool. I've been borderline phobic of this stuff whole life (which makes me curious about the fetishism/neurodiversity and fetishism/phobia links people have mentioned before...)