# Pandemic Showering habits **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 23, 2021, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651 "2021-04-23T23:47:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/41 "2021-04-26T20:57:15Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I was hoping the discussion would have gotten a bit more clinical about how showering or not showering affects body odors and bacteria. I am convinced that too much showering has the opposite affect that we are looking for when we shower. Can you give us some kind of explanation why you are cleaner/better smelling by not cleaning yourself so often? Something with a little science attached to it, not just I think so? Do you at least wash your face and beard(if that’s you in your avatar) every day? I may have you confused with someone else, are you the oil field worker? I can tell you from my military experience that a group of people that don’t shower for days absolutely smell. After awhile you notice it less, but they do smell. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/42 "2021-04-26T22:04:05Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Can you give us some kind of explanation why you are cleaner/better smelling by not cleaning yourself so often? Something with a little science attached to it, not just I think so? Pretty sure this is explained by “nose blindness.” ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/43 "2021-04-26T22:38:21Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > > [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > > > I was hoping the discussion would have gotten a bit more clinical about how showering or not showering affects body odors and bacteria. I am convinced that too much showering has the opposite affect that we are looking for when we shower. > > Can you give us some kind of explanation why you are cleaner/better smelling by not cleaning yourself so often? Something with a little science attached to it, not just I think so? Do you at least wash your face and beard(if that’s you in your avatar) every day? > > I may have you confused with someone else, are you the oil field worker? > > I can tell you from my military experience that a group of people that don’t shower for days absolutely smell. After awhile you notice it less, but they do smell. I have gone on backpacking trips of up to 10 days without showing, or washing anything other than my hands. We all stank at the end of those trips. On the other hand, i notice that the more often i wash my hair, the faster it gets oily. I go on vacation for a week every summer to a place with no showers. I swim in the lake (without soap) every day for general cleanliness. (And wash my hands and brush my teeth.) But my hair just has to wait until i get home. I make sure not to wash it too often for the couple of weeks prior to that vacation. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/44 "2021-04-26T23:29:38Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > When I get a rash under my boobs, I put an “x” on the bra’s tag with indelible ink, and switch to a new bra. (I also wash the area and smear some antifungal cream on it.) If there’s already an “x” there when I go to write a new one, I throw away that bra. Doing this has greatly reduced how often I get underboob rash. My doctor doesn’t think anything is growing on the bras, but perhaps they just get rough over time, and mechanically irritate the skin. Good plan. I have that problem with older athletic bras. And I get the heat rash if I go without. I’m rather over-endowed in that department. I’ve always had dry skin and with menopause had dropped my showering to every other day because of it. Now, due to the pandemic, I’m down to twice a week because nobody sees me except in Teams meetings online. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/45 "2021-04-27T00:25:31Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > Good plan. I have that problem with older athletic bras. And I get the heat rash if I go without. I’m rather over-endowed in that department.- I do the following sometimes, especially during hot, sweaty weather: I lay a folded handkerchief (yeah, I still use those – the old-fashioned, girly kind) across the bottom of the bra partially in the cup and partially on the band so it fits under my breast. I do this on both sides. The hanky absorbs moisture and keeps the skin from being irritated by the band. A very thin panty liner might work, too-- leave the paper strip on so the adhesive isn’t exposed. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/46 "2021-04-27T01:10:07Z")
I didn’t shower every day before the pandemic. I only shower less now because I am out exercising less. I hate to feel like I’m covered in dried sweat. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/47 "2021-04-27T04:31:33Z")
The first couple of weeks you do smell, it takes about a month o soapless washing the best I can tell to get the full affects. I would agree with you on the nose blindness if it were not for some obvious and dramatic changes in sweating patters. When showering everyday I almost always have at least a touch of a heat rash in my croth area, 100% gone now. Another thing is sweat stains in the underwear the would develop in 24 hours are now non existent. A woman is staying with me now and I am back to my daily showers, I am also back to having that not so fresh smell the following morning. Suddenly my nose is not so blind. I know with absolute certainty at least in my case that I smell fresher and better with less soap. I have always used a wet wash cloth to freshen up . ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/48 "2021-04-27T09:39:15Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > nobody sees me except in Teams meetings online. Nobody even sees _me_ in my Teams meetings, just my icon pic. Most of my co-workers do the same. Given that I was going for ~4 months between haircuts, and my curly mop was looking like a shrubbery in desperate need of pruning, that was all for the best. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/49 "2021-04-27T21:43:24Z")
