# Who needs deodorant? (longer than it should be) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2005, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878 "2005-10-19T07:08:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878/21 "2005-10-20T00:26:37Z")
I didn’t start using it until some time in middle school, but in _third grade_ our Gym teacher lectured my class about how some people needed to use it then, because they smelled. So clearly some kids much younger than 10 need it. ---
**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:** [October 20, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878/22 "2005-10-20T01:20:57Z")
Guin, I do your TMI suggestion (although I’m not sure it’s any more TMI than the rest of this thread 🙂 ) and it’s really helpful. It also cuts down on chafing caused by the underwire on my bra. I clearly remember sitting in chorus class at the beginning of 6th grade (11 year-olds). We had gym right before and, since it was held outside during a Maryland September, we were all pretty damn stinky once we got back to class. I remember smelling a weird oniony smell and not knowing what the hell it was. After a couple days of that, it finally occurred to me what it was and I started raiding my parents’ deodorant stash in order to at least attend to my own hygiene. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878/23 "2005-10-20T03:58:18Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > I’m beginning to think I’m the only person out there who has absolutely zero recollection of when I started using deodorant. I need it, I use it daily, I can tell the difference on those rare days when I forget (and I tend to break into a sweat fairly easily)…but I don’t know who brought it to my attention or how old I was when I started. > > Am I truly alone in this? I didn’t know it was such a significant event in others’ lives. 🙂 You’re not alone. ---
**Author:** ![nevermore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@nevermore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevermore)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878/24 "2005-10-20T05:54:25Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > I’m beginning to think I’m the only person out there who has absolutely zero recollection of when I started using deodorant. I need it, I use it daily, I can tell the difference on those rare days when I forget (and I tend to break into a sweat fairly easily)…but I don’t know who brought it to my attention or how old I was when I started. > > Am I truly alone in this? I didn’t know it was such a significant event in others’ lives. 🙂 no, I have no idea when or why I started. I do know that I have never been much of a sweater, and even when I do sweat, I usually don’t have a smell. A lot of the time I forget to wear deodorant, and I can’t tell the difference from when I do, but on occasion if I bust my ass hard enough at work (I’m a waitress), I’ll catch a tiny whiff if I actively try. I remember some kids around 5th, 6th grade at my elementary school having armpit hair (which they hadn’t yet the sense to start shaving) and funk, and I remember thinking “huh, glad I don’t have that problem.” I think I vaguely sort of remember the decision to wear deodorant being influenced more by it being a thing you do when you’re growing up… so I probably started doing it around 13, when I started getting the monthly visit. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878/25 "2005-10-20T06:04:19Z")
Adults DEFINITELY need deodorant. A ten year old? Unless he matured early, I can’t see it. (or smell it rather). I have friends who think that they don’t need deodorant. If they mean that THEY don’t mind that BO smell then fine. I guess they don’t “need” it. But trust me, they smell, and it ain’t roses. They say “I shower”. Sure that cleans you up for a few minutes, but the second you sweat, you start stinking. So unless a person plans on taking several showers a day, the best bet is to use deodorant. ---
**Author:** ![Feydeau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Feydeau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feydeau)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878/26 "2005-10-20T09:56:11Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > I’m beginning to think I’m the only person out there who has absolutely zero recollection of when I started using deodorant. I need it, I use it daily, I can tell the difference on those rare days when I forget (and I tend to break into a sweat fairly easily)…but I don’t know who brought it to my attention or how old I was when I started. > > Am I truly alone in this? I didn’t know it was such a significant event in others’ lives. 