6 ms·

Every single person I have ever known who tries this just ends up stinking and greasy, and everyone else can detect that but they just don't say anything out of

Every single person I have ever known who tries this just ends up stinking and greasy, and everyone else can detect that but they just don't say anything out of politeness.

ericmcer 6y ago
I think you need a clean diet, exercise and outdoor time to go along with it. I met up with one of my friends and his girlfriend who had been Wwoofing for a few months and camping/backpacking. Probably 2 weeks since they last bathed. I was amazed how they both just smelled kind of earthy, not at all like B.O. or funky just sort of like the earth. Maybe so much time in the dirt had built up a really healthy balance of bacteria on their skin.
- jniedrauer 6y ago
  I've been on month+ hiking trips. I definitely don't think I smell good after 2 weeks in the woods. But hygiene becomes very important to long term success, especially in wet climates. If you know what you're doing, then you won't smell offensive either.
  - netfl0 6y ago
    Can you share some info/hygiene tips for a situation like that?
    - jniedrauer 6y ago
      I could write like a whole essay on it, but the main points are: * Keep dirty/wet stuff and clean stuff separate. Suck it up and put the dirty stuff on when you know it's gonna be nasty. Wear the clean stuff only at camp. Keep a clean pair of socks exclusively to sleep in. * Air out/wash your body whenever it doesn't put you at risk of hypothermia. Keep shoes off at camp, etc. * Dry stuff in the sun on the outside of your pack when you can. * Fingerless gloves help regulate your core temperature and don't get dirty as fast as full fingered gloves. And of course, good gear selection. The harshest sustained conditions I've ever faced was a winter on the Appalachian Trail. Near-constant rain/snow, 10-40°F most of the time. Cold enough to kill but not cold enough to freeze and keep things dry. Most backpacking is not nearly that difficult.
  - phyzome 6y ago
    It's the clothes that start to stink, especially the synthetics. If you were naked, you wouldn't smell much. Maybe a bit of oniony armpit smell, but not the rank gym locker smell.
- brandonmenc 6y ago
  Define "clean diet" in a non-pseudoscientific way.
  - copperx 6y ago
    I believe "clean" means they wash their vegetables thoroughly. I don't know if that's scientific enough.
  - phyzome 6y ago
    Low carb probably helps. Also likely: Low in synthetic chemicals, low in heavily processed foods.
    - brandonmenc 6y ago
      > Low carb probably helps So in other words, whatever the dietary fad of the day happens to be.
      - phyzome 6y ago
        And here I thought you were asking in good faith.
darkerside 6y ago
Confirmation bias. The ones who do this and stink are the ones you end up noticing and remembering. Doesn't take a lot of those to form a noticeable pattern. Meanwhile, there are probably plenty of folks, like myself, who shower quite rarely and happen to typically avoid smelling for days.
DoreenMichele 6y ago
Chiming in to agree with folks saying, more or less, "there are two sides to this story." As someone who uses little in the way of soap, shampoo, etc.* I can smell the detergents, shampoos and what not on other people from sometimes a few feet away (and I don't have a great sense of smell). I just don't say anything, not out of politeness, but because I know that they have consensus on their side, so I'm the weirdo and they will automatically win that argument. (I sometimes wish I could say something. Some people really stink to high heaven of perfumes in the various things they use and I have chemical sensitivities, so this sometimes really bothers me in a medical kind of way.) While homeless for a few years (and mostly camping in the woods, basically), eventually animals would walk up to me surprisingly closely. I think I stopped stinking to high heaven of "city human" and smelled more like nature and they stopped giving me a really wide berth, like they normally do to humans, probably because many animals rely pretty heavily on their sense of smell to navigate their environment. Meanwhile, humans routinely mistook me for a tourist because of my casual attire. They had to see me repeatedly to ID me as "homeless" based on my habits because my appearance (and smell) failed to register on most people as "Well, obviously, she's homeless!" * in the shower. I wash hands with soap a zillion times a day. Germ control is my life.
- jackfoxy 6y ago
  In decades of going to gyms, I don't ever remember being offended by anyone's natural body odor, but my sense of smell would certainly find offense at someone who showed up on the gym floor over perfumed with deodorant or other commercialized scent.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - brandonmenc 6y ago
    > In decades of going to gyms, I don't ever remember being offended by anyone's natural body odor We're all just tossing around anecdotes at this point but - This is not at all my experience. There are always some people at the gym who smell horrible, and I'd wager nearly all of them are not using an aluminum-based antiperspirant.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
Fezzik 6y ago
I definitely see that being possible. I think it helps that I spend an hour everyday in a saltwater pool. I’m 99% sure I don’t stink at all: I’m in court sitting a few feet away from very frank attorneys almost every day. They’d tell me if it was otherwise. Edit, to add: the people who I work with tell me how I dress like shit regularly... I’m certain they’d tell me if I smelled as well.
01100011 6y ago
I don't know if I can smell folks who don't use soap, but I can tell which of my friends like to wear clothes multiple times before washing them. Body oils oxidize, and that makes them smell. It's not a typical 'BO' smell like onions or cumin. It's just a musty, off putting odor that doesn't smell clean. I've gone years without using soap to wash my face and it worked fairly well. I don't know if I'd try it with the rest of my body though. BO is a funny thing. It varies with climate, clothing, hormones, diet, etc. It isn't just one smell. I have no doubt that you can avoid many components of BO by showering only with water every day, but I don't know if you can avoid all BO that way.

