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Off-Topic Maybe We Should Shower Less Often ...

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Steve Freides

Steve Freides

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Rethinking the Science of Skin

What is all the scrubbing, soaping, moisturizing, and deodorizing really doing for the body’s largest organ?
www.newyorker.com www.newyorker.com

I found this an interesting article - not the first time I've heard it suggested that keeping ourselves as clean on the outside as most of us might not be the best thing for our health.

-S-
 
So, I gather from the article they're mainly referring to soaps and washing chemicals, rather than the act of running water over one's body?
 
I was once stuck in a car for 17 hours in the tropical heat with a guy who evidently was not fond of soap or water. It has given me quite the phobia of body odour. As far as I am concerned everybody ought to thoroughly lather themselves in a strong-acting soap and rinse at least once every 24 hours and there ought to be a United Nations agency with enforcement powers dedicated to making this a universal practice regardless of race, religion, gender, marital status or political opinion.
 
There's definitely a lot of highly overpowered chemical gumph going on in a lot of products we use. I tend towards using the gentlest stuff I can and my skin tends to be thankful for it.

Deodorant is a tricky one though; I have a 'natural mineral deodorant' (it's more or less the same thing as a shaving block) which barely works but anything that actually stops me from smelling entirely tends to come in non-recyclable packaging and loaded with stuff that doesn't really agree with my skin.

I generally err on the side of being a hippie and being a little smelly sometimes. Provided the temperature outside stays below 25 degrees C/77 degrees Fahrenheit it's fine, although it's been around 33/90 degrees recently and I've become something of a disgusting mess.

@LukeV My takeaway from that story is just 'be careful who you carpool with'.
 
I think I'm developing a scientific observation from hiking in a group which is "If everybody smells bad, nobody smells bad".

Just watched a documentary about Pacific Coast Trail thru hikers. One of them was complaining about having to smell the commercial body products that section hikers had recently used.
 
I never liked washing my face with soup and I hardly wash it at all, apart from rinsing while showering. But the whole body, wow. With the current summertime temperature, I wouldn’t be able to take my T-shirt off at all, after a day or two.
 
I've personally noticed that diet can have a significant effect on body odor thusly impacting shower needs.
 
Last edited:
Steve Freides said:
www.newyorker.com

Rethinking the Science of Skin

What is all the scrubbing, soaping, moisturizing, and deodorizing really doing for the body’s largest organ?
www.newyorker.com www.newyorker.com

I found this an interesting article - not the first time I've heard it suggested that keeping ourselves as clean on the outside as most of us might not be the best thing for our health.

-S-
Click to expand...

A great deal of people who use public transportation already follows that trend.
 
At the risk of stating the obvious, not everyone who doesn't shower as often smells badly, and the same could be said of deodorant usage or the lack thereof. If anyone has noticed a bad odor coming from me, they haven't said anything to me about it. :)

-S-
 
In general I would rather smell a fair dose of the usual sweat and like than any kind of typical perfumed deodorant or such.
 
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