Half a tick, here. If you smelled better without showering, why are you back to daily showering now that there’s a woman involved? Did she not agree with your theory that soap causes you to have less bacteria? ---
**Author:** ![Enjoy\_Slurm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enjoy_slurm/32/3937_2.png) [@Enjoy\_Slurm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enjoy_Slurm)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2021, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/50 "2021-04-27T22:36:35Z")
I agree with BeeGee. Go back to no washing. Just tell your lady friend to give you a month and then you won’t be stinky anymore. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/51 "2021-04-28T03:48:02Z")
It occurs to me that back when i lived in NYC i used noticed that homeless people had a distinctive and unpleasant odor. Maybe that comes as much from never changing clothes as from not washing. But i could tell from the odor which row of subway seats had been slept in by the homeless. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/52 "2021-04-28T05:02:21Z")
I just put this out there in this particular forum as an experience of mine that I thought was worth sharing. Not making any claims beyond my own experience. This wasn’t a planned thing, about 10 years ago I retired and my showering habits tapered off a little. I would shower when I had some place to go which was usually about 3 times a week. This stayed pretty consistent up until covid hit, By this time my motive to shower was going out, I wasn’t going out much anymore and my showers fell off. Only a few months ago I started taking note of the less sweating I was doing in certain parts of my body.and becoming slightly more scientific to my approach. On several occasions I didn’t mention I had female guests come by and actually compliment me on how good I smelled. Sweat marks in underwear, lack of even minor rashes etc., this is hard evidence of something right happening. My current theory that might change next week is that about 1 shower with soap a week works pretty good. Soapless showers fine. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/53 "2021-04-28T11:33:47Z")
I imagine wearing make up every day is equally bad for your skin but I don’t see people pushing no make up. And if I lived in the tropical lowlands I’d be showering at least once a day. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/54 "2021-04-28T14:11:37Z")
No, that is most emphatically NOT what BeeGee was implying. If the showering with soap is due to a woman’s involvement, I suspect that the lack of stank was illusionary at best during the No Soap period. I live in central Texas where I expect it to hit 90 today and stay that way til sometime around 2AM October 24th. I am unfamiliar with the concept of sweat-stained underwear. I think I’d change more often and see if that didn’t solve that problem. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/55 "2021-04-28T14:44:02Z")
Changing undies everyday has always been th rule. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/56 "2021-04-28T15:30:22Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > I live in central Texas where I expect it to hit 90 today and stay that way til sometime around 2AM October 24th… If we’re lucky. Might have to run the a/c Thanksgiving weekend-- BWAHAHAHA! After The Big Freeze, I welcome blast furnace temperatures. > [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Changing undies everyday has always been th rule.- Or at least turning them inside out. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/57 "2021-04-28T15:32:44Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > It occurs to me that back when i lived in NYC i used noticed that homeless people had a distinctive and unpleasant odor. Maybe that comes as much from never changing clothes as from not washing. But i could tell from the odor which row of subway seats had been slept in by the homeless. You reminded me of an article I read a while ago about hygiene in Tudor times, which suggests it is indeed not changing clothes that causes the smell: > **[The Many Surprises of Staying Clean Like the Tudors](https://newrepublic.com/article/129828/getting-clean-tudor-way)** > > A historian attempts to follow Tudor hygiene with a daily regime of linen underwear. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/58 "2021-04-28T15:45:34Z")
Huh, that’s very interesting. And completely plausible. I feel dirty if I don’t change my underclothes, which I do much more regularly than I shower. Also, She’s the historian behind “Tudor Monastery Farms”, which I heartily endorse. > **[BBC Two - Tudor Monastery Farm, Series 1](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01k3b96)** > > Turning back the clock to early Tudor farming on monastery land. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/59 "2021-04-28T15:55:38Z")
I guess that was the TV series she talks about filming in the article. Shame it’s not available right now. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2021, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/60 "2021-04-28T15:59:08Z")
> [@DemonTree](#): > > You reminded me of an article I read a while ago about hygiene in Tudor times, which suggests it is indeed not changing clothes that causes the smell: interesting that the author reports her skin was in far better shape than when she bathed more frequently. It’s tough to convince folks with certain skin conditions to bathe less, but it can really work wonders. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651.md?page=4)