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Old 07-17-2016, 08:09 AM
 
Location: Europe
2,729 posts, read 2,687,309 times
Reputation: 4210

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Quote:
Originally Posted by lucknow View Post
When I was growing up in the 50s, the normal regimen was that you had a bath once per week. My bath night was Friday and that was that. People were not considered dirty because they bathed once per week. Today I take 2-3 showers per week and that is plenty in my estimation.
And if we go back in time people had no necessary chances to bath before spring/summer.

Quote:
Originally Posted by PeachSalsa View Post
When I was growing up, my family home did not have a shower until the mid 70s. We had one bath tub. We also had a vanity sink. So I remember washing my hair every few days in the sink when I was a pre-teen/teen. My parents finally did an upgrade l when I was in about 8th grade, installing a shower stall down in the spidery basement. This was an old house, originally built around 1900. To this day, I do not like baths. I don't think either of my bathtubs has been used for a bath for a human in 10+ years. The dog gets a bath every so often. And the cat had one once.....
Some people are looking at things only todays point of view, it is sad when people are too lazy to peek past and it is very important to share the facts how things were before. Chips, people had also outhouses etc... And it was great new hygienic way to take care of body dumps...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell View Post
I have known young women who were subject to sexual assaults who would stay dirty to make themselves less appealing to predators.
Yes, some people are reacting that way.

Quote:
Originally Posted by vnodak View Post
A no --- a lot of people did not have showers and yes we took a bath once a week usually. Also, if you lived on the farm, a lot of people did not have bathrooms and took a bath in a metal tub once a week and used out houses. Their was a lot of fighting over the one bathroom our house had for 15 years. I am speaking from experience and not before my time.
Yes, environment, buildings and things were different. For some people it seems to be too much to understand where and how people actually became into this "modern" point, which, one day is ancient too.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jay_jay26 View Post
I do the same. As an adult, my skin has gotten dryer and bathing everyday makes things worse. If my vagina, armpits, and underboob are sweaty/smelly, I'll just use some cleaning wipes for those areas, and put more deodorant.
Deodorant might not make any good to your dry skin, same with cleaning wipes, there is usually lot of chemicals if you mean those bought ones.

I cannot use normal soaps because it dries my skin so bad I get cuts and they start to bleed.

I use normal fabric towels to wash armpits during a day depending how much I exercise or physically working. Also you could find fitting natural, gentle body cream without any chemicals and alcohols what you could use when water alone is not enough.

I usually shower every day at summer time but I cannot wash my hair daily. Also I wash often my forehead, neck and pits during the day due to working and exercising. After last sweating I take the ole shower. If I have to go to public, then I might take fast another shower between.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kmb501 View Post
Odd, I've heard from doctors that most young women who experience rape consciously try to make themselves cleaner through bathing and hygiene practices, something about mentally needing to wash away the contamination and violated feeling. They may try to keep themselves in a way that makes men uninterested in them, though.
Some people try to wash the rape out of them, some people even break their skin on that process. People react same things differently due to their different personalities. There is no one form. Also one could hyper wash first month, then stop and be stinky to banish.

Quote:
Originally Posted by judd2401 View Post
It's not necessary to bathe everyday unless you're getting really dirty, sweaty, are young with high oil secretions, but bathing/showering everyday does strip the skin of it's natural protection and changes the pH balance which can lead to all sorts of skin problems in vulnerable people. The only thing in your case is that she is malodorous. That's the sticking point for me that something is wrong. It's possible she doesn't smell her own body odor, that is not uncommon, some people stink to the high heavens and they don't know it. My niece went through a phase where she didn't bathe much, and had mild BO at the same age but outgrew it and now takes very good care of herself.
Yeah, at winter time -30 c you really don't get sweaty, lol , no need to shower just for proving you are mentally healthy as I think it is the actual reason why people are so obsessed about it. Daily showers are counted as criteria of being sane same as clean home, and the more criterias they add, the more obsessive people are going to prove they are okay..

Quote:
Originally Posted by pandaundercover View Post
I would to know who decided that not showering/bathing EVERY DAY was unhygienic? It seems to be a relatively common assumption, but it doesn't mean it's an accurate one. I'm pretty sure people that don't shower every single day can still have great hygiene. I see a lot of people that shower every day that still look like they don't have good hygiene. Only over the past several years have people actually realized they don't have to wash their hair EVERY DAY for it to be healthy. In fact, they've discovered washing it everyday is unhealthy.

*Note: this discussion clearly depends on one's occupation/lifestyle. There are some jobs where someone would be insane to not shower when they got home.
There is no rules, people and situations are different.

Quote:
Originally Posted by otterhere View Post
Americans are completely neurotic about this. I recently read that the average is eight showers (full body, plus shampoo) per week. Unless you're toiling in the hot sun all day or rolling around in the mud, that's completely crazy! Only certain "parts" need daily washing. The French have the right idea.
Count other obsessions too, lol ..

