# Should we stop shampooing, showering & using deodorants daily? Is being over clean unhealthy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 30, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920 "2010-10-30T22:02:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/1 "2010-10-30T22:02:22Z")
The article linked below talks about some pepole who have made this a lifestyle. Is being over clean unhealthy? Would it be better for our skin and hair not to shower or bathe so much? [The Great Unwashed](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/fashion/31Unwashed.html?_r=1) > [@](#): > > A DAILY shower is a deeply ingrained American habit. Most people would no sooner disclose they had not showered in days than admit infidelity. But Jenefer Palmer, 55, of Malibu, Calif., cheerfully acknowledged recently that she doesn’t shower or shampoo daily and doesn’t use deodorant. Ever. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/2 "2010-10-30T22:07:31Z")
But where in the article was there any conclusive proof that not showering is good for your health? > [@](#): > > Retention of the skin’s natural oils and water conservation are two reasons Ms. Palmer and others cite for skipping a daily shower. Some have concluded that deodorant is unnecessary after forgetting it once with no social repercussions, or are concerned about antiperspirants containing aluminum, even though both the National Cancer Institute and the Alzheimer’s Association don’t share those concerns. No real health risk to deodorant. > [@](#): > > Resist the urge to recoil at this swath of society: They may be on to something. Of late, researchers have discovered that just as the gut contains good bacteria that help it run more efficiently, so does our skin brim with beneficial germs that we might not want to wash down the drain. “Good bacteria are educating your own skin cells to make your own antibiotics,” said Dr. Richard Gallo, chief of the dermatology division at the University of California, San Diego, and “they produce their own antibiotics that kills off bad bacteria.” So showering too much might be bad, but it doesn’t say how much showering is “bad.” And there was some info about people with dry skin or eczema, but if you don’t have dry skin, is there any reason to forgo showering? > [@](#): > > But Elaine Larson, a professor at the Columbia University School of Nursing with a Ph.D. in epidemiology, cautioned that subway riders, gymgoers and others who come into contact with many strangers should consider soaping up. “If it’s cold and flu season, you want to get rid of the stuff that isn’t a part of your own normal germs,” she said. And this is a good reason to shower. So, not really buying the no shower thing, and I never will. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/3 "2010-10-31T17:22:46Z")
I don’t really care how much other people bathe or what body products they use, but I am disgusted when they stink like human grease, or the noxious bacteria that likes to grow in it, or god forbid - ass musk. I think it’s nonsense that there is anything ‘unhealthy’ about cleaning the body with water and soaps etc. Although detergents and hot water do have a drying effect on the skin and hair, that’s just not an issue for the majority. I’ll cheerfully admit that I’ve gone for long periods of time without really bathing - and yes, I’ve gotten shocked and horrified reactions from some people when I’ve told them. And I’ve never washed my dry, curly hair more than a couple times as week (I do wet it down and condition it every time I shower, which is every day or every other day). Naturally I don’t have much body odor, and if I’m not bathing I still spot-clean my crotch and pits, put on fresh deod every morning, and wear clean clothes. I have a super-sensitive nose and am so disgusted when other people smell, I would never inflict it on other people myself. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/4 "2010-10-31T17:26:49Z")
> [@](#): > > The few times Mr. Felix has mentioned on a date that he goes without deodorant, he said, things have quickly turned, well, sour. “It’s weird, but I don’t smell,” Mr. Felix will announce. Then, he said, “the comment is always, ‘You think you don’t smell.’ ” and that’s true. The few people I’ve encountered who will say that they don’t use deodorant just positively _reek_ of B.O. I mean, to the point it made my eyes water. ---
**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:** [October 31, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/5 "2010-10-31T17:27:33Z")
I guess I also don’t understand why people seem so…eager whenever the topic comes up. But when I’ve seen discussions, so many people chime in with, “It’s awesome” and “It takes time to get used to it but it’s GREAT!” I guess I just don’t see a compelling reason. I bathe regularly (more than the average person) and I feel gross when I don’t. And yes, I know, my body produces oils to compensate because I wash, blah blah, but so what? I feel better when I’ve taken a nice shower, so why go through the angst of dealing with oiliness to bathing less often? Showering makes me feel good. When I’m tired in the morning, a hot shower wakes me up. When I’m feeling sick and gross, a shower kind of perks me up. So, from my cold dead hands, say I. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/6 "2010-10-31T17:29:01Z")
Being clean, scented = good. Being obsessively clinically germ obsessed = bad. I recognise that shielding kids from Germs turns out to be counter-productive, but I also value my own cleanliness, and that of those around me. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/7 "2010-10-31T17:35:56Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > and that’s true. The few people I’ve encountered who will say that they don’t use deodorant just positively _reek_ of B.O. I mean, to the point it made my eyes water. I do know people who don’t use deod who don’t stink. Although most of them do bathe regularly. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/8 "2010-10-31T17:37:32Z")
I have a vague memory (that an admittedly quick Google search did not turn up) that there was some issue with this in Japan. As I recall the issue was some stay-at-home Japanese moms were freakish about cleanliness. Apparently their homes were, in effect, sanitized to surgical standards. As it happens some minimal exposure to various bad bugs is healthy. It primes our immune systems to deal with them. If you lived in a sanitized bubble like the Bubble Boy long enough when you came out you’d be at the mercy of a slew of nasties in the environment and get very sick. That said I do not think daily showers comes close to the sanitation necessary to get this into effect. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/9 "2010-10-31T20:30:35Z")
