lumpynose

But couldn't you say the same thing about the clothes on your upper body? I'm not washing my upper body because I'm crawling around in the mud or whatever, but because it gets stinky; it seems obvious to me to apply the same logic to your entire body. And it's not like washing your feet is some difficult time-consuming process.

Seattle Forrest

I'm not telling him not to wash his feet; I'm telling him that if his feet actually get filthy from hiking, he should try putting some shoes on before he departs.

lumpynose

What's obvious to you may be different than what's obvious to others. Before I retired I took a light rail train to work and would occasionally sit next to or near someone with bad body odor and I've had coworkers who had bad body odor. It's hard for me to imagine that they knew that they stank and didn't care. I think your nose gets desensitized to your own body odor.

I suppose one could argue that even if your feet do smell, they're in your shoes and others aren't going to smell them anyhow. But again, I don't understand why one would make a point of not washing their feet; it's such a trivial task. Better safe than sorry.

(This has made me wonder about the stories that people who work in shoe stores could tell.)

lumpynose

For the record, the survey is at 43% who don't wash their feet versus 54% who do. (2% wash their feet but not their legs.)

cooker

Exactly, hence my comment on the annoyance of perfumes and scents, which the wearers seem oblivious to.

I don't "make a point" of not doing it - you make a point of doing it. And it isn't necessarily trival - you could fall in the shower or tub doing it, which is actually a potentially life-threatening event. That's not my reason for eschewing the task, however; I just don't find it necessary. If you feel it is, be my guest, but I assure you, my feet don't smell any worse than yours.

lostarchitect 

Some of you guys must smell like an abandoned cheese factory.

cooker

Have you noticed that 43% of people have smelly feet? I doubt it.

lumpynose

I'm embarrased to admit that I don't wash that part of my back that I can't reach. It does bother me. But otherwise, every other square inch of my body gets lathered. (Again I wonder, why would you not lather everything that you can reach? What benefit is there from not washing everything?) I need something like a loofa sponge with rope handles for washing my back.

cooker

Nothing to be concerned about. I can pretty much guarantee no offensive odor is emanating from your back as you are sitting there, and were someone to inspect your back, I bet they would not notice a difference in smell or appearance between the parts you can reach and the parts you can't.

Digital_Cowboy

As for the aforementioned bacterial/hygienic reasons for washing one's feet. There is also the fact that sadly there are now a LOT of diabetics out there. And by washing their feet it gives them the perfect time to inspect their feet for sores. It also gives everyone the opportunity to inspect their feet for warts, bunions, callouses, fungus', etc.

Seattle Forrest

That's why I always wear a life jacket. Nobody wants to drown on their road bike, or while crossing the street or waiting in line at the coffee shop. Better safe than sorry.

Digital_Cowboy

Actually the only way it is "dangerous" to wash one's feet is if one doesn't take the time to first rinse off the soap before putting their foot back down before washing the other foot. How hard is it to after washing one's feet, one at a time. To stick it into the shower to rinse off the soap?

jputnam

I can see my feet a lot better when trimming my toenails than when standing in the shower. (But then, my good eye can't focus past my wrists without my glasses on. The bad eye stops at my elbow. Been that way since grade school. That's also part of why I shave in the shower -- can't see the mirror anyway, so I've always shaved by feel, not by sight. Might as well do it where cleanup is easier.)

lostarchitect 

I haven't worked it out to a percentage, but I have certainly noticed people with stinky feet on airplanes, at the movies, in the office, and in other situations where people innapropriately took off their shoes. I can't believe I'm posting on this childish thread.

Artkansas 

I find that washing my feet is good. It gets all the dead skin off, especially between the toes. It's not the soap as much as just rubbing between my toes and the sides of the toes with my fingers and the running water.

imi

Yo Mod! STICKY!!!!

idc

Surely it depends on the individual. My dermatologist recommends I use soap only on my armpits and nether regions, so unless I'm feeling bored or I've actually had caked-on dirt, mud, been hiking, etc, no I don't wash my legs or feet. I don't have smelly feet. I'm also not supposed to take hot showers.

I've also tried the "no shampoo" regimen during which I went months without washing my hair - I have long, thick hair btw. It worked okay but I've gone back to washing it once or twice a week.

cooker

Exactly. Do it because you have a specific reason to, not just because "common sense" tells you everybody should always do it.

EDIT - thought about this on my break. If you need to inspect your feet, inspect them, if you need to wash them, wash them, but you don't have to do it at the same time. And, in fact, I'm not sure in the shower is the "perfect time" to do it for most people. In my case inspecting my feet in the shower wouldn't work - not just because I'm not wearing glasses (see also jputnam above), but because it's a bit dark behind the shower curtain, and I'd have to balance precariously on one foot in a wet tube while hunching over and hoisting the other one up towards my face.

I assume, as a fan of good foot hygeine, you put on fresh socks at least once a day, and take them off at bedtime. That would be the most convenient time, I think, for most people to inspect for foot lesions - while donning or doffing socks. They'd be on a dry floor, possibly in better light, wearing their glasses, and they could prop the foot up on the bed or a chair or their lap to get it closer to their face.

locolobo13 

LOL

I wear shoes when hiking. Yet my feet and socks manage to get dirty too. When I was a kid we called it toe jam. I'm just a dirty man!

lumpynose

You know the drill; do a google search. https://goo.gl/SiFX9

• https://www.wikihow.com/Keep-Feet-Clean
  
• https://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/yucky/feet_stink.html
  
• https://health.howstuffworks.com/skin...estion5141.htm
  
• https://www.squidoo.com/smelly-feet#module73712501
  
• https://www.pamf.org/teen/health/skin/smells.html

And for the Christians:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_washing

I didn't see any entries that say that you don't need to wash your feet, but perhaps I didn't look hard enough.

cooker

Those are mostly for people who already have smelly feet. And I like how the one on kids health says that washing the feet "may" be better than letting shower water fall on them. Not exactly a strong recommendation.

Ratchet

what on EARTH are you doing that you get dirt behind your ears? Seriously... A six-year-old boy, I can see, but unless you work in a dirty environment (like dirt, for instance), I cannot imagine how you'd get dirt there.

And to add to the discussion, stop cleaning your ears out with q-tips, too- that just makes them produce more wax. True story. My husband, who cleans his out obsessively? Lots 'o wax. Me? No q-tips, no wax... And yes, I'd know, we look in our ears at work often.

SlimRider

What on earth is a desk or table top doing to collect dust on their surfaces?

Dust paticulates are just a part of earth's atmosphere. You don't have to DO anything to collect dust and dirt. When we are active and we create warm and moist places on our unprotected bodies, bacteria collect and reproduce. They produce gases that are unpleasing to the olfactories. Thanks to the antibacterial acidity contained within the cerumen or wax of the ear, we don't have to bother with gases and smells emanating from the eardrum.

That said. We still have to wash behind the ears, as there is no protection from bacterial reproduction in that particular location. Who knows what life form could develop and evolve back there, if left unchecked?

- Slim

Digital_Cowboy

I guess it would really depend on the person as to when would or wouldn't be the "best" time to inspect ones feet. Personally, I have no problems in doing so while I'm in the shower/bath, as I am sure there are lots of people who likewise don't have a problem doing so either in the shower or bath.

Actually, until I am ready to head out the door for the day and once I get home I go barefoot.

cooker

Actually, all this excess washing is probably creating more resistant bacteria.