Quote:
Originally Posted by PeachSalsa View Post
Depends on the situation. Sitting in a climate controlled office - you are right.

However, this morning, I got up, showered, and put on clean clothes. I then, over the course of the day, did some gardening, worked in my garage, walked 7 miles on a beautiful 77 degree day, fertilized the lawn, killed some ants, and ended up walking the dog another 3 miles this evening.

I'm pooped. I'm sweaty. My shirt is sweated through. My head is sweaty.

Yes, I will be showering again, washing my hair, and I will be washing my clothes before I wear them again.
Of course when you need to shower, you do so. It is about being obsessive about it and go to shower even if you would not really need it. Because "you have to" , to be socially acceptable. It is like the check list to rate you by your actions without a sense if something is needed or not. That is "social showering" just like social smoking.. You start and do it just to be accepted.

Quote:
Originally Posted by fleetiebelle View Post
I was once on an airplane near someone whose BO made my eyes water. I can't imagine that was just me being "soft."
I get my eyes bleed because people are using parfumes and colognes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by otterhere View Post
Well, I know people who send their dogs -- even cats -- off to the groomer to be bathed and perfumed; totally unnecessarily, in my view. My pets smell like, well, my pets; not terrible (unless there's been some mishap), but not like a bouquet of roses either. They aren't supposed to... Different strokes!
That is abusing animals.

Quote:
Originally Posted by otterhere View Post
Likewise, cloying perfume and cologne can make your eyes water and even trigger an asthma attack.
That is bigger problem than yucky unwashed people.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluesmama View Post
I don't typically reply to topics with so many pages of posts, but I guess I find this one too interesting to resist.


It can be a sign of depression but not necessarily. She may simply just not care (and there IS a difference).

She could get away with this if she at least took a soapy rag to certain places daily to avoid stench. Sounds like she doesn't. And for most people hair starts smelling bad in that many days, too.


My parents were Europeans who didn't regularly either, but they cleaned important areas daily and they never "stank".
Yes, that is common. Also at hikes etc. there is no showers and maybe no suitable waters to swim so people do have hobbies, works (truck drivers), etc. when people cannot shower every day and they are not dying, lol

Quote:
Originally Posted by otterhere View Post
Well, in Europe, they have the ingenious bidet to clean the only parts that really require daily cleaning.


Europe: smarter in every way!
Also leaning close to handwasher and practically handing the water on your arm pits etc. is just fine.. I would not sit on it though

I would say it is fine to wash when ever you need it.. f the charts and criterias as people don't know your routines. Some people don't even poop every day so there is nothing to wash either. But when you need it, then do it
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Old 07-17-2016, 10:14 AM
 
Location: Northeastern US
19,785 posts, read 13,324,067 times
Reputation: 9791
Quote:
Originally Posted by JerZ View Post
I'm not saying I doubt you, you're one smart dude and your posts on a certain other forum have always make me smile. And sure, one's hormonal profile changes at certain points in one's life and can definitely impact such things as hormone production and sweating/constituents of sweat. But you're aware that sense of smell dims as one gets older, correct?
(chuckle) Oh yes, I always ask my wife if I'm on track or not. She will definitely tell me if I'm not, trust me ;-)
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Old 07-17-2016, 10:18 AM
 
Location: Northeastern US
19,785 posts, read 13,324,067 times
Reputation: 9791
Quote:
Originally Posted by HoneyGrahams224 View Post
In some hipster circles it is considered chic not to bathe. I don't know why... But like, half of my coworkers at one of my old jobs just didn't bathe. It was constant b.o. All the time. One girl said that she thought it was better to smell "natural", another guy biked everywhere and didn't want to bother showering on the daily. I worked with a lot of intelligent, college educated, smelly people. I think it's a phase. Some of my coworkers were alcoholics though, and whiskey sweat has a very distinct odor to it - so that might have been part of the issue.
A historian I read once said that it was all BO all the time in, e.g., the middle ages, when bathing was a once or twice a year luxury and people had at most one change of clothes. People were just acclimated to it. Similarly there was a nice elderly couple in the town I grew up in who had probably 50 cats and their house smelled of cat urine and they were oblivious to it. They probably wondered why, when they occasionally went to church, no one sat near them if at all possible.

So it's all relative. If this hipster thing you're describing becomes more than a passing fad, I suppose that "smelling natural" could become socially acceptable on a wide scale. Probably not though, at least not while the technological infrastructure to support daily bathing holds up.
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Old 07-17-2016, 10:42 AM
 
Location: Northeastern US
19,785 posts, read 13,324,067 times
Reputation: 9791
Quote:
Originally Posted by PeachSalsa View Post
You should really get your smeller checked. I'm guessing it's not working as well as it was when you were younger.

