Any tricks to get away with not bathing? - PaleoHacks.com

Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-28T04:38:14Z

Anybody have any tips for hiding the fact that you haven't bathed in several days?

I've been incredibly busy/stressed over the last two weeks due to finals rapidly approaching, and one of the many things I have "not had time for" is bathing. To be honest, I showered today for the first time in about a week and a half. It started out with being too busy, but I decided to just keep it up for as long as I could as an experiment of sorts.

Now, I've messed around with using natural soap/no soap and whatnot, but this was the first time without even using water. I washed-out my armpits on Sunday, but other than that and using a natural deodorant (not antiperspirant) I've done nothing. It is more manageable than you would think at first.

Here's what I have learned from my experience:

The most obvious change for me is my hair; it almost seems to have gel/grease in it after about day 3. It just has a noticeable sheen and clumpiness that screams 'oily'. The first and second days without showering it looks the worst. One trick I found is to brush it for a few minutes with a fine comb or brush to work the oils through it. I find it ironic that this is what hair gels tell you to do when applying them. After about day five it was still obvious even after brushing that my hair was unwashed, though.

The second most obvious change is armpit stench. After a few days it doesn't matter how much deodorant I have on, I just stink. I even made a sweatshirt I was wearing over two other shirts stink just by wearing it for a few hours, lol. About the only 'trick' I learned was to get used to the smell and apply deodorant frequently. Luckily my sweatshirts kept the smell contained for the most part, but in the warmer months this wouldn't be the case.

One purely positive experience is that my skin seemed to be more healthy. I don't know if this is a result of not bathing, but I was sunbathing for about an hour midday on Monday without using sunscreen (getting some vit. D) and didn't burn at all. I was slightly rosy for about an hour, but it faded quickly. This was the first time this year, and I used to burn even with sunscreen on.

I guess the time savings is pretty big, too. Using less water is also never a bad thing.

If anyone has any tips to help me to appear 'clean' for a longer period of time it would be much appreciated.

edit: I just want to make sure that another 30 people don't skim the post and miss that I intentionally extended this as an experiment. I understand it takes 5 minutes to shower, I'm not an idiot. It is my personal belief, and highly Paleo-backed, that bathing every day or even more than once a week is highly unnatural and not good for you, especially if you must use heated chemically-treated water to do it.

Answer by Aaron for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-28T05:30:00Z

Cold shower. Takes MUCH less time than a hot shower. Very efficient and invigorating.

Answer by Renee for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-28T05:32:48Z

You need to master the two minute shower. During the winter, I hate showers though and will do a sponge bath and oil my skin down and save my good showers for my moon time. During the summer, I take cold showers and all the rest. I'm a female and for men it may be different and more smelly. I understand about being busy though. It's so tempting to let personal hygiene fall by the wayside.

Answer by Sara for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-28T05:48:20Z

This is a bizarre question. How is it that you are too busy for a shower? You can be in and out, dried, and dressed in 5 minutes or less.

Sounds like you'd just like folks around you to know that you're working really hard at school. There are easier ways to do that than building up body odor and oil. Your academic performance will also probably be better if you take care of yourself a little.

Answer by Sunny Beaches for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-28T05:56:14Z

Really, showering is something that not everyone does on a daily basis. It's something that industrialized countries do moreso for social and aesthetic reasons, rather than health.

I don't know about adults, but I know that it is not recommended that infants be bathed everyday because it increases risk for asthma and also can lead to dry skin. If you're sweating a LOT, maybe drinking some ice-cold water might help. I don't think it would be harmful to shower less often, if you aren't working out vigorously everyday and work in a professional environment. It might help regulate your skin's self production of oils in the long run, since you talked about having better skin.

You're a student...you can get away with this. And who cares if you don't shower during finals week when you're probably hiding in the library with no social life anyway? I don't know about you, but when I was a student, this kind of behavior was normal, and people just wore the same outfits over again and showered less. Enjoy this precious time to be free before you enter the real world and have to look "neat" and wear stuff like khakis and pants with zippers and buttons (as opposed to sweatpants all the time).

Good luck on finals!

