# Old people should bathe more often **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 7, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312 "2009-12-07T13:57:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/21 "2009-12-07T23:14:09Z")
There’s another factor that I’ve already begun to notice in myself: The older you get, the more medications you have to take. Some of them, either alone or in combination, can change your body odor. I have to take a handful of meds and supplements daily, and it has a definite effect on my odor. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/22 "2009-12-07T23:31:01Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Would bathing more often often help or would it have no real effect? I’m no expert but I suspect that it would have very little effect, unless deficient hygiene was a problem before. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/23 "2009-12-08T00:37:16Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > There’s another factor that I’ve already begun to notice in myself: The older you get, the more medications you have to take. Some of them, either alone or in combination, can change your body odor. I have to take a handful of meds and supplements daily, and it has a definite effect on my odor. I have that problem also [and if I ever meet the inventor of clonidine, i will hug him for getting my diastolic down, then kick his ass for the nasty taste in my mouth when I take it … thankfully the only thing keeping him alive is it does not give me ass breath.] The bath access issue is finally being addressed by products like indulgabath/walk in bath tubs, and converting bath tubs into very large shower stalls with fold down seats. There are some really great products on various accessability websites. I think the shower chair that slides from outside the tub to inside the tub is a great invention, we are getting it for my mom when she gets a little bit more gimpy as she is resisting the idea of yanking out the tub and putting in a shower stall. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/24 "2009-12-08T01:11:33Z")
We did the tub to shower conversion, and it’s been great for mom…not so hot for the rest of us if we ever want to indulge in a bath, but so far I’ve managed to get my bathtub needs met elsewhere. And yes, we do have a five-bedroom home with only one full bath and one half-bath! ---
**Author:** ![CutterJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@CutterJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CutterJohn)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/25 "2009-12-08T01:26:39Z")
My grandparents just put in a large shower room that can be walked in, like a proper gym shower, with no raised lips or anything to keep the water in, just floor slant. I admit now that I didn’t realize _why_ they did it until reading through this thread. Grandma just can’t walk very well anymore, and seeing how she takes stairs, I can see why she wouldn’t want to hazard a proper bathtub. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/26 "2009-12-08T04:29:15Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > There’s another factor that I’ve already begun to notice in myself: The older you get, the more medications you have to take. Some of them, either alone or in combination, can change your body odor. I have to take a handful of meds and supplements daily, and it has a definite effect on my odor. Hmm. Maybe that’s it. (I work in a VA hospital.) ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/27 "2009-12-08T05:19:59Z")
How old are these decrepit people? I am 66 and play racquetball 4 times a week, so I am locked in to a minimum of 4 showers every week. All the people at the club are showering regularly. We take saunas and whirlpools too. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/28 "2009-12-08T08:59:51Z")
I’m almost 68 and I bathe every December 20th whether I need to or not. I don’t have many friends but those I do have are around my age and we get on just fine. Fuckin’ kids these days, obsessed with washing 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/29 "2009-12-08T22:37:05Z")
You know what is really sweet, geezer farts. They make the air smell better. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/30 "2010-01-01T16:46:04Z")
I turn 65 on 1/29. I take a shower most every day because I like to. I live alone, and nobody at work has even hinted that I stink. There’s one who probably would, though, and not out of meaness. At what age does this “old people” odor usually set in? I don’t recall ever smelling it, but I don’t get around old folks very often. Is it truly unbearable? What I do experience all too often is an elevator ride with 20-30 yr/olds, men and women, who think more is better when it comes to perfume. Anyway, I think I’ll ask Adele (at work) if I offend. 😛 Hmmm. I wonder if it’s simply because we’re (in the USA) so freakin’ spoiled. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/31 "2010-01-01T16:54:23Z")
