# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/41 "2010-01-02T17:06:29Z")
I’m 51. That may sound ancient to somebody 23, but it isn’t really. I also shower every day, work in an office, have air conditioning, and grew up with all that. I’m not somebody from Ye dayes of Yore before running water. We wash sheets & towels weekly. I take no meds beyond a multivitamin. In the last 6 months I’ve noticed a change. I now have an mild overtone of old man smell. I notice it when I get up in the morning, and even after I shower vigourously it’s still there, albeit weaker. I’ve always been somebody who stinks when I really sweat. But this is different; not stronger, just different. My bottom line: Here’s anecdotal support for much (most?) of it being some age-related chemistry issue that has zero to do with hygiene. Although poor hygiene would certainly ampllify it. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/42 "2010-01-03T20:32:22Z")
I’ve heard complaints thatt the walk-in tubs are a pain because you have to get in it while it’s empty and wait for the water to fill up (potentially getting chilled in the process) and then you have to sit in there all wet while the water drains out before you can dry off and get out (which can also be a shivery experience. Does anyone here have one that can tell us about the potential inconvenience of not being able to dry off while the water is draining? ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/43 "2010-01-03T20:45:01Z")
Bah. If I live old enough to be an old person without a sense of smell, I will stop showering at all. Star Trek promised me a sonic shower that takes 5 seconds and can be done wearing your clothes even. I am holding science to that, and my smell will be encouragement to industry to get their asses moving. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/44 "2010-01-03T21:33:35Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > I’ve heard complaints thatt the walk-in tubs are a pain because you have to get in it while > Does anyone here have one that can tell us about the potential inconvenience of not being able to dry off while the water is draining? Yeah. Now they have a pump on the drain. Empties in “less than 60 seconds”. You can stand and dry the upper bits while it drains. You should patent a heated holding tank in the attic with a huge down pipe for the filling problem. I’ll take 10%. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/45 "2010-01-05T02:15:54Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Currently, I think nothing of getting up on Sunday, throwing on the same clothes from the day before, putting on a hat and heading out to Home Depot or Canadian Tire unshaven and potentially smelly. (I draw the line at brushing my teeth though!) > > I’m 47. In 25 years I will care a whole lot less what anyone thinks of me. I do that and I’m 26. But my question is, why do they need to cover it up with such noxious perfume? Why can’t an old lady use something pleasant and light instead of dumping half a bottle of White Diamonds on her? That’s more nauseating than the “old lady” smell. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/46 "2010-01-05T02:19:04Z")
The idea of putting on the same clothes as the day before is horrifying to me. But then again, yesterday I had an all time high of about 3 baths in 12 hours… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/47 "2010-01-05T02:31:35Z")
If I can’t bath every day, I’d go crazy. A few years ago I was in the hospital, I went without a shower for four days – by that time I was ready to climb the walls. (The worst was my hair, because they had given me one an EEG, and I had those little sticky things clinging to my hair from. Ugh!) I was able to take a whore’s bath in the bathroom, but it wasn’t the same. So when I get old, I’ll do whatever it takes to be able to bath. Ditto clean clothes. (PJs are the only thing I’ll wear more than once between washings) ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312/48 "2010-01-06T10:43:18Z")
Katharine Hepburn showered four or five times a day. She believed in taking **cold** showers! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-people-should-bathe-more-often/520312.md?page=2)