13 ms·

It seems like the loudest outcries are people afraid of others not washing their hands after using the toilet. The article doesn't explicitly say anything abou

It seems like the loudest outcries are people afraid of others not washing their hands after using the toilet. The article doesn't explicitly say anything about it, but I didn't get the impression that any of those people (even the ones that haven't showered in years) weren't washing their hands after going to the bathroom.

pbnjay 12y ago
There's a blog post with more quotes: http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/julia-scott-on-going-suds-free-for-28-days/ http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/julia-scott-on-... Specifically, she did wash her hands with soap: > Every time I touched my hair, I had to wash my hands (I did wash my hands with soap).
graeme 12y ago
I stopped using soap in the shower, and shampoo in my hair. My hair is much nicer, and my BO disappeared entirely (women have confirmed this). No one noticed I stopped using either. I can only speak for myself, but I still use soap after using the washroom and when handling food. There's pretty clear scientific evidence for the use of hand-washing in specific cases. I think most of the people trying the no-soap, no-shampoo thing are actually rather empirical and respectful of science. I used to work on repairing old newspapers in an archives. I saw the old ad campaigns for soap. We originally started using soap due to marketing, not due to scientific studies. At the time, people didn't bathe that much. Ads recommended bathing regularly with soap. This improved odour. People fell for a correlation and thought it was soap that was the cause. This knowledge "wash yourself with soap!" was handed down through successive generations. This belief was strengthened due to a TEMPORARY increase in BO if you stop using soap, once started. Takes about 1-4 weeks before the body adjusts and you become LESS smelly than you were before. Few people would have tried going without soap that long, so naive empiricism backed up marketing and tradition. In other words, our current "soap everywhere, every day!" habits were not formed due to empirical inquiry and scientific study. Here's one of the soap ads. These ran between 1920-1950: https://www.dropbox.com/s/y1yyuz0p6ybhby3/Soap%20Ad.jpg https://www.dropbox.com/s/y1yyuz0p6ybhby3/Soap%20Ad.jpg
- RexRollman 12y ago
  I think I've read about people doing this before, perhaps on Boing Boing. If I was going to do this, I think I would just use plain water and a un-soaped wash cloth. Are what about anti-perperents or deodorants? Are you using them or skipping them as well?
  - graeme 12y ago
    I use those crystal deodorant stones. My usage of those goes way back, regular deodorants gave me allergic reactions. Water + occasional baking soda and apple cider vinegar for my hair is what I use.
    - mistermann 12y ago
      I also use one of those and never smell at all, but I also wash with soap. Perhaps it's the crystal, not the lack of soap that does the trick?
      - graeme 12y ago
        I've used the crystal for about ten years. Stopped soap three years ago. My smell improved after stopping soap.
    - foxylad 12y ago
      I swear by the crystal deodorant, but it was completely ineffective on my son. This may be due biome differences between the young and middle aged. EDIT: I use normal soap and shampoo.
  - hudibras 12y ago
    This boingboing article from 2009 is what got me to quit using soap. http://boingboing.net/2009/12/31/body-washing-with-wa.html http://boingboing.net/2009/12/31/body-washing-with-wa.html And some guy wrote a follow-up a year later. http://boingboing.net/2011/01/04/i-havent-used-soap-i.html http://boingboing.net/2011/01/04/i-havent-used-soap-i.html
- 12y ago
electromagnetic 12y ago
Northern Europeans didn't bathe regularly, it was seen as sinful. However there's records in medieval England that people washed their hands before and after meals back to the (iirc) 10th century. Washroom hygiene is different than if you wash between your toes or not. No one on earth has died from Cholera of the pinky toe gap.
glormph 12y ago
Even though bacteria that grow on skin may be beneficial, I assume hands need washing since they are more prone to act as interfaces for pathogens. E.g. handshaking, food handling is usually not done with other body parts, and may spread disease. When talking about skin, you pick up pathogens with your hands, and you pass them on. Not with your armpit, back, etc.
headShrinker 12y ago
I think it's important to point out that 30% of men do not only not use soap, they don't wash at all. And with that, the point about people not using soap in the bathroom is lost. If people are that concerned, they should be and should have been concern about the epidemic amount of people simply not doing any form of cleansing, which is a completely different and much worse problem than simply not using soap.
- BugBrother 12y ago
  Source? (I don't disbelieve you, I ask for putting it on Facebook. Friday. :-) ) Edit: Ah of course, the subject was washing hands after the toilet -- not "haven't showered in years" :-)
  - headShrinker 12y ago
    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/us/14hands.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/us/14hands.html
- jtheory 12y ago
  This is why the rule of "wash your hands before you eat" is more crucial than "wash your hands after using the toilet" -- adhering to both rules is preferable, but only the first protects you from the people who don't follow them.

