CrankyOne

Thought this interesting.

What Happens When You Quit Showering? - The Atlantic

Most people can easily go without anti-perspirant or deo (and sweat and stink less). Not sure how many could go without showering.

Tundra_Man 

About 9 years ago I decided that deodorant can't be all that healthy, so I stopped using it.

It was an interesting experiment. For the first two or three weeks I noticed no difference. Then I started to smell myself. I was still taking daily showers, but pretty soon my own smell was driving me to distraction and I was worried that co-workers and clients were smelling it as well. After a couple months I decided there were less annoying ways to improve my health and resumed using deodorant.

I suspect that the first few weeks where I noticed no difference I had 25 years of deodorant layers built up in my pores and it took a while for it all to work its way out.

Never have used anti-perspirant.

andyprough

I'd suggest there's a happy medium somewhere that the author bypassed on his way from too-frightened-NOT-to-shower all the way over to too-frightened-TO-shower. Rather than being a helpful article, it's just another personal account of descent into obsessive behavior - which the internet is already overly full of.

Shower when you want, don't shower when you don't want. Stop obsessively scrubbing soap into every pore on your body. If someone calls you "stinky" - then go bathe.

Life is a lot simpler without maniacal obsessions. John Adams was the 2nd president of the US and lived to 91 years old without the help of modern showers and soaps and deodorants. Ben Franklin lived to be 85. At the same time that each lived without modern bathroom conveniences, I also doubt either one passed up a good bath when they had the opportunity.

FullGas

uh, I ENJOY showering.

hot water feels good (especially on cold mornings), relaxes muscles after a workout, gets the muck out of my eyes from sleeping, and freshens up the ol' private spaces after defecating and such.

you can go native if you want, but there's not a chance in hell I'd do it.

a former friend is a Brit who had a casual hygiene program...on a lengthy road trip with him, the odors that filled the car were downright nasty. I had to roll the windows down often to keep from getting nauseous. srsly unpleasant.

wolfchild

I work at a very dirty job so I need to shower everyday plus I also do weightlifting which makes me sweat a lot more then cycling.

Andy_K 

From the opening paragraph: "...(and you live to be 100, as we all surely will)." This should tip you off that either the author is not entirely serious or he's an idiot, maybe both. I mean, I know medical science is advancing, and it wouldn't surprise me if I lived to be 100, but I'm pretty certain we won't all do it. Also, having seen loved ones live into their 90's I'm not sure I want to do it. Maybe medical science will fix that too and I'll be happy until overpopulation makes Wyoming look like downtown Calcutta.

Anyway, getting back on topic, I shower at a rate that most people would think borders on disgusting...generally only two or three times a week. One thing I've noticed is that if I go a couple of days without biking I start to stink much sooner than I do if I'm biking every day. If I'm biking every day, the oil build-up in my hair starts to drive me crazy before I really start to stink. If I don't bike (which typically means I don't exercise in any appreciable way), my deodorant starts to be challenged the day after I've showered. I find this to be a counter-intuitive result, but I've attributed it to a good sweat (followed by changing out of the sweaty clothes) cleansing my pores. The pseudo-science in this article seems to mesh with that theory.

On a related note, one of the very few things I remember from college is this article which we read in a sociology class I took: https://www.sfu.ca/~palys/Miner-1956-...heNacirema.pdf

Giant Doofus

My spouse and I used to spend whole summers in the high desert. My skin would be so dry that it hurt. Daily showering was out of the question. What I did then was to shower maybe two or three times per week. On off days I would take a damp wash cloth spritzed with witch hazel and use it to clean my face, neck, along the bra line, arm pits, between my legs, and feet (in. that. order.). I felt fresh and clean, and my spouse assured me that I did not stink.

Here in the humid south, I do shower every day. But I still use the same wash-cloth-and-witch-hazel strategy for getting cleaned up when I arrive at the office soaked in sweat.

pvillemasher

I work from home so no, I don't need to shower

ThermionicScott 

+1. Seems like there was also an article on Vox or the like, where the author went without bathing for three weeks and took helpful pictures, too, also prompted by the AOBiome buzz.

The discussion increasingly is all-or-nothing. Commercial soap and deodorant and grain products do these things that didn't happen to cavemen -- let's give them up completely! Raising animals is more water-intensive than growing crops -- go vegan! Automobiles pollute -- go carfree!

Moderation doesn't sell magazines or get you to click on things, I guess. But it's arguably best for sanity and adherence. Eating less meat, biking when one can, and doing a quick rinse after work instead of a long soapy scrub can all make a difference and aren't that hard.

mannie3moon

Longest I've ever gone without bathing is 3 days. Stinky or not, itchy or not, that's where I draw my personal line. I only wear deodorant when I know I will (or might) be around people, though.

Rcrxjlb

I shower every night.

I don't sleep well without getting clean 1st...

jon c. 

I wouldn't care to start my day without a shower. It's pleasing and refreshing. And after golf, or biking, or fighting overgrown vines in the yard, a shower feels quite nice. Sure, I understand I could remain covered in salt and dust, but why would I? Indoor plumbing and water heaters are some of the best basic technology man has created and I see no reason not to fully avail myself of the benefits. And saving time? Seriously? There's no better way to spend my time than doing things that bring me pleasure. The whole thing is inconsistent with hedonism.

