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Just wanted to make N = 2: I haven't used soap or shampoo since 2010. My skin and hair feel and look great and nobody's ever said anything about my smell. I ho

Just wanted to make N = 2: I haven't used soap or shampoo since 2010. My skin and hair feel and look great and nobody's ever said anything about my smell. I honestly think I won't use soap or shampoo for the rest of my life.

roel_v 12y ago
"and nobody's ever said anything about my smell." Look, I'm not saying you stink, but you need to smell hobo-levels for people to speak up about something like this; a smell level way beyond what would have negative social repercussions. What I'm saying is: even if you smell a little, not enough to put people over that (huge) threshold to bring it up to you (note the recurring 'Ask Abby' topic of 'how do I tell my colleague/spouse/friend they smell'), you'll still be known as 'that smelly guy'. (again, not saying you smell, just that 'nobody ever told me' is not enough to believe you don't, and being falsely informed of this topic will have real consequences for people).
- tehwebguy 12y ago
  Yeah, he may want to ask some honest friends. People talk about smelly people, just not to their face.
- hudibras 12y ago
  Good point, I was a bit imprecise. I've basically had the same experience that graeme has wrote about in his comments earlier: people have actually complimented me on my smell without knowing that I don't use soap, and I've been in a long-term relationship (3+ years) without me telling my partner that I'm not soaping and them not saying anything to me. I think it's also important to point out that I still shower or bathe every day (and additionally after I work out), so I'm still getting clean.* I just don't use soap, just lots of water and scrub the hell out of my skin with a washcloth. *Yes, here we could parse out what I mean by "clean" but you'll just have to trust me on this one.
  - roel_v 12y ago
    Much of this discussion has been on soap, and for me personally using soap every day everywhere just dries out my skin, so I use soap daily only in 'strategic locations' (on a meta note, I can't believe I'm actually having a conversation about this). But what I wonder from all the people in this thread saying they don't use soap with a 'naturalism' based argument (if I'm understanding them/you on the reason correctly), do you also not use deodorant? Because you can wash/rinse 3 times a day, even with soap, but (sorry for gross visuals) armpit sweat is going to smell over the course of a day, especially the sort of sweat the comes from stress and not 'just' from being warm. And that smell comes from bacteria too, 'natural' bacteria.

roel_v 12y ago

"and nobody's ever said anything about my smell." Look, I'm not saying you stink, but you need to smell hobo-levels for people to speak up about something like this; a smell level way beyond what would have negative social repercussions. What I'm saying is: even if you smell a little, not enough to put people over that (huge) threshold to bring it up to you (note the recurring 'Ask Abby' topic of 'how do I tell my colleague/spouse/friend they smell'), you'll still be known as 'that smelly guy'. (again, not saying you smell, just that 'nobody ever told me' is not enough to believe you don't, and being falsely informed of this topic will have real consequences for people).

tehwebguy 12y ago
Yeah, he may want to ask some honest friends. People talk about smelly people, just not to their face.
hudibras 12y ago
Good point, I was a bit imprecise. I've basically had the same experience that graeme has wrote about in his comments earlier: people have actually complimented me on my smell without knowing that I don't use soap, and I've been in a long-term relationship (3+ years) without me telling my partner that I'm not soaping and them not saying anything to me. I think it's also important to point out that I still shower or bathe every day (and additionally after I work out), so I'm still getting clean.* I just don't use soap, just lots of water and scrub the hell out of my skin with a washcloth. *Yes, here we could parse out what I mean by "clean" but you'll just have to trust me on this one.
- roel_v 12y ago
  Much of this discussion has been on soap, and for me personally using soap every day everywhere just dries out my skin, so I use soap daily only in 'strategic locations' (on a meta note, I can't believe I'm actually having a conversation about this). But what I wonder from all the people in this thread saying they don't use soap with a 'naturalism' based argument (if I'm understanding them/you on the reason correctly), do you also not use deodorant? Because you can wash/rinse 3 times a day, even with soap, but (sorry for gross visuals) armpit sweat is going to smell over the course of a day, especially the sort of sweat the comes from stress and not 'just' from being warm. And that smell comes from bacteria too, 'natural' bacteria.