pbnjay 12y ago

There's a blog post with more quotes: http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/julia-scott-on-going-suds-free-for-28-days/ http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/julia-scott-on-... Specifically, she did wash her hands with soap: > Every time I touched my hair, I had to wash my hands (I did wash my hands with soap).

graeme 12y ago

I stopped using soap in the shower, and shampoo in my hair. My hair is much nicer, and my BO disappeared entirely (women have confirmed this). No one noticed I stopped using either. I can only speak for myself, but I still use soap after using the washroom and when handling food. There's pretty clear scientific evidence for the use of hand-washing in specific cases. I think most of the people trying the no-soap, no-shampoo thing are actually rather empirical and respectful of science. I used to work on repairing old newspapers in an archives. I saw the old ad campaigns for soap. We originally started using soap due to marketing, not due to scientific studies. At the time, people didn't bathe that much. Ads recommended bathing regularly with soap. This improved odour. People fell for a correlation and thought it was soap that was the cause. This knowledge "wash yourself with soap!" was handed down through successive generations. This belief was strengthened due to a TEMPORARY increase in BO if you stop using soap, once started. Takes about 1-4 weeks before the body adjusts and you become LESS smelly than you were before. Few people would have tried going without soap that long, so naive empiricism backed up marketing and tradition. In other words, our current "soap everywhere, every day!" habits were not formed due to empirical inquiry and scientific study. Here's one of the soap ads. These ran between 1920-1950: https://www.dropbox.com/s/y1yyuz0p6ybhby3/Soap%20Ad.jpg https://www.dropbox.com/s/y1yyuz0p6ybhby3/Soap%20Ad.jpg

RexRollman 12y ago
I think I've read about people doing this before, perhaps on Boing Boing. If I was going to do this, I think I would just use plain water and a un-soaped wash cloth. Are what about anti-perperents or deodorants? Are you using them or skipping them as well?
- graeme 12y ago
  I use those crystal deodorant stones. My usage of those goes way back, regular deodorants gave me allergic reactions. Water + occasional baking soda and apple cider vinegar for my hair is what I use.
  - mistermann 12y ago
    I also use one of those and never smell at all, but I also wash with soap. Perhaps it's the crystal, not the lack of soap that does the trick?
    - graeme 12y ago
      I've used the crystal for about ten years. Stopped soap three years ago. My smell improved after stopping soap.
  - foxylad 12y ago
    I swear by the crystal deodorant, but it was completely ineffective on my son. This may be due biome differences between the young and middle aged. EDIT: I use normal soap and shampoo.
- hudibras 12y ago
  This boingboing article from 2009 is what got me to quit using soap. http://boingboing.net/2009/12/31/body-washing-with-wa.html http://boingboing.net/2009/12/31/body-washing-with-wa.html And some guy wrote a follow-up a year later. http://boingboing.net/2011/01/04/i-havent-used-soap-i.html http://boingboing.net/2011/01/04/i-havent-used-soap-i.html
12y ago

electromagnetic 12y ago

Northern Europeans didn't bathe regularly, it was seen as sinful. However there's records in medieval England that people washed their hands before and after meals back to the (iirc) 10th century. Washroom hygiene is different than if you wash between your toes or not. No one on earth has died from Cholera of the pinky toe gap.

glormph 12y ago

Even though bacteria that grow on skin may be beneficial, I assume hands need washing since they are more prone to act as interfaces for pathogens. E.g. handshaking, food handling is usually not done with other body parts, and may spread disease. When talking about skin, you pick up pathogens with your hands, and you pass them on. Not with your armpit, back, etc.

headShrinker 12y ago

I think it's important to point out that 30% of men do not only not use soap, they don't wash at all. And with that, the point about people not using soap in the bathroom is lost. If people are that concerned, they should be and should have been concern about the epidemic amount of people simply not doing any form of cleansing, which is a completely different and much worse problem than simply not using soap.

BugBrother 12y ago
Source? (I don't disbelieve you, I ask for putting it on Facebook. Friday. :-) ) Edit: Ah of course, the subject was washing hands after the toilet -- not "haven't showered in years" :-)
- headShrinker 12y ago
  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/us/14hands.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/us/14hands.html
jtheory 12y ago
This is why the rule of "wash your hands before you eat" is more crucial than "wash your hands after using the toilet" -- adhering to both rules is preferable, but only the first protects you from the people who don't follow them.