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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To NOT soecifically wash my bellybutton when i'm washing.

68 replies

LegoComplex · 26/07/2015 21:15

I'm a clean person, wash once or twice a day.. but earlier my DPexclaimed in disgust that my bellybutton was dirty. Now my bellybutton is a bit..sunk in somewhat since my 2nd DS was born a few months ago so i havn't looked inside it, but when i did it was pretty scummy.

DP says it's common sense to rub a finger in your bellybutton in the shower but i've literally NEVER heard of or been told about this.

so basically am i a scummy bastard lacking life knowledge or am i justified in having an unpleasant bellybutton?

OP posts:

Birdsgottafly · 26/07/2015 22:26

Those saying that their BB doesn't smell, unless you're sticking your finger in (or a cotton bud) and then sniffing it, you can't make that statement.

I like cleaning mine, it's akin to freeing an in-growing hair.

DJThreeDog · 26/07/2015 22:30

I just stuck my finger in my bellybutton, there was a very faint whiff but nothing nauseating.

I use one of those net puff things, I use it all over so it naturally goes into some er, crevices. I don't specifically wash between my toes or in my belly button (although I do dry well between my toes). I also don't wash behind my ears, other than when I wash my hair when it naturally drips down.

ToysRLuv · 26/07/2015 22:32

No, I don't wash it and no, it doesn't smell (just stuck my finger in to test this, and eewww - it feels wrong!).

ToysRLuv · 26/07/2015 22:34

And there is nothing there at all to clean, but I suppose it's not very deep.

TheHappinessTrap · 26/07/2015 22:37

I'm amazed that people aren't washing behind their ears! Bb's should be washed too. If you sweat do you think it doesn't go into your Bb or behind your ears? Granted I don't do these daily, but weekly or twice weekly is a must! !!

WiIdfire · 26/07/2015 22:42

I see a lot of bellybuttons in my line of work. Sadly, you are not alone. Huge numbers of people don't clean theirs out and it's GRIM. I've had to extract actual lumps of gunk from bellybutton crevices before now, that must have built up over years. It's a complete mystery to me how people can be otherwise clean and yet neglect their navels - it's so completely gross. Shudder.

EastMidsMummy · 26/07/2015 22:42

My husband can pick fluff out of his belly button any time of the day or night.

BeautifulBatman · 26/07/2015 22:45

I can't look at someone else touch theirs, let alone dig around in my own. BOAK. I just hope that a general soak in the bath does the job.

ShuShuFontana · 26/07/2015 22:52

aren't belly buttons like ears? Not to be poked about with?

I whip the anti ageing facial wipes about the backs and insides of my ears, and the only specific attention my BB gets is making sure it is dry after a shower...I don't want it to get damp in there, it's a lovely inny one.

I don't really poke about with the towel though, I do malinger about for ages in a bathrobe or a towel so it sort of airs out I suppose.

VulcanWoman · 26/07/2015 23:24

This is a funny thread, had a good laugh, the Human condition!
TMI, I have the cheese that is difficult to get out and the weird vagina thing too, must be connected some how, don't feel like Googling at the moment.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 26/07/2015 23:29

I stuck my finger in (as far as it would go, which isn't far at all as it is very tight) and sniffed it before saying it doesn't smell earlier. It gets swooshed over in the shower and really isn't dirty. I do clean the outer parts of my ears and in between my toes though.

cosytoaster · 26/07/2015 23:38

Just reading this thread is making me feel squirmy and sick.

Arseface · 26/07/2015 23:46

If you have an inny the yes, YABU. If it's an outy then not so much.
Get an earbud, put something emollient on it - eye makeup remover, olive oil etc and have a swipe around. You'll soon see.

BreconBeBuggered · 26/07/2015 23:47

I quite like getting bits and bobs out of there every now and again. It's a bit less taut than it used to be, and any debris is correspondingly looser and not so much fun to wiggle out.

No smell, though. I must be delving in there too often.

Bibitybobity · 27/07/2015 00:12

Too much rooting about in the belly button can actually damage the skin. I found this out after a conversation similar to this and getting a bit paranoid about having a whiffy belly button so religiously cleaning with cotton buds. It hurt. There was blood. There were antibiotics. I'd rather stink.

I was told most people have quite a balanced flora in there and if it's not oozing or uncomfortable, soaking in the bath is enough. Mine is quite deep which didn't help.

seaoflove · 27/07/2015 00:17

I used to have a very small but very deep belly button. The HORROR when I realised that, in the depths, was this awful smelling... stuff. I needed to use a cotton bud to get all the way in there, because even my little finger was too big.

I took care to wash inside my belly button after that.

Then pregnancy stretched it out so grossly it never went back in. What I have now barely even resembles a belly button. Still, no hygiene issues now!

Stanky · 27/07/2015 07:21

I feel a bit dizzy, sick and faint reading this for some reason. I can't stick my finger in there.

I did once have a friend who found a corn flake in hers when it popped out during pregnancy. I'm sure that there was a rational explanation, but she was really freaked out.

velourvoyageur · 27/07/2015 07:52

Gosh. What discussion this has sparked

Mine goes in but all of it's visible IYSWIM and I'm being totally honest when I say there's never anything in it. Maybe it's unusually shallow or something but I doubt it.
Did the sniff test. Doesn't smell but I showered an hour ago.

My ex's was a marvel. There was no end to it. Just went in and in. (sorry to the squeamish - I take it you're not sporners)

at the popping cornflake!!

Talismania · 27/07/2015 08:12

Also get the vagina thing. It is like it is connected to it somehow. I would really like to know why, but couldn't face googling that. Yuk

it's just a ligament that runs from the bellybutton to the genital area, something to do with development in the womb requiring the urinary tract to be connected to the umbilical cord

Cathpot · 27/07/2015 08:20

Google 'flora of belly buttons' - my gift to you

MooJay · 27/07/2015 08:36

When I was about 16, i had a good look for the first time and I was able to pull a good, solid, lump of smelly gunk out with a pair of tweezers!
Been taking disgusting pleasure in picking at it with tweezers or cotton buds ever since but never got anything nearly as satisfying out again.
Also, in my pregnancies its popped out so i tend to give it a wipe over with a flannel in the shower.
In my first preg, i spent ages trying to pick something off of the skin that popped out only to realise i have a freckle inside my bb.

CrohnicallyAspie · 27/07/2015 08:36

I used to get eczema in my belly button, the really dry, crusty stuff. I was forever picking at it and it would get really sore. It eventually got better after I started literally filling my belly button with cream instead of putting just a smidge on at a time. While the eczema was there it did smell rank though.

During pregnancy my belly button popped out, it's back in now but the scar tissue in there darkened and now it looks like leopard print!

AwakeCantSleep · 27/07/2015 08:50

I use cotton buds to clean mine (but not every day). It has never occurred to me to wash it in the shower.

Original poster

LegoComplex · 27/07/2015 10:40

oh god this thread is disgusting - what have i started! You'll be pleased to know (some of you anyway) that i've given it a good clean out and it's now sparkling there wasn't gunk per say.. just this black coloued greasy grime, nice!

OP posts:

Thurlow · 27/07/2015 10:47

I feel sick and get a stabbing pain in my right foot if I poke around in mine...

I just assumed it gets cleaned when I do a general wash. Just like the backs of your ears do with a quick wipe as you wash your hair, no?

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