I was going to suggest that your shower head would give you a good blast of germs in the morning, but then I decided to Google and see if that was true first. Top of the list was [something reassuring](http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-human-condition/2009/09/14/don-t-panic-showerhead-germs-won-t-kill-you-or-make-you-sick.html#) from Newsweek. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/10 "2010-10-31T20:43:47Z")
I’m a public librarian. I deal every day with people who don’t bathe. They’re homeless and they _reek._ A cold winter day with a packed house will burn the hairs right out of your nostrils. It’s gotten so a smell has to be REALLY bad for me to notice it anymore. I have a medieval nose, I guess. But trust me - not bathing (especially if you don’t do such a great job of washing your clothes) does not make you smell like a nice healthy human. It makes you smell ass nasty. I don’t know any dogs who smell as bad as people who don’t bathe. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/11 "2010-10-31T20:49:28Z")
I’ve always had oily skin/hair and I reek if i even miss one day. I usually shower twice a day after working out. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/12 "2010-10-31T20:55:42Z")
I read the piece earlier today. What I really dislike is that they equate not washing your hair daily (and the rise of dry shampoos) as token that people aren’t showering every day. I shower every day, in the summer often twice a day, but I only wash my hair every other or every third day and use dry shampoo. Washing your hair every day is generally accepted as drying out your hair follicles while simultaneously producing more oil at the scalp. Menopausal and post menopausal women definitely shouldn’t be shampooing every day. Within a month of switching to dry shampoo, my hair became _shiny_ and lost most of its frizz. I no longer have to straighten my hair daily (I do a tad for special occasions). I get compliments all the time on my hair and questions as to what products I use, when the solution is just Batiste dry shampoo. But the quickest way to get a between-the-legs infection is to not shower immediately after working out/sweating a lot. In fact, when I told my doctor I was taking up spinning, it was one of the first things he told me (shower immediately after). If I don’t wear deodorant every day (and a quality one, like Mitchum) I stick to high heaven. I can smell myself. I blow-dry my pits after applying, so it doesn’t rub off on my clothes. ETA: I had a boss that didn’t shower every day or wash her clothes often. Why people insist on not showering or washing their clothes is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/13 "2010-10-31T22:05:44Z")
I seldom use deodorant. I bathe/shower daily. I smeel OK, your sesults may vary. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/14 "2010-10-31T22:44:08Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > I smeel OK How do you know? ---
**Author:** ![JessMagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@JessMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JessMagic)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/15 "2010-10-31T23:01:51Z")
I take a bath every Wednesday night, whether I need it or not. Seriously though, I shower every workday, but will quite often skip a shower on Saturday or Sunday if I’m not doing much - just spray on some B.O. Basher and get on with it. I think I can get away with not showering on the odd day. I had a girlfriend once who would regularly go two days without a shower. She didn’t smell. UK Doper, 30 years old. I think the daily, or even twice daily, shower is more engrained in the US than over here. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/16 "2010-10-31T23:08:01Z")
My wife takes a shower every day, but she does not use deoderant. She doesn’t smell. In fact, it wasn’t till I had been dating her for a long time that I even knew that she didn’t use deoderant. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/17 "2010-10-31T23:34:29Z")
As I have become older, I have developed extremely sensitive and very dry skin. During cooler weather, I will skip a shower every other day, but I will fully wash the smelly bits (pits, genitals, buttcrack, feet), at least daily. I wash my face with a specialized non-detergent cleanser, so I can do so twice a day. In the midst of winter, I will wash my hair maybe twice a week. I can go several days without washing my hair if I rinse it well daily and sometimes do a conditioner-shampoo (“washing” the hair with conditioner and then rinsing well). Anti-perspirant/deodorant is non-negotiable… at least every day, often a late afternoon reapplication in hot weather. I’ve also been known to use the gel on sweatier body areas other than armpits. My husband used to be able to get away without using antiperspirant/deodorant… he could use the deodorant only type formulas. But he was taking a medication with a side-effect of suppressing perspiration. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/18 "2010-10-31T23:40:20Z")
I’m glad to see that the article mentioned the use of baby wipes… I would otherwise be showering twice or more a day in the heat of summer. The wipes let me clean off after, say, walking the dog in the late afternoon and put off taking a shower until just before bed. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/19 "2010-11-01T00:28:58Z")
I have to wash my hair every day – I always have. It’s baby fine, and extremely oily. It doesn’t get dried out – it’s nice and soft. And I bath every day. I cannot imagine NOT taking a shower every day. And yes, I use deodorant. I put it on after I shower (I shower at night), and in the morning when I get dressed. When I was in the hospital a few years, I didn’t take a shower for four days, and I was ready to climb the walls. It SUCKED. I could only do the sponge bath thing. UGH!!! (And yes, I can indeed tell when people don’t bath. So don’t tell me you don’t stink. You DO) ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920/20 "2010-11-01T00:39:46Z")
[Tresemme read your mind and now has a dry shampoo - IIRC, one for straight hair, one for curly.](http://www.tresemme.com/Products/Fresh-Start/Fresh-Start-Dry-Shampoo/) I’m waiting for clothing that cleans and protects your skin while you’re wearing it and then cleans itself when you take it off - no showers AND no laundry. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-we-stop-shampooing-showering-using-deodorants-daily-is-being-over-clean-unhealthy/558920.md?page=2)