"I don’t smell!’ Meet the people who have stopped washing

[Geee]

The Gueardian

David Whitlock has not showered or bathed for 15 years, yet he does not have body odour. “It was kind of strange for the first few months, but after that I stopped missing it,” he says. “If I get a specific part of my body dirty, then I’ll wash that specific part” – but never with soap. As well as germs, soap gets rid of the skin’s protective oils and alters its pH level. Although Whitlock appreciated gaining an extra 15 minutes a day from soap-dodging, his primary motivation was to encourage friendly microbes to live on him in symbiotic harmony. The bacteria get to feast on the ammonia from his sweat and he gets low-maintenance, balanced skin.

Just as awareness of the importance of the gut microbiome has led to a boom in probiotic and fermented foods and supplements, there is increasing interest in our skin microbiome: the trillions of microbes that protect us from pathogens and keep us healthy by making vitamins and other useful chemicals. In this unprecedentedly sanitised era, in which eczema, acne and problems associated with dry skin are rife, consumers are hungry for solutions. Even the mainstream brand Dove claims vaguely that its products are “microbiome-gentle”.

[Valin]

@Geee

Catherine Allen: How often do you bathe?

Will Penny: Well, eight or nine times. It depends.

Catherine Allen: On what?

Will Penny: The weather.

Catherine Allen: Eight or nine times a month?

Will Penny: Eight or nine times a month? A year!

Catherine Allen: A year?

Will Penny: Well sure. You have a real good one when you finish the shove up north, like at the hotel in Alfred. Then one or two in the winter, if you don't catch your death. Then a couple in the spring and one more good one before you start the shove up again. The rest depends on what kind of water you hit on the drive. Well, what's wrong with that? That's as much as anybody!

 

[Geee]

32 minutes ago, Valin said:

@Geee

Catherine Allen: How often do you bathe?

Will Penny: Well, eight or nine times. It depends.

Catherine Allen: On what?

Will Penny: The weather.

Catherine Allen: Eight or nine times a month?

Will Penny: Eight or nine times a month? A year!

Catherine Allen: A year?

Will Penny: Well sure. You have a real good one when you finish the shove up north, like at the hotel in Alfred. Then one or two in the winter, if you don't catch your death. Then a couple in the spring and one more good one before you start the shove up again. The rest depends on what kind of water you hit on the drive. Well, what's wrong with that? That's as much as anybody!

 

I have been noticing a trend lately. Fewer baths. Don't use a dishwasher, hurts your immunity - etc etc.  Do you think their might be an agenda behind this?? Technology is bad = going back to the hippie 60's is good ?

[Valin]

34 minutes ago, Geee said:

I have been noticing a trend lately. Fewer baths. Don't use a dishwasher, hurts your immunity - etc etc.  Do you think their might be an agenda behind this?? Technology is bad = going back to the hippie 60's is good ?

 

Are you talking about the 760's?

 

As I understand it, one of the reasons people (Christians) didn't bath much in the middle ages was Muslims and Jews did. Better to be dirty/stinky than be thought of a a Muslim or Jew.