Answer by AmandaLP for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-28T11:56:32Z

Magnesium oil. I started using it transdermally (on the skin), and forgot to wear deodorant yesterday, and had no body odor. (I even made my fiancee smell my underarms!)

But, take a couple of minutes every few days to get in the shower. It will make you feel better, and the study break will help as well.

Answer by kathleen for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-28T12:03:05Z

For oily hair, baby powder applied to it and massaged throughout will soak up the oil. As far as the smell and deodorant isn't working... what about just washing your armpits?

Answer by Notadude for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-28T15:08:30Z

You're not tricking anyone. Other people can smell your stink long before you can smell it yourself.

You're a dude. Dude showers are like five minutes. No excuse.

Answer by Jessica G for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-28T15:13:44Z

For girls, a little oil on a q-tip can clear out crotch funk (i.e. "smegma" between the labia folds). For men and armpits, I'd think powder of some sort would absorb excess moisture and could provide a little pleasant odor. I use Burt's Bees baby oil and powder and it has a gentle, sweet smell. There are also no-rinse cleaning products that astronauts and hikers use, or truncated baths/splashes where you just do pits and bits w/o immersing your whole body (my mom calls them "whore's baths" - sorry if anyone finds that vulgar, but I think it's kind of cute). Or just wash/rinse your hair under the faucet - thirty seconds (depending on how much hair you have) and you're done.

I'm really surprised at all the "ew" responses to this question. I've typically found this community to be really open-minded about alternative ways to conduct our lives. Is a woman's choosing not to shave gross and icky too?

Frequent bathing - and this verdant repulsion to natural body odor - strike me as manufactured, marketed, very "Westernized" views on humanity. American women were, not very long ago, told via advertisement to douche with Lysol to "regain their husband's lost affection" due to their disgusting, awful, natural body stink. Honestly, there's a difference between healthy hygiene and American standards on bathing.

Answer by Bobbie for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-28T15:21:34Z

Take a fucking bath. This is disgusting and I see no point in it unless you no longer want to have friends or you have some issues where you want to stink. I honestly thought this was a joke at first. WTF?

Answer by jake for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-28T15:24:04Z

for me the shower is so much more than just getting clean. it's so relaxing and invigorating at the same time. i can't see why you would not just take 5 mins and enjoy a hot steamy shower ended with a couple minutes of icy coldness. probably one of my favorite parts of the day.

Answer by Banded Girl for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-28T16:29:59Z

I have never been too busy to carve out 15 minutes to take a shower (my hair is long, thick, and hard to rinse, though) each day or two. As others have pointed out, it's really inconsiderate to everyone around you when you refuse to bathe every few days. In Western culture, anyway :)

Having said that, unscented baby wipes are great for a sponge bath after my workouts when I'm sweaty and can't take a shower. Not the most "paleo," but it works for me.

Answer by Rob for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-28T19:00:18Z

Try a deodorant stone for the pits. Mine are stench free.

Wet pits, wipe the stone around (wax on, wax off...), gently blot the pits dry.

Answer by Cast Iron Brick for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-28T20:18:29Z

No, no no no no. Stop it.

If you have time to goof around on Paleohacks, you have two minutes to go take a Whore's bath.

Answer by NMG for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-29T12:40:05Z

If you have BO, something is wrong...

Do you eat a lot of spicy / pungent foods?

I have a physical job, and at the end of the day I can have a bit of an "honest day's work" armpit whiff - but if I've been eating grains, too much coffee, certain spices then it's a lot stronger and more unpleasant.

What are your clothes made from? Artificial fibres keep sweat on the skin and feed the stinky bacteria; natural fibres let the skin breathe. Same idea with tight vs loose clothing.

What soaps / deos have you used? Again, I find the more artificial, chemically, scented super-duper ones actually wear off fastest and provoke a stronger response, than e.g. the "salt stick" deo. Dr Bronners or african black soap is my preferred.

(For the record, I shower each day with occasional exceptions)

EDIT - "no poo" seems to work well in soft water areas but not in hard water. What's your water like?

Answer by Jac Guillory for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-29T14:12:44Z

http://freetheanimal.com/2009/12/paleo-i-dont-care-i-like-no-soap-no-shampoo.html

Very interesting article on non-bathing :) I am thinking of trying it.