I’ve been known to skip a day of bathing but only **one** day. I was in the hospital to have my gall bladder removed and I was crazy on day three when they released me (but wouldn’t let me shower first) so the first thing I did was take a shower when I got home. I think I’ll get one of those walk-in baths when I’m old. They look pretty cool. Heck, maybe I’ll get one now. Of course, getting into the bath is going to be the least of my problems when I’m decrepit since both of my baths are on the second floor… ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/32 "2010-01-01T17:01:42Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > Why do you want old people to get the flux? > > I have no idea what ‘the flux’ is, I just remember Anjin complaining about it when the japanese were forcing him to take a bath. > > ETA: From ‘Shogun’ Diarrhea or dysentery. > **[Definition of FLUX](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flux)** > > a flowing of fluid from the body: such as; diarrhea; dysentery… See the full definition ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/33 "2010-01-01T17:01:50Z")
I’ve noticed that the skin on my feet and legs is really, really dry, especially in the winter. My mother told me to bathe only every other day, while continuing to wash my face (which has more than enough oil for the entire rest of my body) two or three times a day. I think that I prefer daily bathing, followed by LOTS of moisturizer on my feet and legs. But that might be one reason that older folks don’t want to bathe every day…it dries out the skin. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/34 "2010-01-01T17:16:35Z")
I don’t think it’s so much a function of age but of habits. Not just of personal bathing but of laundry. I work around a lot of young people who smell because they get out of bed, get dressed in questionably clean clothing without bathing first, then straight to work. I’ve known plenty of people, young and old, who don’t know how to do laundry. Especially people living in apartments. They pack the machine so bloody full that the clothing doesn’t really get clean. The water and detergent can’t circulate in the wash. Or worse, as discussed in previous threads, they wash every day, but then they immediately get out and re-paint themselves with bacteria and smell by using the same goddamned crusty unwashed bath towel that’s been hanging in the bathroom (also being used as a hand towel) for the last month or more. Lingering smell on anyone? I’d bet more on not-completely-washed clothing, bedding and crusty bath towels than on anything else. ---
**Author:** ![2ply](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/b2d939/32.png) [@2ply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ply)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/35 "2010-01-01T17:40:59Z")
Now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve my grandmother take a shower in the past ten years. But she always smells like sunshine and flowers. It must be good genes. My grandma isn’t a smelly old person! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/36 "2010-01-01T18:04:01Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Lingering smell on anyone? I’d bet more on not-completely-washed clothing, bedding and crusty bath towels than on anything else. God yes. I had to walk upwind of a couple of young relatives once. I know they shower and wash their hair every day, but it doesn’t help if you put on sweaty clothes and sleep on sweaty sheets. The stinkiest old person I ever knew was a woman who lived in a small apartment with a stinky old dog. Someone (not me) offered to bathe the dog for her and she said no, the dog might catch a cold. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/37 "2010-01-01T18:16:54Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Lingering smell on anyone? I’d bet more on not-completely-washed clothing, bedding and crusty bath towels than on anything else. Curiosity drove me to start a thread about sharing towels a while back (May, 09). You’re right, don’t do it. Yuck! I won’t link to it, but a search (“share that towell”) will tell you all you ever wanted to know about sharing towels and wash cloths. Also, you might want to toss that loofah. Talk about crusty! ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/38 "2010-01-01T18:28:34Z")
> [@2ply](#): > > Now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve my grandmother take a shower in the past ten years. But she always smells like sunshine and flowers. It must be good genes. My grandma isn’t a smelly old person! You are aware of [olfactory fatigue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfactory_fatigue) right? Give Grandma her due, okay? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/39 "2010-01-01T20:32:35Z")
My Grandma told me that back in the old days before air conditioning and deodorant were invented that “Everybody stunk the same!”. She was born in 1910. By the time I came along she didn’t smell bad, and she still smelled okay before she died. I think she took sink baths in between showers. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/40 "2010-01-02T15:59:17Z")
Plenty of older people live alone in one bedroom condos or apartments without room for washers and dryers. They have to transport their dirty clothes to laundry rooms somewhere and its quite a chore for them and it can be quite expensive to boot. Living on a fixed income often doesn’t allow money to be allocated for laundry; if a person has to choose between food and laundry, where do you suppose the money goes? I’m fairly sure volunteer opportunities for assisting the elderly exist in most cities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312.md?page=3)