If These 11 Smells Make You Feel Safe & Happy, You Probably Spent A Lot Of Time With Your Grandparents As A Kid
From a fresh batch of cookies to clean laundry drying outside, these soothing scents were often found in our grandparents' homes.
Arthur Bargan / Shutterstock You're walking on the way home from work, and suddenly get hit with the smell of a soup that used to warm your belly when you told your grandma you were feeling sick, and you get transported back to being a kid, snuggled in a blanket, who's staying with their grandparents for the weekend. Certain smells bring comfort and warmth, even if it's just for a second, and they remind you that safety, love, and home are moments you can still return to with a single breath.
Smells associated with safety or comfort, like your grandma's cooking, can lower stress responses by influencing the brain's stress system. Smells can also directly affect your mood and emotions, contributing to a general sense of safety and well-being.
If these 11 smells make you feel safe & happy, you probably spent a lot of time with your grandparents as a kid
1. Freshly baked goods
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From cookies to sourdough bread, nothing beats getting welcomed into your grandparents' home than the smell of something yummy baking in the oven. Helping grandma place the chunks of cookie dough onto a tray before she opens the oven and the heat blasts onto your face is a core memory for most kids.
Grandparents have a way of showing love through the smallest rituals, even if it's just handing you the mixing spoon to lick clean, something your mom would never approve of back at home. Now, when you bake something from scratch, that same smell feels familiar and homely, and it fills your own home with the same warmth your grandparents gave you.
2. Coffee brewing
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Grandma or grandpa brewing their coffee early in the morning to kickstart their day is the smell that lingered in the air before you woke up to the smell of breakfast that often followed. Although they never gave you any, black coffee always looked appealing and so grown-up, that was before you had your first cup of black coffee and immediately knew there needed to be cream and sugar for you to finish it.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins found that caffeine can actually help strengthen long-term memory. In their study, participants who consumed about one cup of coffee’s worth of caffeine after learning new information remembered details more accurately up to 24 hours later.
3. Newspapers or old books
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Accompanying their freshly brewed coffee was always a newspaper or the current book they were reading. Maybe there was always a pile of papers beside your grandpa’s favorite chair, or shelves filled with stories that had been passed down for decades. That faint, woody scent of aging paper and ink carried through the room as pages were flipped to the next section of news.
The smell is reminiscent of a quiet evening, creating a safe, cozy routine as you read your picture books alongside grandpa.
4. Wood polish
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The smell of wood polish brings back the image of Sunday afternoons spent learning how to care for your grandparents’ furniture, each piece holding its own story as it's passed down from generation to generation. The scent filled the room as you helped wipe, buff, and shine the surfaces while the light caught on every intricate detail.
That moment felt calm and ordinary in the best way possible, as you spent some quiet time together while preserving what mattered. Even now, the smell carries a sense of patience, a reminder of lessons that stayed with you long after the polish faded.
5. Fresh laundry
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The sounds of the sheets and clothes rustling in the wind as you helped your grandma fold the clean laundry come flooding back when you catch a whiff of something freshly washed. The simple rhythm of pulling clothes from the basket and passing them over to be put away created a sense of calm.
Studies show that when children help with household chores such as laundry, they pick up far more than just life skills. It also improves academic performance, independence, and overall life satisfaction.
6. Strawberry candy
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The strawberry candy your grandma always had tucked away in the bottom of her purse has a scent that’s hard to forget. The sweet, fruity smell hits before the wrapper even comes off, bringing back memories of sitting beside her at church, in the car, or at the grocery store as she slipped one into your hand.
The smell of strawberry candy stays with you because it’s tied to small, happy moments. That familiar sweetness can bring back the warmth of sitting beside your grandma, the quiet comfort of her presence, and the feeling of being cared for in the simplest way.
7. Aftershave
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Whether you were going out to a nice restaurant or to an event, Grandpa's aftershave lingered in the bathroom hours after he put it on. It carried a sense of routine, care, and excitement, the small details that marked his presence before a night out. Catching that same smell now brings back the image of him adjusting his tie, humming quietly, and taking one last look in the mirror before stepping out the door with you by his side.
For most people, certain scents tend to bring back memories specifically from childhood because the brain forms and stores sensory connections more strongly during those early years.
8. Vicks VapoRub
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Chilly afternoons spent snuggled up in bed with the humidifier on, as your grandma rubbed Vicks VapoRub into your chest, come rushing back the moment you smell that familiar mix of menthol and eucalyptus. You felt safest in your grandparents' care when they would sit beside you and read you your favorite book or hand you a nice cup of warm tea.
The smell of eucalyptus itself can bring soothing effects and promote relaxation, but part of its comfort also comes from the memories it carries.
9. Garden soil
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Planting flowers in grandma's garden and being given the small tasks she hated doing, like pulling out weeds with your little hands, or if you were adventurous, spotting out bugs under rocks, all these small memories are what the smell of garden soil can bring back to the surface.
Gardening with young children offers benefits that go far beyond planting. It helps them understand how things grow, teaches responsibility, and even encourages healthy eating habits. Working with soil and plants also supports emotional growth and builds a sense of community as kids learn to care for living things and share in the process of growing their own food.
10. Old leather
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Leather jackets, furniture, belts, shoes, gloves, and even the interior of their car — you couldn't escape the smell of leather when you were with your grandparents. Memories of grandpa shining his leather shoes before an event or treating his favorite leather La-Z-Boy recliner always seemed to fill the room with that rich, earthy scent.
It carried a sense of pride and care, the kind that showed how much he valued keeping things lasting and well-kept. Even now, that smell can make you feel close to him again, grounded in the memory of his steady routines.
11. Chanel perfume
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The classic overpowering smell of Chanel's perfume was somehow every grandma's go-to scent. Running errands, going to church, or going on a trip to the public library, her heavily coated perfume made it easy to find her even when you couldn't see her.
This timeless scent makes you do a double-take whenever someone walks by wearing the same fragrance your grandma once wore. It takes you back to those tight hugs she’d give you and the way her perfume seemed to linger long after she left the room, wrapping you in comfort that felt safe, familiar, and full of love.
The smells of baking bread, clean laundry, and old books hold traces of love and care that shaped early memories. They remind you of the people who taught you patience, comfort, and routine in quiet ways. Those scents stay hidden in your mind, ready to resurface whenever life slows down long enough for you to notice them again.
Doreen Albuerne is a writer with a bachelor's degree in journalism who covers relationships, mental health, and lifestyle topics.