Answer by Paula for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-04-29T15:33:35Z

This is mostly just opinion and personal experience, so...

Not bathing regularly is something you can get away with, but there is an adjustment period where your body is still producing oils as if you're showering regularly. For a short term period of time away from a shower, I've heard baby powder in the hair can help prevent greasiness. Other than that, I really don't know. As others have said, you may as well jump in and out of the shower and be done with it. But if you want to shower less frequently on a long term basis, expect to feel gross for a few weeks as your body adjusts.

My roommate, a female, probably only showers once every couple of weeks, and I honestly don't notice any smell. And she's a big girl, possibly 250-300lbs. I think she's been doing it for so long that her body just doesn't produce the excess oils that mine does when I go for a similar period of time without showering. After just two days, my hair is a greasy mess. Of course, we're both females. In high school, I did have a male friend that trained himself to only shower once a week. I absolutely did not notice a bad smell on him. His natural body smell was much stronger, but it wasn't a foul odor. It became a sort of game for him, to see how long he could go without a bath. No harm done, as far as I can tell.

Maybe the "armpit stench" you're smelling isn't as bad as you think it is? Maybe it is your natural body smell. If it really is a bad stench, maybe try another deodorant or anti-perspirant to see if that helps. Also, find someone around you that will give you an honest opinion about the smell. There's a big difference between body smell and body odor. Body odor gives me a headache, but body smell can be quite pleasant on the opposite sex.

Answer by Acelin for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-05-29T08:48:22Z

The less liquids in you, the less liquids come out of you, in every form, including sweat and oils.

Needless to say, this is something most people would not recommend for obvious reasons. However, for this particular question, it apply's. Simply consume less sodium and avoid pure water. Drink fruit juices, soda and other liquids that wash right through the body. NOT sports drinks or high sodium content (like soup broth etc.)

Of course avoid any strenuous activity such as sports and other physically demanding labor. If you don't do a lot, you don't need a lot, and you of course won't sweat a lot.

But again... in the end, if there's not a lot of liquid in your body, it will keep all that it has locked inside... or at least, it will keep much more locked in.

This is also speaking from experience. I have never been one to drink the recommended amounts of liquid/water daily and as a result, I am often mildly dehydrated--- however, it just results in less sweating and NATURAL oil reserves/build up where people tend to lose it most (hair and skin).

I rarely ever sweat, and I never need moisturizers. My hair and skin are naturally "normal". I am 28 years old now and have had less than 10 pimples in my LIFE, have only gotten sun burn once in my LIFE, and have been VERY fortunate to have never gotten any skin rashes and dandruff only shows if I don't wash my hair for 3+ days, and after one wash, it's gone.

This is just MY theory, but I honestly think the reason for my "luck" is common sense. Sweat is the nasty stuff your body pushes OUT, for a reason. It's not meant to stay inside, and the whole reason we bath in the first place, is to wash off dirty sweat and other bodily oils the body pushes out when in access (along with other things we just come in contact with through out our daily lives). In the end... I think it makes more sense to just cut out the middle man. Be less physically active so that you don't NEED to keep overly hydrated... Do less - Drink Less - Sweat Less, viola! If you sweat less, you stink less. And nasty smells are a natural sign that something is nasty. Getting sweaty is like rubbing nasty liquids on your body... why not just stop sweat before it starts? Take it out of the equation for a few weeks and see what happens.

Obviously... you can only do this if you don't have a physically active life style. But if you ever have a "Home" vacation, you should give it a try.

Answer by Bryan for Any tricks to get away with not bathing?

2012-07-16T20:28:30Z

Showering every day is CERTAINLY an Anglo-sphere thing, and a modern one at that. My grandpa used to say to my Dad, "Bath once a week whether you're dirty or not!" And then his 7 brothers and sisters would all use the washtub outside their house with water they heated up from the lake. The person who used the tub last got the dirtiest water. This was out in rural Canada.

I spoke to a gentleman who was a retired naval vet about this and he said it was the exact same way in Missouri when he grew up. "One bath per week, even if you're not dirty."