# Hygiene, I read something kind of weird this morning
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [December 29, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289 "2022-12-29T17:12:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/1 "2022-12-29T17:12:02Z")
I was following a discussion on bathing habits this morning when one guy contributed something I found odd, but it did make some sense. A guy made the statement that a person can gain the benefits of not showering regularly but still shower everyday using a simple hack. " Putting on the same underclothes you were wearing before your shower, sleeping in them and putting on fresh in the morning". The idea is to maintain your bacterial balance. To me it does make sense, I just don’t know if it would work or not.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/2 "2022-12-29T17:23:13Z")
OK, for starters, what are you assuming are the benefits of showering daily? Because wearing dirty underwear is still going to smell.
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### Author:  [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/3 "2022-12-29T17:25:26Z")
This is a common belief that is absolutely not true. A person who showers weekly may very well smell better than a person who showers daily. If you measured them both at the end of the shower cycle.
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### Author:  [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/4 "2022-12-29T17:32:15Z")
I had a boss one time that smelled so bad I would gag just stepping into his office. I always assumed he didn’t shower but he always looked fresh and clean in the mornings. I am tempted to call him up and ask about his showering habits in the name of science.
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### Author:  [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/5 "2022-12-29T17:33:54Z")
Maybe he showered and then put on dirty clothes. That would reek.
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### Author:  [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/6 "2022-12-29T17:47:11Z")
In the 90’s, when anti-bacterial soaps were all the rage, this was a serious problem. But nowadays most people are aware it’s not the best idea.
The real issue is maintaining the bacteria you want, without giving a boost to the really stinky ones. Re-wearing underwear sounds like the worst possible answer. Maybe sleeping in the nude would work?
But overall, it’s my understanding that if you use a gentle soap, daily bathing is a net positive.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/7 "2022-12-29T17:52:50Z")
As a learned expert (I have a Masters degree in Science!) I can confirm that wearing heavily-worn clothes can counteract the beneficial effect of a rigorous shower, and that putting on such clothes only compounds the olfactory influence of _not_ showering. I had a practical experience during our just-concluded four-day water outage due to a frozen main water line, and Pluto the spaniel confirmed it by finding me extra-fascinating to sniff.
Semi-pro tip: using baby wipes to deodorize key intertriginous areas during a water outage may not make one sweet as a daisy, but helps considerably in odor control and making one feel considerably less like a Bowery denizen sleeping in a doorway.
Personally, I’d want to avoid anyone dodging a shower or bath in the name of “maintaining bacterial balance”. 😷
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### Author:  [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/8 "2022-12-29T18:03:47Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> I have a Masters degree in Science!)
From " _Uh Uh_ University, the finest school around"?
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/9 "2022-12-29T18:12:19Z")
I maintain people use way too hot water and way too much soap.
I have particularly sensitive skin. I use the mildest soaps and only warm water.
And I do not rewear dirty clothes.
Bad idea.
I smell good😌
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/10 "2022-12-29T18:14:50Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> Pluto the spaniel confirmed it by finding me extra-fascinating to sniff.
Dogs are God’s natural-born scientists.
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### Author:  [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/11 "2022-12-29T18:15:03Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#):
>
> I had a boss one time that smelled so bad I would gag just stepping into his office. I always assumed he didn’t shower but he always looked fresh and clean in the mornings. I am tempted to call him up and ask about his showering habits in the name of science.
…Hey Bill, long time no talk to. How’s the wife doing these days?.. Say, I wanted to ask you about something…you know how you always smelled bad…what’s that? No, not your sense of smell, Bill, I mean the way you always had a stench about you that was strong enough to knock a buzzard off a shit wagon. Well, how did you manage to maintain that odor while still bathing daily? I’m wondering because of, you know, scientific curiosity… [click]
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/12 "2022-12-29T18:17:15Z")
Wow…the Diplomatic Corps’ loss…
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/13 "2022-12-29T18:18:09Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#):
>
> This is a common belief that is absolutely not true.
But obviously you’re assuming that there’s some benefit to showering daily, given that you’re looking for ways to gain the benefits of not showering regularly, other than not showering regularly. If there were no benefit at all to showering regularly, then the very simple solution would be to not shower regularly.
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### Author:  [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/14 "2022-12-29T18:27:05Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#):
>
> Dogs are God’s natural-born scientists.
I shouldn’t share this, but I will anyway. I had a girlfriend that was one of those girls you could talk to about anything. She was pretty much game for anything if you could give her a logical reason. After my retirement I went into kind of a grubby stage. I lived alone and really enjoyed my alone time. Her and I would only visit once a week or so but talked on the phone regularly. I confessed to her that I wasn’t showering unless she was coming over or I was going out. But I also added that all my skin conditions had cleared up, and there really was no kind of odor. Her reply was that I was kidding myself and had simply become immune to the smell. I countered with " How about I take my shower after you arrive and you give me the sniff test before I shower." She thought that was a fantastic idea. So, just as planned when she showed up I had not showered. After a few minutes of chat we went right to the sniff test. Her response! " Go wash your dick but don’t shower" She loved the way I smelled; she said it was not offensive in anyway. It had been 4 days since my last shower.
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### Author:  [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/15 "2022-12-29T18:32:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> But obviously you’re assuming that there’s some benefit to showering daily, given that you’re looking for ways to gain the benefits of not showering regularly, other than not showering regularly. If there were no benefit at all to showering regularly, then the very simple solution would be to not shower regularly.
There are benefits and detriments to showering daily just as there are benefits and detriments to not showering regularly. It would largely depend on the individual. This particular thread addresses one particular aspect of hygiene and to its feasibility.
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/16 "2022-12-29T18:35:05Z")
Well… as long as we’re sharing…
I dated/lived with part time a guy who didn’t shower every day. I’m not sure how often he did as we weren’t together all the time. I know he never showered before bed, even if he had been working in the yard all day in the hot sun. (He was a fanatical gardener and when I dated him, my yard looked like a golf course. After we broke up, it reverted to its South Texas unkempt, inhospitable, “brush country” nature.) Anyhoo, he never had any B.O., even in the most intimate zones. He claimed it was because he never ate onions or garlic. \ I don’t know how to explain it.
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### Author:  [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/17 "2022-12-29T18:46:14Z")
In the army, the make our showers faster, the Drill sergeants told us to wash our faces, armpits, privates, and feet, and get the hell out.
We had six showers for 60 women.
They never timed us, they didn’t send in a woman DS to watch us, but we all knew that chow was next, and short showers meant more time in the chow hall. We’d just done PT, so we followed orders. We were in and out so freaking fast. Most people stopped trying to shave their legs, and the ones who did, just did it on the weekends, when we had more time.
Women with short hair usually managed to wash it every couple of days, and rinse it every day. Women with long hair, and the Black women, did their hair in the evenings during personal time.
We were working hard all day, and sweating like pigs.
No one stank.
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### Author:  [@Yosh99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yosh99)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/18 "2022-12-29T18:54:58Z")
Duck’s Breath Mystery Theater?
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### Author:  [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/19 "2022-12-29T18:56:54Z")
Added without elaboration…
> **[Iranian man who didn't wash for half a century dies at 94](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63389045)**
>
> Amou Haji avoided soap for fear of getting ill and lived part of his life in a hole in the ground.
> [@](#):
>
> But, local media say, Amou Haji finally succumbed to pressure and washed a few months ago.
>
> According to Iran’s IRNA news agency, he became ill shortly afterwards and died on Sunday.
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### Author:  [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/20 "2022-12-29T19:04:20Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#):
>
> Dogs are God’s natural-born scientists.
We use the term ‘doggy tricorder’ here.
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