🙂 I also don’t recall when I started using. I remember when I started shaving, though. I guess personal milestones are just that – personal. ---
**Author:** ![nevermore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@nevermore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevermore)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878/27 "2005-10-20T12:17:41Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > I have friends who think that they don’t need deodorant. If they mean that THEY don’t mind that BO smell then fine. I guess they don’t “need” it. But trust me, they smell, and it ain’t roses. They say “I shower”. Sure that cleans you up for a few minutes, but the second you sweat, you start stinking. So unless a person plans on taking several showers a day, the best bet is to use deodorant. nah, man, there really are people who don’t sweat/smell as much as others. I dated a guy who could get out in the blazing sun and mow my yard, and smell like nothing but grass after. I’ve asked my girlfriend before about my odor, and trust me, she’s the blunt type-- she says she can’t tell the difference when I wear deodorant and when I don’t. she, on the other hand, pretty much needs to apply deodorant twice-three times a day. _shrugs_ genetics is a funny thing. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878/28 "2005-10-20T13:00:32Z")
My husband is completely and utterly BO free. He has an active job and often goes away and sleeps rough for a week or two at a time. He buys special long underwear that is advertised as not needing to be changed for a week at a time (ew). Usually he bathes at work before coming home, but sometimes he doesn’t get the chance. He is SO FILTHY that I have him strip naked in the hall; his kit is not allowed over the threshold. The bathwater is black. He smells of dirt, ground cover, boots, oils, etc but NOT BO. Ever. His breath, however, could fell a horse. ---
**Author:** ![SusanStoHelit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@SusanStoHelit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SusanStoHelit)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878/29 "2005-10-20T16:37:54Z")
When I was a punked-out teen, I was at the counter at Hot Topics. As the be-inked and pierced girl behind the counter rang me up, she suddenly leaned in toward me and asked, “can you smell me?” After I assured her that she smelled fine, she said that she always applied enough deoderant so that she could smell it all day. If she couldn’t smell it, she was afraid that she was stinking and couldn’t tell. I wear deoderant about 3 days a week. I’ve always been able to smell myself if I’m sweating. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878/30 "2005-10-20T19:25:37Z")
> [@Stark Raven Mad](#): > > …Calvin Kleins will work nicely - and tell him to whip his out if and when the others do. Summer camp flashback :eek: I don’t have a cite for Arrid X-tra Dry sales in the Orient, but every Asian-American I know doesn’t need (and hence doesn’t use) anti-persipant/deodorant. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878/31 "2005-10-20T19:33:31Z")
I have no idea when I started using deodorant - it was after highschool I think. However, if I run out, I can go for a couple of weeks before the pits get stinky. And I’m doublejointed, so when I’m doing a pit check, I can get my whole head in there - trust me - if there was stink, I would know. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878/32 "2005-10-21T03:47:02Z")
Another tip-change deodorants often. I usually only use the same brand no more than twice in a row. If I don’t, it stops working. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878/33 "2005-10-21T04:11:40Z")
> [@nevermore](#): > > nah, man, there really are people who don’t sweat/smell as much as others. I dated a guy who could get out in the blazing sun and mow my yard, and smell like nothing but grass after. I’ve asked my girlfriend before about my odor, and trust me, she’s the blunt type-- she says she can’t tell the difference when I wear deodorant and when I don’t. she, on the other hand, pretty much needs to apply deodorant twice-three times a day. _shrugs_ genetics is a funny thing. I believe that. Trouble is, the ones who say “Oh, I don’t NEED deodorant” in my experience definitely do. I have a feeling that the ones who don’t, don’t really brag about it. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878/34 "2005-10-21T06:04:10Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > I believe that. Trouble is, the ones who say “Oh, I don’t NEED deodorant” in my experience definitely do. I have a feeling that the ones who don’t, don’t really brag about it. Need? How did the human race survive before the industrial revolution, modern advertising, and the mass-marketing of deodorants? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878/35 "2005-10-21T12:28:09Z")
> [@mks57](#): > > Need? > > How did the human race survive before the industrial revolution, modern advertising, and the mass-marketing of deodorants? C’mon…“need to be in accordance with curent social mores and standards of cleanliness.” Or perhaps you don’t feel we need clothing, toilets or cooked food either? :dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-needs-deodorant-longer-than-it-should-be/326878.md?page=1)