the 'smell' of the starch disappears as soon as it's dry. i think that applies more to using smelly fabric softeners or ... the BIG NO=NO some people actually spritz a little perfume on fabrics....HORRIBLE THING TO DO!! i don't know for sure but my guess is they do this to (try) to cover the smell of cigarette smoke...IT DOES NOT WORK...IT ONLY MAKES THE FABRIC MORE NOXIOUS THAN IT WAS BEFORE. and some people have horrible allergies...
and what smells good to you...may smell like *#**#** something really bad to me...and vise-versa
starch or sizing should be fine though