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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Could you put up with this level of personal hygiene?

373 replies

podcastobsessed · 15/05/2024 16:05

Since COVID my partner has been full time WFH so out of a steady routine. He consistently goes for 3/4 days without showering (doesn't have a wash at the sink or anything either as far as I'm aware). Showering on the 3rd day would actually be a good week. During covid I am pretty sure there was a time he didn't shower for almost 2 weeks with once a week being the norm. He doesn't do much exercise except walking and some gardening etc. He has improved after my "nagging" but when I bring it up at all now he shuts me down and tells me he's not a child and knows when to shower. If I do "nag" him, he will purposely go longer without showering. Many times he says he's going to shower tonight and I can tell he hasn't. He also sleeps naked and the thought of it makes me sick sharing a bed. Sex life is dying as I just don't want it anymore even when he has just showered as all I can think of is how disgusting he was before that. On top of this he smokes so I feel like the house / clothes smell of that too. I miss having a nice clean house. I'm not sure what I can do?! AIBU or neurotic here?

OP posts:
Therageisreal · 15/05/2024 16:06

No, I couldn’t put up with that.

CustardySergeant · 15/05/2024 16:07

Of course you're not BU or neurotic! That is unacceptable behaviour. How long have you been with him? Has his personal hygiene previously been good?

LiterallyOnFire · 15/05/2024 16:09

The thing about WFHing is that you need to impose parameters and routine on yourself and not budge from that.

Do you think there is a MH element to this or is it just that he lacks discipline?

Whether it was MH-related might change how I tackled it but I'd have to do something, as, no, I couldn't stand that.

greenbeansrock · 15/05/2024 16:09

just reading your thread made me feel nauseous

twoandcooplease · 15/05/2024 16:09

Does he smoke in the house? I wouldn't allow that

greenbeansrock · 15/05/2024 16:09

do you have children?

Ilikewinter · 15/05/2024 16:09

Urgh, hes disgusting , sorry OP.

greenbeansrock · 15/05/2024 16:10

his poor colleagues

podcastobsessed · 15/05/2024 16:10

@CustardySergeant almost 9 years and he used to shower daily bar the odd lazy sunday. I don't know what to do, can't imagine breaking up with him for it and telling people that's why but I don't know how to get him to realise how much upset this is causing me.

No kids and he doesn't smoke in the house but just outside the back door so can smell it off his clothes and breath as not sure how often he brushes his teeth either.

OP posts:
SabreIsMyFave · 15/05/2024 16:11

Not remotely normal. This would be a dealbreaker for me sorry @podcastobsessed He sounds repugnant. He must stink like gorgonzola! 😖

Littlebitpsycho · 15/05/2024 16:11

That's gross, tell him he's not sleeping in bed with you or getting any sex or affection until it improves 🤮🤮

podcastobsessed · 15/05/2024 16:11

@LiterallyOnFire I don't think so as when I first brought it up I'd asked if he was okay etc and says he's fine just doesn't see any reason to wash when he's not going out. He would tell me he has showered on days he hasn't too so it's almost like he doesn't realise how long its been.

OP posts:
greenbeansrock · 15/05/2024 16:12

no kids… thank goodness

podcastobsessed · 15/05/2024 16:12

I should add this is is much improved from the absolute max now being 4/5 days not washing from god knows how long back in lockdown 😫

OP posts:
RamblingAroundTheInternet · 15/05/2024 16:13

Nope that’s absolutely minging, especially sleeping naked sharing a bed with someone with crusty nethers! Dingle-berries, smegma. 🤮

No wonder you don’t want relations with him. I’d have to bin him I’m afraid. He’s well aware how you feel and cbarsed to change.

I WFH as do DC. It’s not an excuse for bad hygiene. We still shower every day (at least once, often twice).

VickyEadieofThigh · 15/05/2024 16:16

Could I live with it? Absolutely not, but I couldn't live with a smoker, much less one who doesn't shower daily and is "relaxed" about oral hygiene.

