Odds are, like one of my former roommates, she is not aware of the smell. In the case of this former roommate, who like your own, had no real schedule of hygiene, I started being very vocal about how good it felt to come out of the bath, and I made very elaborate preparations for being clean and washing laundry...so much so that she couldn't really ignore it. Eventually that behavior became contagious and she started bathing more often and washing her hair more often.

[back to top]
 

(2)
To the reader:

I disagree with the idea that it's unlikely that B.O. can waft very far. I've been around people who leave a B.O. scent in a room well after they've left. This can be a terrible terrible problem. Addressing general apartment cleanliness can easily miss the mark and paint the roommate as irresponsible when she may just have different cultural values.

Presenting the odor issue as a cultural issue that you're letting her in on and letting her know that it's about bacteria might make the conversation much easier.