MoAlpha

I shower pretty much every night, but have commuted to work for close to 40 years without showering. I towel off as needed, wash my face, and change my clothes, and have no odor problems. Might just be my particular sweat composition and skin flora, but I have never used deodorant and if I stank, my wife would tell me. You can take that last fact to the bank.

Tomorrow, I start a 6 or 7 day ocean race in hot, wet conditions. That will require a couple of baby wipes a day.

Rollfast

Even Pepe Le Pew showers.

Allez3

For the sake of all humanity...

Wash your stinky ass!

cooker

The big change I have made is I no longer wash my hair - I just rinse it. It helps that when I first did it and noticed greasy hair, I was able to hide it with a buzz cut, because for months my hair seemed greasy, but eventually it has adapted. It would have been a much harder transition if I had long hair.

Basically, shampoo makes your hair greasy. So if you are using it, you have to keep using it. If you stop using it, after a while you don't need it.

Also since I stopped using it my forehead is no longer dry and around my nose is no longer greasy, ie. "combination skin", which turns out to be due to shampoo; and my hands don't get chapped and cracked all winter.

I was inspired by a couple of factoids. My wife recalled a girl in school (1950s/60s) who had incredibly beautiful and very long hair, that she washed every two weeks. We didn't always have this habit of shampooing every 1-2 days.

Secondly I heard a presentation on how our physiology adapts to environmental conditions, and I realized that our scalps have been doing that all our lives - pumping out grease to replace natural oils removed by shampoo.

Regarding deodorant, I do use it, but I either use a "natural" commercial product, or I use coconut oil, which works perfectly well. You can even apply it when you already notice BO, and it will remove it. You can (ironically) buy deodorized coconut oil, so you don't smell like a macaroon or sunscreen.

cooker

Wow - that was an excellent article for anyone with an interest in primitive tribes.

alan s 

I shower at least once a day. Often twice. Why would anyone want to be smelly, oily and salty? If you don't have that luxury, too bad for you.

AusTexMurf

I quit regularly washing my hair with shampoo about 10 years ago. Much preferred. I clean my hair with Dr. Bronner's soap or maybe the kids shampoo then rinse with conditioner about twice a month. I shower about every other day just rinsing my hair. Works well for me. By the way, I am 45 years old and have long healthy hair that I usually wear in a braid or pony tail.

I quit using commercial deodorants more than 12 years ago. I use a natural crystal deodorant stone similar to the one shown below. I get mine for $2.99 at my local coop and it lasts about 4-5 months. If I don't have a stone, I have also used coconut oil or shea butter. Takes a little bit for your body chemistry to adapt. I am very physically active, sweat buckets, and drink lots or water. I also use patchouli, Nag Champa, or other natural essential oil, applied every other day. Works well enough for me, we have 4 kids ! My better half follows a very similar hygiene practice and I think she smells healthy, womanly, and delicious ! Much better than scented shampoos, deodorants, and perfume. We save lots of $ to boot.

PatrickGSR94

Yeah I tried the no deodorant thing last year, not good. Normally my wife swears I don't stink nearly as bad as she does after working out or sweating. But then we went on a short trip for a couple of days to see a concert in Nashville, and I swear I started to smell like onions! It was nasty.

ItsJustMe

I haven't used deodorant or antiperspirant for years. I do shower at least daily though, when bike commuting, after every ride and a cooldown period of about 10 minutes.

During the summer, most of the time I shower in the evening before getting into bed because I've probably been out gardening, or working on a car, or something and I'm actually dirty.

These people who say they don't need to shower daily apparently don't do any actual physical work, or they don't mind their bedclothes getting disgusting.

rhm

Yup, that's my story as well.

Going for a swim in fresh water, such as a pond or river, serves the same purpose; but I rarely have that opportunity. Salt water doesn't.

PatrickGSR94

I typically shower in the morning. Occasionally I'll shower at night if I'm really dirty, and not shower the next morning, but when I do that my face always feels more gross than if I had showered in the morning.

I usually skip the shower on Saturdays because I usually end up doing something where I get sweaty or dirty on Saturdays, and it seems pointless to shower just before that on a Saturday morning. But sometimes I might have to shower later in the afternoon or evening.

During the week it's every morning. If I ride to work, I shower at work. I typically don't shower after riding home, until the next morning, because I just don't like the idea of 2 showers in one day. Seems especially wasteful.

locolobo13 

I shower daily because it feels good. Poor mans substitute for a massage.

NYMXer

A neat trick for cold weather riding is to spray anti antiperspirant on your feet to keep them dry, and hence, feel warmer. On the hot days, spray your hands to prevent them from getting sweaty and slippery, esp if wearing gloves. A bald friend of mine sprays his head to prevent sweat from burning his eyes but on very sunny days has to wear a bandana to prevent burning.

Deodorants only mask body odor, many are no designed to stop sweating..... that is what antiperspirants do, but they don't mask body odor.