# Deodorants vs. Antiperspirants **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 31, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971 "2011-07-31T23:31:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/1 "2011-07-31T23:31:43Z")
Why would someone use a product to rub all over their armpits if it didn’t do anything to control sweat? Isn’t that just Axe Body Spray concentrated on your pits? Does anyone use both an antiperspirant AND a deodorant? Or do antiperspirants take care of the deodorant’s role by stopping the odor-producing sweat from forming in the first place? And if that’s the case, why would anyone use a plain old deodorant at all? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/2 "2011-08-01T00:20:43Z")
I bet there are some folks who just don’t perspire a lot, so all they care about is odor. It might also be a chemical thing - I understand some folks are sensitive to some ingredients in anti-perspirants. There’s always George Carlin’s suggestion - stick a bay leaf under each arm. It doesn’t stop you sweating, but you smell like soup! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/3 "2011-08-01T00:21:33Z")
I think most antiperspirants have a deodorant in them, that is some kind of scent to them. As to the other question, why would someone simply use a deodorant, have no idea. Maybe because they’re sensitive or allergic to antiperspirant chemicals? eta, beaten to the punch by Fairy Chat Mom. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/4 "2011-08-01T00:30:26Z")
I only use deodorant. The body is meant to perspire and I’m not sure it’s a good idea to interfere with the process. Much of my work is outdoors and frequently requires exertion, to the point my entire body perspires. Stopping the process just in my armpits is kind of irrelevant and with the deodorant, I smell even better when I’m sweating. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/5 "2011-08-01T00:34:25Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > I only use deodorant. The body is meant to perspire and I’m not sure it’s a good idea to interfere with the process. Much of my work is outdoors and frequently requires exertion, to the point my entire body perspires. Stopping the process just in my armpits is kind of irrelevant and with the deodorant, I smell even better when I’m sweating. Your body has a vast area of skin surface by which it can let off heat energy through perspiration. Closing the pores of a small area, such as the armpits, is harmless because the perspiration will simply be “rerouted” through other, open pores on the body’s surface. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/6 "2011-08-01T00:38:53Z")
My antiperspirant of choice for many years has been Mitchum’s unscented gel. It doesn’t stop me from sweating under my arms, as the t-shirts I have to wear under my dress shirts will attest, but it does make me sweat less. And despite being unscented–I’m rather particular about scents–the sweat is practically odor-free, so there’s obviously something going on that inhibits bacterial action. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/7 "2011-08-01T00:41:18Z")
I use deodorant with no anti-perspirant. There are reasons for it. For me the major problem is that when I use an anti-perspirant I don’t sweat from my armpits but I sweat profusely from other areas like my back, as if my body is trying to reestablish equilibrium in its cooling abilities. You sweat from the armpits to reduce bodyheat, if you block that off people just sweat more in other places that are even more uncomfortable. Deodorants cover whatever odor sweat eventually produces and have a pleasant, light odor to them that I enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/8 "2011-08-01T00:47:37Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > Your body has a vast area of skin surface by which it can let off heat energy through perspiration. Closing the pores of a small area, such as the armpits, is harmless because the perspiration will simply be “rerouted” through other, open pores on the body’s surface. And perspiration in and of itself doesn’t smell so “bad” when it first comes out on most people–it’s just when it it’s been around for a while to grow bacteria that you really notice it. And then, most of it is in the clothes anyway. I think most people don’t have such offensive perspiration, and as long as they shower, it’s not really a problem, especially if you work in an air-conditioned office. If you do a lot of physical work outside, then just change your shirt if you’re so afraid of offending people. But everyone freaks out because of all the marketing for deodorants and antiperspirants so they just put it on anyway. People are paranoid–they think the whole world is going around smelling their armpits. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/9 "2011-08-01T00:51:19Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > And perspiration in and of itself doesn’t smell so “bad” when it first comes out on most people–it’s just when it it’s been around for a while to grow bacteria that you really notice it. And then, most of it is in the clothes anyway. > > I think most people don’t have such offensive perspiration, and as long as they shower, it’s not really a problem, especially if you work in an air-conditioned office. If you do a lot of physical work outside, then just change your shirt if you’re so afraid of offending people. But everyone freaks out because of all the marketing for deodorants and antiperspirants so they just put it on anyway. People are paranoid–they think the whole world is going around smelling their armpits. Hey now, sometimes the whole world CAN smell those pits. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/10 "2011-08-01T01:28:10Z")
> [@jamiemcgarry](#): > > Hey now, sometimes the whole world CAN smell those pits. :dubious: See [sweat gland](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweat_gland) in Wikipedia. Your pits are stinkier because they have apocrine sweat glands rather than eccrine ones. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/11 "2011-08-01T01:49:41Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > And perspiration in and of itself doesn’t smell so “bad” when it first comes out on most people–it’s just when it it’s been around for a while to grow bacteria that you really notice it. **And then, most of it is in the clothes anyway.** > > **I think most people don’t have such offensive perspiration, and as long as they shower,** it’s not really a problem, especially if you work in an air-conditioned office. **If you do a lot of physical work outside, then just change your shirt if you’re so afraid of offending people.** But everyone freaks out because of all the marketing for deodorants and antiperspirants so they just put it on anyway. People are paranoid–they think the whole world is going around smelling their armpits. I dunno that just a shirt-change will do it for most men if they’re really working/sweating hard. My husband works with materials ovens and welding torches in an open-air shop in South Carolina. Temperature’s been hovering around 95-100 F for the last month or so. Believe me, I can tell when he gets home, and his butt goes directly into the shower. A clothing change at that point accomplishes nothing more than fouling up an additional shirt. Now, that said, fresh sweat doesn’t smell that _awful_ - even at the end of one day in the summer. It’s assuredly a strong odor, but not terribly \*offensive \*(even when it belongs to people who aren’t my husband). I do have to wonder if a lot of the scents and cover-ups are mainly psychological - basically saying “It’s ok if you have a strong smell, but only if you smell like these pre-approved scents. Basic human flavor/scent is out, sorry.” ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/12 "2011-08-01T06:07:11Z")