PashaMinaMio · 15/05/2024 16:17

Reading your post is so off putting.
What is the matter with him. It’s so disrespectful to you. Yuck.

Frankly I’d have to leave him because no way would I put up with any of it. Goodness me, if he wants to get intimate with you how can he even think that his lack of presumably intimate hygiene, has any appeal?

Given you’re not married I’d get out of it.

It’s no business of anyone else but you could just say “we had issues that we couldn’t resolve” and leave it at that.

SwordToFlamethrower · 15/05/2024 16:18

Me and my husband are the same. Used to shower daily, now we shower maybe once or twice a week. Clothes get the sniff test before they see a washing machine, though knickers and socks are clean daily.

We do top and tail, though, wash hands often and clean teeth twice a day. We are clean, we are just keen on saving water and electricity since COL crisis started and it has stuck.

We are both clean and smell natural, no artificial scents applied.

QuestionableMouse · 15/05/2024 16:27

Sounds like you have the ick and even if he did shower daily you'd find something else that bothered you. Not judging you - it happens!

I shower every third day (showering more often makes my eczema flare) and I don't feel particularly unclean in between (but I do wash daily). Also don't smell - I have a ND nephew and if I did he'd tell me straight away.

I personally think that people who shower multiple times daily are being excessive unless they're extremely active or sweaty!

Does he actually smell or are you just in the ick and everything turns your stomach with him?

aridiculousargument · 15/05/2024 16:28

3 day ass doesn’t even bear thinking about

Theothername · 15/05/2024 16:29

When I was young I was fascinated by the story of the Endurance being trapped in the ice, not knowing if the ship would survive and I thought it was really mean of the captain to insist on maintaining normal work routines instead of letting everyone enjoy a nice holiday.

But it’s really important for mental health to keep good routines and some authority structures. Slipping standards of grooming and hygiene can be a sign of depression and some other mh disorders, but since lockdown and with wfh, it’s become apparent that many people don’t have to be actively depressed to struggle to maintain the standards.

I would check that there isn’t a serious underlying issue first. And I think it’s important to acknowledge that it’s not unusual. But it isn’t acceptable.

And look, op, even if you were the only woman in the world with this issue, it would still be a valid issue for you. Up to and including walking away.

He knows that if you left, and he wanted a new partner he’d be in that shower, smelling himself! It’s a non negotiable.

It’s not a completely straightforward problem to fix though. And there’s a lot of compassionate help available online (and even from professionals). It can be a difficulty for some people with adhd (because of the executive function challenge) or sensory processing disorders. That’s not to armchair diagnose him, but to point out that it’s a more common problem than you might think, with more than one cause and a plethora of solutions.

Foxblue · 15/05/2024 16:29

So have you actually spelt out to him in very clear words 'this is unacceptale to me and it's making you so unattractive to me that I don't want to have sex with you even when you are clean' - sorry, I just couldn't really figure out if you'd been that explicit with him from your posts.
I would find this, personally, really disrespectful - why doesn't he think you deserve to sleep with someone clean, do you mean so little?? It doesn't show any love or care for you, does it.

Natty13 · 15/05/2024 16:30

You say you couldn't tell people you broke up over this as if it is a small thing. It isn't. People absolutely understand not wanting to be with someone who won't shower and brush their teeth. If you showed this post to anyone you knew IRL without knowing it was by you and asked if they would be with someone like that I guarantee nobody would say yes. Therefore people will clearly understand if you tell them you broke up because he stopped washing and refused to improve his hygiene. Conversely, people would be judging you if they knew you stayed with a man like this tbh. You could always say you broke uo because you werent getting on any more anyway, people don't need to know your business

aridiculousargument · 15/05/2024 16:30

The people saying you don’t shower daily either but you do wash your bits etc - OP’s husband doesn’t.

ImCamembertTheBigCheese · 15/05/2024 16:32

No I could not put up with that and I wouldn't. He'd be getting an ultimatum from me. Not only would the smells be a turn off but the pure laziness is also very off putting. A shower does not take a long time.