# 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:** 2
### Author:  [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/21 "2022-12-29T19:09:29Z")
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought of our friend, Doctor Science.
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/22 "2022-12-29T19:20:36Z")
> [@DesertDog](#):
>
> We use the term ‘doggy tricorder’ here.
I love it!
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### Author:  [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/23 "2022-12-29T19:24:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> OK, for starters, what are you assuming are the benefits of showering daily? Because wearing dirty underwear is still going to smell.
The idea is that underwear and showering are both on a 24-hour cycle but 12 hours apart. This way the body and clothes can transfer the healthy bacteria back and forth sooner.
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### Author:  [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/24 "2022-12-29T19:38:32Z")
And how exactly does that not give a chance for the unhealthy bacteria to transfer?
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/25 "2022-12-29T19:48:00Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#):
>
> 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.
Hmmm… I just had garlic and mushroom pizza for lunch. For dinner I’m having Bush’s beans simmered with lots of fried white onion and barbecue sauce, mashed potatoes made with garlic butter, and leftover roast beef that had been roasted with a garlic steak rub. Maybe later some onion rings for a snack. 😜
I should get me one of those canine scientists to diagnose my subsequent condition scientifically!
🐕
Although I seriously think the onion and garlic avoidance theory is BS. To the extent that different people – and even the same people at different ages – are susceptible to different levels of BO, it probably has to do with differing amounts of surface bacteria, which may be related to things like lifestyles, susceptibility to perspiration, and differing protein availability or pH levels in the subject areas, among other things.
Disclaimer: Although I am a dog with a sensitive schnoz, I don’t have a Ph.D. in this subject! Just natural canine talents.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/26 "2022-12-29T20:14:22Z")
And to add: fungus stinks. If you have fungus issues get the right stuff for cleaning it, get a doctor to give you meds.
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### Author:  [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/27 "2022-12-29T21:33:07Z")
I’ve heard of healthy bacteria inside the body (i.e. gut flora), but what healthy purpose do bacteria serve outside of the body?
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/28 "2022-12-29T22:59:35Z")
> [@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.
Long ago I worked for somebody like that. This was an office job, not out in the field. He always looked good, his clothes were freshly pressed, and he always had an eye-watering nose-curling stench of sulfur and ammonia. Take the worst BO you’ve ever smelled and turn it up to eleventy. I’ve never experienced anything like it before or since.
Then one day he came to work and didn’t stink at all. I was there about another 6 months but for the rest of my time with him he smelled no differently than any other office worker.
I don’t know what he changed, but the result was dramatic.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/29 "2022-12-30T01:23:42Z")
I’m not touching this with a Ten-Foot Pole. Nor will I link the appropriate ZZ Top song.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/30 "2022-12-30T01:42:10Z")
I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide?
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/31 "2022-12-30T14:01:14Z")
Here’s another vote the OP’s idea is senseless.
If showering harms “good” & “bad” bacteria equally and re-inoculating your skin w dirty underwear transfers “good” and “bad” bacteria back to the skin equally, you’re not really accomplishing anything.
For this scheme to confer benefit you’d have to assume that showering harms “good” bacteria more than it does “bad”, or that re-innoculating transfers more “good” than “bad” bacteria back to the skin. There’s no reason to believe _a priori_ that either of those things is true.
Now it is true that some people stink lots. Other people don’t stink much. Some people shower often, and some people shower only rarely.
I’m going to go waay out on a limb here and suggest that personal body chemistry and your personal skin flora have a lot to do with how you smell. The folks who quit showering then discover they stench pretty quickly abort the experiment. (That’d be me). The folks who quit showering and don’t stench are the ones who keep doing it. And they probably don’t stench when they do shower either.
Bottom line: non-showering non-stinky people are evidence of a self-selecting correlation, not a causation.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/32 "2022-12-30T15:28:17Z")
I shower at least once a day. I literally cannot imagine skipping a day. I used to work with someone who was very sensitive to the odor of garlic. I love garlic. I sometimes roast an entire head and we eat it spread onto bread.
Anytime I ate garlic that way she could tell the next day. She could smell me when I walked in the door.
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### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/33 "2022-12-30T16:36:04Z")
> [@hogarth](#):
>
> I’ve heard of healthy bacteria inside the body (i.e. gut flora), but what healthy purpose do bacteria serve outside of the body?
Same as (for the most part) the inside. Fill up a niche otherwise available to bad bacteria.
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### Author:  [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/34 "2022-12-30T17:19:18Z")
It’s part of the immune system’s armamentarium:
[**The Human Skin Microbiome**](https://www.nature.com/articles/nrmicro.2017.157)
TL;DR
> [@](#):
>
> - Skin microorganisms have adapted to utilize the sparse nutrients available on the skin
> - Many cutaneous microorganisms can produce molecules that inhibit the colonization of other microorganisms or alter their behaviour
> - The skin microbiota of a healthy adult remains stable over time, despite environmental perturbations
> - Shotgun metagenomics provides greater resolution than traditional amplicon sequencing, enabling surveys of the skin microbiota at the kingdom, species, strain or gene level
> - Skin microorganisms have important roles in educating the innate and adaptive arms of the cutaneous immune system
> - Some skin diseases are associated with an altered microbial state; reversion of this dysbiosis may help prevent and/or treat the disease
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### Author:  [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/35 "2022-12-30T18:38:37Z")
When I was on chemo I had the best skin of my entire life, and no BO … pretty much all my microbiome was killed off. No blackheads, whiteheads, deep annoying cystic acne, no pit or crotch BO … it was amazing [not that I want to go on 5FU again - chemo is more or less living hell]
I still only wash my hair once a week, but it gets combed every day [sometimes more than once a day, I use a boxwood comb to spread the oils out] and I shower twice a week [sometimes only once a week - I skipped everything last week because the power went out and the deep pump was not refilling the tank and there was a propane feed issue I didn’t want to screw with, and mrAru wasn’t around to fix it. So, until he gets here today, average temp outside, hovering around 32F, inside, hovering around 40F. Dress warm and snuggle the cat a lot =)]
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/36 "2022-12-30T19:32:20Z")
> When I was on chemo I had the best skin of my entire life, and no BO
Same! And no right armpit sweat odor for years after radiation.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/37 "2022-12-30T19:37:54Z")
Gotta ask… how do you live in South Texas and avoid eating onions and garlic?
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/38 "2022-12-30T20:44:45Z")
Upon reflection, I believe he meant _raw_ onions and garlic. For example, raw onions on a hamburger or chopped raw onion on top of your enchilada. I dunno. Can’t ask, as he died earlier this year.
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2022, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/39 "2022-12-31T01:06:38Z")
The weird thing I recently read about hygiene is over 1/3rd of Brits surveyed admitted to only changing their sheets once a year. Since then I’ve wondered what day they pick. January first to ring in the new year? Christmas? Their anniversary?
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### Author:  [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)
#### Post date: [December 31, 2022, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hygiene-i-read-something-kind-of-weird-this-morning/977289/40 "2022-12-31T03:44:37Z")
Sounds like something that college students would do, taking sheets home over Christmas break to get washed.
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