4 ms·

I take your point, but I personally think that it's not that necessary to hedge and it's safe to say that most people (in developed western nations) don't need

I take your point, but I personally think that it's not that necessary to hedge and it's safe to say that most people (in developed western nations) don't need to shower every day. Very few people are working demanding physical jobs in which they get especially dirty/sweaty every day. And, given the obesity crisis in the west, I doubt that many people are working out every day either. The real answer is that people need to shower enough so that they A) feel comfortable and B) don't cause issues for the people around them. A is a bit fuzzy, and will change depending on what an individual is used to, but most people in most situations won't run into B if they are showering every other day (or even every 3 days) modulo things like "I went for a run this afternoon" or "I worked in the garden all day" etc. The edge cases are probably rare enough to say "you don't need to shower every day, but if you get particularly dirty/sweaty, then you should shower" and you will be correct for most people. The few people who do need it every day can probably work it out for themselves. Perhaps the largest exception to this is teenage boys who just really are a biological marvel of smell generation. They should potentially be showering multiple times a day for the sake of those around them.

yowzadave 3y ago
Are you assuming people don’t do any daily exercise? I don’t see how one can do any vigorous exercise, regardless of the climate, and NOT require a shower afterward. But I sweat profusely when I exercise, so maybe I’m not typical.
- MostlyStable 3y ago
  I'm assuming that _most_ people don't do any non-trivial daily exercise yes. According to this map [0], nearly a quarter of Americans or more in almost every state in the US haven't done _any_ significant physical activity in the past month. So it's not that you are unusual in that you sweat profusely (I'd agree that most people probably need a shower after any decently vigorous exercise), you are unusual because you exercise regularly. [0] https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/data/inactivity-prevalence-maps/index.html#overall https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/data/inactivity-prevale...
- throw0101a 3y ago
  > Are you assuming people don’t do any daily exercise? Showering in this case may be useful, but the use of soaps/cleansers would still probably not be needed. Sweat is mostly water itself, along with salt and some other minerals (potassium?), so a quick shower—using just water, which is a great solvent—will rinse/dissolve most things from your skin. Worth remembering that body odour is from bacteria and not the sweat itself. The bacteria is determined (partly) by your genetics and the type of sweat glads you have. Eccrine sweat glands go directly to the surface of the skin (secrete: water, NaCl, K), while apocrine sweat glands connect into hair follicle (secrete: protein, lipids,): the bacteria feed off the latter. * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweat_gland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweat_gland The gene on whether you have (more) apocrine glands is ABCC11: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABCC11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABCC11 Asians are more likely to have to have the gene variant that makes you less smelly (Allele A). In the Before Times (pre-COVID/WFH) I used to cycle hard to work everyday: I would shower at home, pedal in with the funny-looking lycra, and change at work. I didn't bother showering at work and I didn't stink. (This concern regularly gets mentioned when topics of car-alternative comes up on HN.)
uranusjr 3y ago
> The few people who do need it every day can probably work it out for themselves. People are much less sensitive to their own body odor than you may assume. Please default to taking a shower before you go to public places unless you have very concrete evidence otherwise.

yowzadave 3y ago

Are you assuming people don’t do any daily exercise? I don’t see how one can do any vigorous exercise, regardless of the climate, and NOT require a shower afterward. But I sweat profusely when I exercise, so maybe I’m not typical.

MostlyStable 3y ago
I'm assuming that _most_ people don't do any non-trivial daily exercise yes. According to this map [0], nearly a quarter of Americans or more in almost every state in the US haven't done _any_ significant physical activity in the past month. So it's not that you are unusual in that you sweat profusely (I'd agree that most people probably need a shower after any decently vigorous exercise), you are unusual because you exercise regularly. [0] https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/data/inactivity-prevalence-maps/index.html#overall https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/data/inactivity-prevale...
throw0101a 3y ago
> Are you assuming people don’t do any daily exercise? Showering in this case may be useful, but the use of soaps/cleansers would still probably not be needed. Sweat is mostly water itself, along with salt and some other minerals (potassium?), so a quick shower—using just water, which is a great solvent—will rinse/dissolve most things from your skin. Worth remembering that body odour is from bacteria and not the sweat itself. The bacteria is determined (partly) by your genetics and the type of sweat glads you have. Eccrine sweat glands go directly to the surface of the skin (secrete: water, NaCl, K), while apocrine sweat glands connect into hair follicle (secrete: protein, lipids,): the bacteria feed off the latter. * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweat_gland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweat_gland The gene on whether you have (more) apocrine glands is ABCC11: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABCC11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABCC11 Asians are more likely to have to have the gene variant that makes you less smelly (Allele A). In the Before Times (pre-COVID/WFH) I used to cycle hard to work everyday: I would shower at home, pedal in with the funny-looking lycra, and change at work. I didn't bother showering at work and I didn't stink. (This concern regularly gets mentioned when topics of car-alternative comes up on HN.)

uranusjr 3y ago

> The few people who do need it every day can probably work it out for themselves. People are much less sensitive to their own body odor than you may assume. Please default to taking a shower before you go to public places unless you have very concrete evidence otherwise.