Every single person I have ever known who tries this just ends up stinking and greasy, and everyone else can detect that but they just don't say anything out of politeness.

ericmcer 6y ago

I think you need a clean diet, exercise and outdoor time to go along with it. I met up with one of my friends and his girlfriend who had been Wwoofing for a few months and camping/backpacking. Probably 2 weeks since they last bathed. I was amazed how they both just smelled kind of earthy, not at all like B.O. or funky just sort of like the earth. Maybe so much time in the dirt had built up a really healthy balance of bacteria on their skin.

jniedrauer 6y ago
I've been on month+ hiking trips. I definitely don't think I smell good after 2 weeks in the woods. But hygiene becomes very important to long term success, especially in wet climates. If you know what you're doing, then you won't smell offensive either.
- netfl0 6y ago
  Can you share some info/hygiene tips for a situation like that?
  - jniedrauer 6y ago
    I could write like a whole essay on it, but the main points are: * Keep dirty/wet stuff and clean stuff separate. Suck it up and put the dirty stuff on when you know it's gonna be nasty. Wear the clean stuff only at camp. Keep a clean pair of socks exclusively to sleep in. * Air out/wash your body whenever it doesn't put you at risk of hypothermia. Keep shoes off at camp, etc. * Dry stuff in the sun on the outside of your pack when you can. * Fingerless gloves help regulate your core temperature and don't get dirty as fast as full fingered gloves. And of course, good gear selection. The harshest sustained conditions I've ever faced was a winter on the Appalachian Trail. Near-constant rain/snow, 10-40°F most of the time. Cold enough to kill but not cold enough to freeze and keep things dry. Most backpacking is not nearly that difficult.
- phyzome 6y ago
  It's the clothes that start to stink, especially the synthetics. If you were naked, you wouldn't smell much. Maybe a bit of oniony armpit smell, but not the rank gym locker smell.
brandonmenc 6y ago
Define "clean diet" in a non-pseudoscientific way.
- copperx 6y ago
  I believe "clean" means they wash their vegetables thoroughly. I don't know if that's scientific enough.
- phyzome 6y ago
  Low carb probably helps. Also likely: Low in synthetic chemicals, low in heavily processed foods.
  - brandonmenc 6y ago
    > Low carb probably helps So in other words, whatever the dietary fad of the day happens to be.
    - phyzome 6y ago
      And here I thought you were asking in good faith.

darkerside 6y ago

Confirmation bias. The ones who do this and stink are the ones you end up noticing and remembering. Doesn't take a lot of those to form a noticeable pattern. Meanwhile, there are probably plenty of folks, like myself, who shower quite rarely and happen to typically avoid smelling for days.

DoreenMichele 6y ago

Chiming in to agree with folks saying, more or less, "there are two sides to this story." As someone who uses little in the way of soap, shampoo, etc.* I can smell the detergents, shampoos and what not on other people from sometimes a few feet away (and I don't have a great sense of smell). I just don't say anything, not out of politeness, but because I know that they have consensus on their side, so I'm the weirdo and they will automatically win that argument. (I sometimes wish I could say something. Some people really stink to high heaven of perfumes in the various things they use and I have chemical sensitivities, so this sometimes really bothers me in a medical kind of way.) While homeless for a few years (and mostly camping in the woods, basically), eventually animals would walk up to me surprisingly closely. I think I stopped stinking to high heaven of "city human" and smelled more like nature and they stopped giving me a really wide berth, like they normally do to humans, probably because many animals rely pretty heavily on their sense of smell to navigate their environment. Meanwhile, humans routinely mistook me for a tourist because of my casual attire. They had to see me repeatedly to ID me as "homeless" based on my habits because my appearance (and smell) failed to register on most people as "Well, obviously, she's homeless!" * in the shower. I wash hands with soap a zillion times a day. Germ control is my life.

jackfoxy 6y ago
In decades of going to gyms, I don't ever remember being offended by anyone's natural body odor, but my sense of smell would certainly find offense at someone who showed up on the gym floor over perfumed with deodorant or other commercialized scent.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- brandonmenc 6y ago
  > In decades of going to gyms, I don't ever remember being offended by anyone's natural body odor We're all just tossing around anecdotes at this point but - This is not at all my experience. There are always some people at the gym who smell horrible, and I'd wager nearly all of them are not using an aluminum-based antiperspirant.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

Fezzik 6y ago

I definitely see that being possible. I think it helps that I spend an hour everyday in a saltwater pool. I’m 99% sure I don’t stink at all: I’m in court sitting a few feet away from very frank attorneys almost every day. They’d tell me if it was otherwise. Edit, to add: the people who I work with tell me how I dress like shit regularly... I’m certain they’d tell me if I smelled as well.

01100011 6y ago

I don't know if I can smell folks who don't use soap, but I can tell which of my friends like to wear clothes multiple times before washing them. Body oils oxidize, and that makes them smell. It's not a typical 'BO' smell like onions or cumin. It's just a musty, off putting odor that doesn't smell clean. I've gone years without using soap to wash my face and it worked fairly well. I don't know if I'd try it with the rest of my body though. BO is a funny thing. It varies with climate, clothing, hormones, diet, etc. It isn't just one smell. I have no doubt that you can avoid many components of BO by showering only with water every day, but I don't know if you can avoid all BO that way.