Moving from MPSIMS to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/13 "2011-08-01T07:37:31Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > See [sweat gland](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweat_gland) in Wikipedia. Your pits are stinkier because they have apocrine sweat glands rather than eccrine ones. Yeah, I was gonna mention that. I live in a very humid environment, so I use antiperspirant/deodorant (Old Spice Sweat Defense - good stuff) because if I sweat from my pits, I _will_ be smelling badly towards the end of the day. None of the sweat from other parts of my body produce an intra-day odor. But I can understand why some people don’t need antiperspirant or don’t want the aluminum/chemicals staining their clothes, clogging their pores, (I had a harmless armpit cyst once) and other possible health concerns. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/14 "2011-08-01T08:41:30Z")
I don’t use antiperspirants because they usually contain one or more of the following: Aluminum chloride, aluminum chlorohydrate, aluminum-zirconium compounds, aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly and aluminum zirconium trichlorohydrex gly. Studies have shown these ingredients may contribute to or cause cancer and/or Alzheimer’s and although far from being widely accepted and agreed upon accepted facts, why take the risk by systematically exposing your body to more chemicals? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/15 "2011-08-01T15:27:15Z")
I have never seen an antiperspirant that wasn’t combined with a deodorant. However, deodorants by themselves are useful for many people, like myself. I used to use the combined product as a teenager until one day I had a physical. The doctor took one glance at my armpits, which I had noticed were awfully itchy and red a lot of the time, and said, “you’re allergic to aluminum. Stop using antiperspirant”. He was right. I switched to plain deodorant and haven’t had any problems since. Speaking now as a scientist, though, I’d argue that “sensitivity” would be more likely to be accurate than the very specific “allergy”. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/16 "2011-08-01T16:22:12Z")
(I used to work in the industry) All anti-perspirants are also deodorants. Even the “unscented” ones have some fragrance. As has been noted, not all deodorants are also anti-perspirants. An anti-perspirant is, according to the FDA, an over-the-counter drug, since it is affecting a bodily function (stopping perspiration). A limited number of active ingredients (all of them aluminum salts) are allowed to be used for anti-perspirancy claims. OTOH, a deodorant is, essentially, a cosmetic, and therefore, is treated differently. Nearly all “deodorant-only” products in the U.S. are targeted towards men (though, even male-targeted products are mostly anti-perspirants). My guess has always been that some men don’t care if they sweat, so long as they don’t stink. Female-targeted products are almost exclusively anti-perspirants; the vast majority of women want to be both dry and odor-free. ---
**Author:** ![Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phedre_no_Delaunay)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/17 "2011-08-02T00:53:34Z")
You can usually tell the people who only use deodorants, they are the ones who smell really badly at the end of the day. Deodorant alone just doesn’t seem to keep people from stinking, unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/18 "2011-08-02T01:11:09Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > I dunno that just a shirt-change will do it for most men if they’re really working/sweating hard. My husband works with materials ovens and welding torches in an open-air shop in South Carolina. Temperature’s been hovering around 95-100 F for the last month or so. > > Believe me, I can tell when he gets home, and his butt goes directly into the shower. A clothing change at that point accomplishes nothing more than fouling up an additional shirt. > > Now, that said, fresh sweat doesn’t smell that _awful_ - even at the end of one day in the summer. It’s assuredly a strong odor, but not terribly \*offensive \*(even when it belongs to people who aren’t my husband). > > I do have to wonder if a lot of the scents and cover-ups are mainly psychological - basically saying “It’s ok if you have a strong smell, but only if you smell like these pre-approved scents. Basic human flavor/scent is out, sorry.” Am I the only one who finds that hard-work-sweat smells different, and nicer, than I-haven’t-showered-in-five-days sweat? I mean, I’ll still probably send the SO to the shower if he comes home stinky from working hard in the sun or heat, but I’ll probably take a sniff or two first. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/19 "2011-08-02T01:48:53Z")
Ok, a distinction needs to be made here. B.O. and fresh-sweat are not the same thing. B.O. is the “smells vaguely like shit” smell that one gets from dank sweat sitting on the skin for an extended period of time; where it dries and attracts bacteria or whatever it is. Obese people have a particular problem with B.O. because of all the layers of flesh covering their bodies make sweat easily trap-able and difficult to get to. Fresh sweat doesn’t smell anything like body odor. However, what about wet pits? Dont’ people who only wear deodorant care about the big wet spots that appear on your shirt over the arm pits when you begin to perspire (in the least bit)? ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971/20 "2011-08-02T02:04:11Z")
Well…I am female, I do physical, sometimes outdoors, work and I sweat. However, not usually to the extent of damp-armpit stains. I do use antiperspirant sometimes, but I also swipe it under my boobs (sorry if that is TMI.) Because armpit-moistness isn’t an issue, but bra-line sweat is. As far as I know I don’t let it ferment enough to smell…I take two showers a day this time of year. Sometimes, even, three showers. Hard-work-sweat is not offensive to me, although I suppose it depends on individual body chemistry. B.O. from not regularly cleaning oneself…ewwww. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deodorants-vs-antiperspirants/590971.md?page=2)