# Male Dopers: Your undies got skidmarks? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 20, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761 "2007-03-20T19:57:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/1 "2007-03-20T19:57:54Z")
I get skiddies with some frequency and I can remember the old addage my mother used to tell me on laundry day: “You wouldn’t get them if you wiped better!” Well Mother, I do wipe. Repeatedly. Yet I still get them. Still, being a briefs-wearer, it happens that once a while my undies get wadded up my buttcrack and I assume this is when the skidmarking process takes places. It is my assertion that skidmarks are not actual poopstains but buttsweat residue. You know, like armpit stains, only browner. So Male Dopers, your opinions? Skidmarks: Unavoidable fact of life or just the result of lazy wiping? Also, I’ve never heard of females getting skidmarks. Ladies, does it ever happen? You can tell me. I’m a doctor. Well, not really. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/2 "2007-03-20T20:12:03Z")
No, I haven’t had skidmarks since I was a small child. Until I was about 5 or 6 my mother (or grandmothers/aunts) would do “inspections” every so often (usually after baths) to make sure I cleaned myself properly. What skidmarks are are a combination of residual fecal matter mixed with sweat. I vote for lazy wiping. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/3 "2007-03-20T20:13:16Z")
Try using those disposable wet wipes – they’re much more efficient at removing stubborn residuum, and stuff trapped by hairs. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/4 "2007-03-20T20:59:30Z")
Just keep wiping until there’s no trace left on the paper, and you should be good to go. (I used to work with a fella who advised wiping until the paper comes away pink, but I think he was a tiny bit obsessive.) If you continue to have a problem with this, I second the recommendation of wet wipes. It’s really not something you ought to shrug off. I’ve seen girly skidmarks at least three times in nearly as many decades of scrutinizing women’s underthings – so it happens, once-in-a-while – it ain’t little puffs of baby powder emitted by the feminine anus. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/5 "2007-03-20T21:06:27Z")
Well, as I’d say with a man with more hair on his ass than nearly anywhere else on his body, that this is a huge problem. One good way to do it is to train yourself to go poop before your shower. This is fine if you do it once a day. But yeah, I have to have a rigorous wiping regime to avoid it. I had them when I was a child, and as I grew older, they went away, then around 18 the ass-hair fairy arrived to give me the problem again. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/6 "2007-03-20T21:09:27Z")
I’ve never had skidmarks (I’m a guy), but having dated a number of women who exclusively wore thongs/g-strings, I’d say it’s much more common with women. Something about having the material wedged up tight to the sphincter all day makes for skiddies on the thong. ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/7 "2007-03-20T21:46:16Z")
Female piping in here. I’d honestly thought that this was something that just existed as silly bathroom humor up until a few years ago. It’s not something I’d ever experienced myself–I can’t even recall having “skidmarks” as a child–and not something I ever came across while doing laundry for family or roommates. But then as a young woman in college I happened upon a gentleman’s underwear with a tell-tale mark on them and was shocked! Shocked, I tell you! Wearing standard bikini style panties, I’ve never had an issue with this. I’d really thought it was a rare thing that people joked about more than it actually existed. Oh, how sheltered I’ve been. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/8 "2007-03-20T21:54:42Z")
Male, hairy butt, wet-wipes. Cottonelle makes a nice product with a pop-up lid. Use them for the final pass and your shorts and laundress will thank you. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/9 "2007-03-20T22:01:10Z")
I don’t have this problem, but if I did, diaper wipes would get rid of it. Wiping a lot is really bad for the ass; gives you rhoids, or makes them worse, depending. I’ve found that eating a lot of All-Bran (a lot being a third to a half cup a day) makes it so I hardly have to wipe at all. Really. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/10 "2007-03-20T22:03:23Z")
**takes notes** ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/11 "2007-03-20T22:08:04Z")
What **kelly** said. Perhaps your poop needs firming up so that it slides out in one solid clump. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/12 "2007-03-20T22:15:11Z")
I had this problem. I can also say with out a doubt it wasn’t because of lazy wiping. I’ve wiped myself to the point of almost bleeding a few times. Then I discovered Cottonelle Wet Wipes. I love them so much I keep a box in my locker at work and I keep a travel pack in my back pocket just in case. I haven’t has skid marks since. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/13 "2007-03-20T22:21:52Z")
I seem to remember a thread similar to this (sorry, can’t be ‘arsed’ to search at the moment 😛 ) and several posters had problems with…ahem…incomplete evacuation. No amount of wiping will eliminate the problem if recalcitrant poop remains topside. I read once that the actor George Hamilton only wears a pair of socks and shorts once and then tosses 'em. Given that my Fruit of the Looms only cost a buck or less a pair, I think I’d be doing that if I had such a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/14 "2007-03-20T22:37:48Z")
I read somewhere that skidmarks are the result of farting, not less-than-diligent wiping. Just thought I’d toss that out there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/15 "2007-03-20T22:59:10Z")
I almost never wear any, but have not had that issue on the rare occassions that I do. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/16 "2007-03-20T23:18:16Z")
I recently bought my son a box of flushable wipes (found in the diaper/wipes section). I don’t know if they make the flushable kind for adults, but I thought it was a pretty good idea. Edited to add: I looked them up and the Cottonelle ones mentioned above are flushable. Also, I need to unsubscribe from this thread, because I really don’t need five thousand emails with “skidmark” in the subject, TYVM. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/17 "2007-03-20T23:41:39Z")
I must admit: My son has that problem, and I’ve nagged him incessantly about wiping and have bought wet wipes and got his to eat figs, but the problem persists… If there’s a cure I’d love to hear about it!!! (And the problem started pre-hair.) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/18 "2007-03-20T23:55:06Z")
Hemorrhoids will do that. Go to the drug store. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2007, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/19 "2007-03-21T00:35:54Z")
I’m female and used to have a few here and there when I was a kid, when it really may have been bad wiping habits. My one and only thong is black, so I can’t tell you if I’ve had any issues with that. My first thought would be that men tend to have hairier rears, thus more for particles to cling to. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761/20 "2007-03-21T00:37:44Z")
No. (then again, I wear dark-colored boxers) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-your-undies-got-skidmarks/396761.md?page=2)