Am I not washing properly?

[Washerg]

Inspired (worried!) following a poster today talking about buttocks washing.

I shower daily. By this I mean I stand under the shower and clean under my arms with water only, same down below. I let the water run all over me for a good ten or fifteen mins but don’t actually scrub or touch other parts of my body. On days I wash my hair (weekly), the soap will run down my body obviously but that’s the extent of any soap that runs over me.

I have from time to time used some shower gel but only if I feel like it. Haven’t for about a year or so and before then it would be some weeks not others. Just don’t feel the need I suppose... and when I do use it, again it would be under arms and definitely not a big body scrub. I don’t think I’ve ever ever washed my toes apart from when I’ve been on the beach or outside with no shoes on in summer. I do use deodorant and perfume.

I’m actually worried now that I’m some sort of disgusting person who doesn’t realise it!! It’s not something I’ve ever discussed with friends. Am I weird? Should I be scrubbing away?! I’ve NC.

I've been on and off MN for donkey's years and I never ceased to be amazed by what some people admit to, especially in their personal hygiene and housekeeping (or lack of) habits. I am no obsessive clean/neat freak but seriously, I've read some horrifying eye openers on here over the years.

@FuriousWithTheNHS I didn't think I was a clean freak either but after reading this I'm starting to think I must be!

I'm wondering how i manage to hold down a professional role and have a normal sexual relationship with a human male despite stinking SO BADLY :S

Likewise 😁😁😁
Quite a high-profile job (where smelling as wouldn’t do) and quite a good specimen of human male (who thinks I smell fab)!

For those saying people would never tell me if I smell - I had a touch of halitosis in my late teens. My parents immediately pointed it out and then proceeded to provide me with a number of remedies, constantly checking till it went away. They said I’d be a laughing stock if I didn’t get it under control. My poor dad would religiously poke his nose into my mouth and breathe in every day after work despite my protests!

Though I’ve come across some breath at work that makes me think that their partners/parents have no sense of smell.

You wouldn’t just rinse dirty clothes, shirts, underwear jeans, sheets in cold water.

Do you pay any special attention to cleaning when you have a period?

Some folks I think are having a laugh. I seriously doubt many people believe that never actually washing yourself you don’t smell. Logically we know we smell if we don’t wash ourselves. We know that our skin secrets oil. We know that that oil gets stale and traps dirt and bacteria, we know we get sweat in cracks and crevices, we know that that sweat begins to smell badly if left. We also know rinsing with water doesn’t clean it, because we wash our clothes, dishes, cars.

Either these folks are having a laugh, or the whole family is at it, washing the kids in just water, husband doing it too, parents did it, so they don’t know any better and they are just thinking everyone smells like this. Or they genuinely believe they are some sort of exception in the human race.

What I can’t get my head round is the sheer determination not to wash.

There is no discussion to be had on the smell/not smell thing. If you do not regularly wash you smell. That’s pure biology. No one is super human and a scientific marvel as is being posted, that they can rinse in water and they don’t smell.

If you don’t wash properly you smell bad. The fact you don’t know it doesn’t change it.

Agree Bluntness and anyone who's ever stood in front of an orangutan enclosure at a zoo will know this. Standing under, or sitting in plain water does not a fragrant flower make. Okay so you may not stink to high heaven if you scrub your sweaty areas properly and regularly, but you will still smell ever so faintly off compared to someone who uses soap and shampoo.

There is no need to go overboard and be obsessive about it, but soap and deodorant sell well for good reason. Spend any time in a country where people don't generally use them often, or at all, for either economic or cultural reasons and you'll soon see what I mean.

What a fascinating thread.

If you do not smell of soap, do you smell bad?

I have a bath most nights, washing with water only apart from cleansing my face and shampooing my hair.

Managed to have a successful career and family and no-one has hinted I smell bad.

IME when people smell bad (in an office environment) it is because their clothes are not clean.

I think humans can have a smell that is not a bad smell...

Genuinely surprised at this thread.

I don’t understand what the big deal is about washing yourself with soap (or some form of cleanser) . I thought it was just a natural thing humans do.

I’m waiting for the post where it says they brush their teeth without toothpaste next and just plain water.

I don’t think I do but I’m not sure people who smell always know

They don’t, but no one is brave enough to tell them.

I have a very good sense of smell. This is not always a good thing. I have had the misfortune to work with people like the OP and others who think they don't need to actually wash their bodies, hair, clothes etc.
Absolutely revolting.
And very distressing as no-one wants to tell a smelly person they smell.

I think ancient shoes were the worst.

Most workplaces have rules on no open toed shoes- because most people's feet are pretty grim!
And you can't have a rule that says if your feet are scrubbed and toes looking super tidy/ polish on, then you can wear open shoes but all the rest of you can't. So no-one gets to wear them.

@JohnBarron

I don’t think I do but I’m not sure people who smell always know

They don’t, but no one is brave enough to tell them.

I think this is almost always true. I wouldn't have the balls to do it in most cases. I've only just realised that my mum has BO because it's very normal for her and I grew up with her having it. I find it comforting mostly with her

@Tormundsbeard bodily secretions are greasy, water and grease don't mix and water will not remove this. just like you need soap to wash your dishes and water does not do the job alone. also you got to the toilet and have particles of this left over. if you had these particles on your hands several times every day would you think your hands were clean after a rinse with water? would your hands smell after a few days of doing just this? never mind weeks/months/years

According to this doctor you’re right OP

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jul/28/soap-dodger-meet-the-doctor-who-says-we-have-been-showering-wrong

Soap doesn't need to go inside your body so I think you can use it without giving yourself an infection - just don't be too invasive with it & use something mild.

