We don't really need soap, according to some

[Aepervius]

Soap is not necessary to make yourself clean. Any process to remove the dead skin, dirt, and oily rest is enough. But soap help by making the process much much easier.

I have been a few time without soap, and I just scrubbed more with an implement, and got the same non-smelly result as soap. But it took longer.

 

[paiute]

Ever been to a Phish show? As I've heard said before, "Petrulli after a shower, not instead of one".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patchouli ???

 

[alfaniner]

I found that bacon grease is really effective for cleaning oily/grimy hands. Plus it makes them smell real good.

 

[Verde]

A dirt bath works for chickens.

And people, also.

I recall a documentary about the Australian Aboriginal people that would cover themselves in dust to absorb the bodily excretions. I think it is reasonable to assume that any water they had available would not be wasted on bathing.

I can't find a link, and could be remembering it falsely, but it seems logical.

V.

ETA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_bath#Human_dustbathing has an unreferenced comment about it.

 

[quarky]

And people, also.

I recall a documentary about the Australian Aboriginal people that would cover themselves in dust to absorb the bodily excretions. I think it is reasonable to assume that any water they had available would not be wasted on bathing.

I can't find a link, and could be remembering it falsely, but it seems logical.

V.

ETA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_bath#Human_dustbathing has an unreferenced comment about it.

I've hung out on some beaches, and between the sand and the salty surf, bathing would have been incredibly redundant.
Mini-sand blasters could replace showers in dry areas.

The shampoo/conditioner thing is seriously warped. Add gunk to hair; wash it out; add more gunk; repeat.
Hair looks pretty awesome without that funky stew; i've seen it.

But it sure does use some hot water.

 

[blutoski]

So I came over this article, at BoingBoing titled "I haven't used soap or shampoo in a year, and it's awesome".
This person has tried the good old myth that you don't really need soap to stay clean, that body odor is not a problem and you can stay clean by using water.

I've heard of this one before, and that people perspire differently and therefore have different cleaning needs isn't something new, but there was one thing I wondered

Soap is the most convenient way to get oily dirt off your skin.
Soap allows oil and water to mix so that we can rinse off dirt that's embedded in oils.

We don't have to use soap, but we have to use something if we want to get this dirt off.

I don't think most people can get away with water alone. Kids, maybe, as they don't have a lot of oil on their skin. But for adults, water is just beading off without cleaning anything because of oils on the skin.



Realistically, the people I know personally who hold this attitude are just oblivious to their impact on others. I've had to talk to some about their personal hygine when I was in a supervisory role. They were simply unaware that their coworkers were practically planning an intervention.


The other aspect is that everybody's different in their physiological needs. Part of the reason there's such a range of products out there. I've been married to a black woman for 15 years now, and her hair is completely different from mine, including the effects of soaps and shampoos and strengtheners. And our kids are different, still, as they're mixed, and their needs changed when they hit puberty.

Using the word "chemicals" instead of soap makes alarm bells go off, but is it true?

I agree. It's a meaningless claim.

 

[quarky]

Soap can actually kill a hippy.

 

[Dr. Keith]

I've had to go without soap and shampoo for a while before, and I never felt anywhere near as clean as I did with soap.

Same here, but it is interesting how the body can hit a stasis after a few days without bathing. I remember hearing a story about a katrina survivor who always felt worse in the few hours after a shower, clean, but hot and sweaty. After a day or so the sweating would slow down and his body seemed to feel less hot.

That was my experience when I worked away from civilization. We had a wood burning shower and ice cold clean water, but after the first couple of weeks we fell into the habit of only showering if we were heading towards civilization, about once every couple of weeks. Unless, of course, we were excessively dirty for some reason.

Now, I shower every day and don't think my wife would stay in the same house with me if I changed that habit.

 

[Squeegee Beckenheim]

I don't know if every variety needs to be "antibacterial" like is all the rage, but still....

You really shouldn't use antibacterial soap or handwash or the like. It's things like that that speed up the evolution of bacteria and create bacteria which are immune to antibacterials. Or "superbugs" as they're known.

All soap does is make certain things dissolve more easily in water.

It's actually a little bit cleverer than that. What it is that soap does is help oils and other things which don't dissolve in water to wash off. Soap has large chains of molecules, one end of which is hydrophilic and one end of which is hydrophobic. The hydrophobic ends of the molecules are attracted to the oils so you end up with little pockets of oil completely encased in soap molecules. These can then be rinsed off without the oil ever actually touching the water.

 

[Galteeth]

It's probably true that the body produces more oils in response to having them continually stripped. Kind of like how hard acidic acne treatments often worsen acne in the long run by inducing increased sebum production.

 

[patchbunny]

I found that bacon grease is really effective for cleaning oily/grimy hands. Plus it makes them smell real good.

"Gir, why is there bacon in the soap?!?"

"I made it myself!"

 

[pgwenthold]

So I came over this article, at BoingBoing titled "I haven't used soap or shampoo in a year, and it's awesome".
This person has tried the good old myth that you don't really need soap to stay clean, that body odor is not a problem

Perhaps we should ask people around him/her what they think?

 

[Professor Yaffle]

I use shampoo as my hair would look awful without, but I very rarely use soap on my skin. But I have very dry skin, so water works fine for me most of the time.

 

[Ratatoskr]

Perhaps we should ask people around him/her what they think?

Yup, I think many don't notice how they smell, and I've seen people proclaiming "I don't get any remarks about BO!" where the obvious follow-up should be "Maybe they're just polite?". After all, your nose tend to ignore certain smells after a while (just try walking into a pig farm).

Usually I could go without shower for a few days, but now that I'm a bit older you can't help noticing that certain body parts need a good scrubbing regularly. And that antiperspirants are a blessing

 

[quarky]

I like to use turpentine on my armpits.
Not only does it disguise more subtle odors, it gives a man the scent of 'employed'.
Talk about an aphrodisiac.

Kerosene is good too.

Both repel insects.

 

[Wolrab]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patchouli ???

I did a quick google search for the phonetic "petruli", the search came up with "petrulli oil" so I just used that. I now assume it is just a standard "americanization" (read lazy spelling). I bow to your superior spelling knowledge!

 

[blutoski]

Yup, I think many don't notice how they smell, and I've seen people proclaiming "I don't get any remarks about BO!" where the obvious follow-up should be "Maybe they're just polite?". After all, your nose tend to ignore certain smells after a while (just try walking into a pig farm).

Yes, people's consciousness about smells adapts so that over time many strong smells become ignored background data.

This is similar to the fad from a few years ago wherein people stopped using deodorant out of fear that the aluminum compounds would cause Alzheimer's. I have a relative who never got back into the deodorant habit, and I think he's living in total denial about his BO.

 

[blutoski]

It's probably true that the body produces more oils in response to having them continually stripped. Kind of like how hard acidic acne treatments often worsen acne in the long run by inducing increased sebum production.

Possibly true to a point, but that's why there is a range of products out there.

I would say that if a person is finding themselves completely stripped of oils, they're using too harsh a soap and need to find another product pronto.

(As opposed to stop using soap altogether.)

 

[quarky]

I've had babes tell me that they liked my b.o.

I prefer a woman's scent to not be covered over with something.
Old fashioned, I guess.

 

[Modified]

This is similar to the fad from a few years ago wherein people stopped using deodorant out of fear that the aluminum compounds would cause Alzheimer's. I have a relative who never got back into the deodorant habit, and I think he's living in total denial about his BO.

Only antiperspirants have the aluminum. There are plenty of underarm deodorants that do not contain an antiperspirant, so that seems like a poor excuse for not using deodorant.