Old people can DEFINITELY have BO. Bad BO. Compiled with the "old person" smell.
OK I guess people are really jumping to conclusions here and I can't say that I blame them.

As I said, I have a desk job, at home, and central air conditioning.

Now that the hot part of the summer is here, such that it's already over 70 degrees no matter how early I get up, my standard 10,000 step morning walk leaves me soaked in sweat and I go straight to the shower afterwards. Not only for reasons of smell, but for comfort reasons. Also regardless I do change my clothes including underwear, every day. And I do use antiperspirant.

I guess the difference for me is more pronounced because I was so existentially miserable in my 20s (horrible marriage) that the stink of fear and anxiety was on me 24/7. When that relationship ended things improved a great deal. In my 50s now I'm far more Zen in general.

As I said to JerZ, trust me, my current wife would let me know if I were stinking up the place. And her olfactory powers are undiminished.
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Old 10-19-2016, 02:18 PM
 
Location: Everett, WA
173 posts, read 180,635 times
Reputation: 164
Personally, I see no reason to bathe everyday unless you are sweating everyday. For most people a shower every other day is sufficient. Now obviously, if you are working out or have an active job that's different. Showering for me everyday would completely dry out my skin and wreck havoc on my hair. My husband needs to shower everyday, sometimes 2X, because he sweats in the night and then has a very active job. I see no reason to waste the water and soap etc.
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Old 10-24-2016, 08:07 AM
 
2,362 posts, read 1,911,882 times
Reputation: 4719
Quote:
Originally Posted by laurabf View Post
Personally, I see no reason to bathe everyday unless you are sweating everyday. For most people a shower every other day is sufficient. Now obviously, if you are working out or have an active job that's different. Showering for me everyday would completely dry out my skin and wreck havoc on my hair. My husband needs to shower everyday, sometimes 2X, because he sweats in the night and then has a very active job. I see no reason to waste the water and soap etc.
I am 47...male
I have desk job...in the fall, winter, and sometimes spring I will go an entire day without sweating one drop...summertime I do sweat


I still shower every day...for one reason...my butt...nuff said
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Old 10-25-2016, 09:21 AM
 
21,654 posts, read 12,695,360 times
Reputation: 36485
One word: bidet.
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Old 10-25-2016, 05:13 PM
 
2,129 posts, read 1,765,522 times
Reputation: 8758
Quote:
Originally Posted by lucknow View Post
When I was growing up in the 50s, the normal regimen was that you had a bath once per week. My bath night was Friday and that was that. People were not considered dirty because they bathed once per week. Today I take 2-3 showers per week and that is plenty in my estimation.
When *I* was growing up in the 50s, the normal regimen was that you bathed or showered as often as humanly possible. Basically the goal was daily. Especially if you were coming in sweaty from hard manual labor.

Even my dad, who grew up in the 20's and 30's, and grew up LITERALLY in a tar paper shack in an actual squatter's shanty-town with no heat other than the cookstove and had to haul water from a (contaminated) common well managed (with all his brothers and sisters) to bathe twice a week. And washed hands and face before every meal, and at least washed all over with a washcloth and basin of unheated water on non-bath days.

A lot of older folks have issues with bathing, but its most often NOT due to some kind of stubbornness or senility. Bathing simply takes up a lot of energy, and its not exactly the safest activity for the elderly or folks with some types of disabilities.

In this case, being a relatively recent development, and at that age, I'd worry about some kind of sexual imposition or assault that triggered the behavior. It doesn't HAVE to be the cause, but its something that ought to be considered.
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Old 10-26-2016, 06:02 AM
 
21,654 posts, read 12,695,360 times
Reputation: 36485
The consensus today -- or at least here -- seems to be that not bathing/showering/shampooing daily is suggestive of some mental disorder such as depression whereas I would argue that bathing/showering/shampooing daily is suggestive of some mental disorder such as OCD. A couple or three times a week is plenty by any sane, reasonable, and frugal standard.
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Old 10-27-2016, 03:29 PM
 
Location: Florida
3,179 posts, read 2,103,904 times
Reputation: 7934
I wonder if a family member of the OP's niece has sat down and talked with her. If refusing to shower for days at a time is just laziness, she should be reminded to think of other people. Getting a whiff of someone in public who doesn't think enough of themselves or others to shower and use deodorant is very unpleasant. Likewise, on a several hour plane ride!

If I'm home with the flu, I'll skip a day, but vacation in the tropics means two or three showers a day. At home, a shower in the morning can mean another one in the evening, if it's been a busy day. I couldn't fall asleep at night feeling dirty or sticky. In your home, whatever feels right to each person seems fair, but in public, it's a different story! Reminds me of the old commercial 'aren't you glad you use dial, don't you wish everyone did?

Last edited by Taz22; 10-27-2016 at 03:59 PM..
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