Having said that, if you feel clean what's the problem? Most people use some form of soap - you don't - and as you say a direct person would have said something by now if you are whiffy. I disagree that people can't smell their own body odour - I most definitely can if I've forgotten deodorant & I am not a hugely smelly person even then.

It can't be a problem at the minute - we aren't supposed to be within 5 miles of another human after all.

[quote Handsnotwands]According to this doctor you’re right OP

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jul/28/soap-dodger-meet-the-doctor-who-says-we-have-been-showering-wrong[/quote]
God that’s the second time this article has been quoted. Forget the thousands of other doctors who do say you need to wash and the nhs guidance, let’s cling to this one like a life raft.

Seriously. What’s the big issue with giving yourself a wash?

@CallmeNessa

Soap doesn't need to go inside your body so I think you can use it without giving yourself an infection - just don't be too invasive with it & use something mild.

Having said that, if you feel clean what's the problem? Most people use some form of soap - you don't - and as you say a direct person would have said something by now if you are whiffy. I disagree that people can't smell their own body odour - I most definitely can if I've forgotten deodorant & I am not a hugely smelly person even then.

It can't be a problem at the minute - we aren't supposed to be within 5 miles of another human after all.

The fact you can smell youtself is quite frankly irrelevant. You can because you are not noise blind to it. Many people who actually stink don’t know it. Or they think other folks can’t smell it. It’s like a weird nose blindness denial thing.

The reality is, when you start to smell it yourself, everyone else has been smelling it much longer. We are much more attuned to bad odours in others.

Eithe way it’s irrelevant, as humans we need to wash, pretending you don’t and are some form of medical marvel whose arse doesn’t need washed and smells just fine without it, is fooling no one.

@Bluntness100 God that’s the second time this article has been quoted. Forget the thousands of other doctors who do say you need to wash and the nhs guidance, let’s cling to this one like a life raft.

Actually I'm pretty sure it's the third/fourth time it's been linked, lol. Funny how the world hasn't changed its stance and decided that water is the way... We'd all be richer for it, judging by the amount of money I spend on Cowshed products *I'm happy to continue using my fancy products (and occasionally an Imperial Leather bar), thanks!

Seriously. What’s the big issue with giving yourself a wash?

Some people just like to be dirty I guess. I still can't get over the person who doesn't wash her bedsheets for months on end, and despite the fact that she doesn't shower daily... I'd hate to think how frequently their towels are washed.

Most workplaces have rules on no open toed shoes- because most people's feet are pretty grim!
And you can't have a rule that says if your feet are scrubbed and toes looking super tidy/ polish on, then you can wear open shoes but all the rest of you can't. So no-one gets to wear them.

I think this is a health and safety thing though isn't it- so that your toes are protected if you drop or spill something, or you stub your toe?! Not because some peoples feet are grim!

This thread is umm eye opening . Mainly because a thread a while ago was asking other countries what they thought of Brits , and the main opinion was that Brits were dirty . There was howls of outrage . Hmm there is also an Aussie phrase " As dry as an English mans towel ( maybe that should be Woman ) . Also in warmer countries the weapon of choice seems to be a BAR of soap , and gel are shunned . I am embarrassed by this thread . Please wash .

@Bluntness100

Some folks I think are having a laugh. I seriously doubt many people believe that never actually washing yourself you don’t smell. Logically we know we smell if we don’t wash ourselves. We know that our skin secrets oil. We know that that oil gets stale and traps dirt and bacteria, we know we get sweat in cracks and crevices, we know that that sweat begins to smell badly if left. We also know rinsing with water doesn’t clean it, because we wash our clothes, dishes, cars.

Either these folks are having a laugh, or the whole family is at it, washing the kids in just water, husband doing it too, parents did it, so they don’t know any better and they are just thinking everyone smells like this. Or they genuinely believe they are some sort of exception in the human race.

What I can’t get my head round is the sheer determination not to wash.

There is no discussion to be had on the smell/not smell thing. If you do not regularly wash you smell. That’s pure biology. No one is super human and a scientific marvel as is being posted, that they can rinse in water and they don’t smell.

If you don’t wash properly you smell bad. The fact you don’t know it doesn’t change it.

your last 2 paragraphs hit the nail on the head. if you’re not actively removing the built up oils released by your skin (ie by using more than water), they will smell unpleasant. simple scientific fact

Why won’t people bloody wash?! What IS the issue.

You shouldn’t wash inside your vagina with soap. You should ABSOLUTELY wash your vulva, bum crack, arm pits and between your toes with soap.

Why aren’t women taught the difference when young between the vagina and the vulva?! It makes me so angry that the whole area is dismissed as “down below bits” or “private parts”. Classic misogynistic approach to personal and social education/sex education.

Please wash with soap, people. Shower gel or body wash are nice to use on your skin but they don’t clean properly. And use deodorant and shampoo please! This is why trains and buses stink!

I managed to grow up without being educated on the difference, and had started to raise my daughter the same way. So glad I had an education, a lot of it on here, and can now talk to my daughter about her anatomy, and label mine appropriately. It's shocking really how many adult women don't know how to label their own bits!

Open toe shoes is a H&S issue to limit injury risk from liquid splash, falling object,stub, it’s not a hygiene issue