The one place I would highly recommend using soap is your anus. Although culturally there seems to be an uncomfortably high number of people who don't realise it's a good idea to wash there.

Soap really irritates the anus. Sufficient daily fiber intake and a bidet can get the same results IME.

Wait, there are people who voluntarily don't wash there?

Is there a best of hacker news ? This quality comment is why I browse here

I think showering has more benefits than just cleansing aspect. A shower with good pressure can be like a massage. A soaking bath is very primal and reminiscent of pre birth amniotic fluid. Water is healing.

All soap is made from lye. Any cleansing product should be bio degradable, safe for marine life and shouldn’t be laden with chemicals. Bathing can be great without the toxic soups we create in plastic containers that clog the landfill.

I love talking to older people and I am fond of taking notes of their grooming habits. That’s why some of my farm products focus on cosmetics that are also edible.

They used ground grains and nut shells for exfoliant. Herbs and oils. Plant dyes and natural fragrances. Milk and cream and yogurt. Honey. Turmeric and saffron and rose water. Corn cobs and luffa to scrub down. It’s not much diff from what we do except we have to wrap everything in plastic and use preservatives for shelf life.

Also..another thing I learnt about skin and hair care is that the inside matters. Make up and cosmetics may fix things from outside, but skin and hair are markers of diet and good health. Also circulation. Perhaps there was something to brushing yourself hair 100 times before going to bed. I also found that the women I spoke to always had grooming habits that they indulged in as a group. It was not a solitary activity. I found the whole thing fascinating.

I will second this - I haven't used soap or shampoo for 3 years except for hands. I use a stick deodorant.

It all started when my favorite hair conditioner was discontinued! I spent unhappy months trying to find a replacement. That got me to thinking, and wondering why I was spending so much money on product, killing my skin biome, and sending all that product down the drain.

At first I had to get used to my skin feeling a little stickier than I liked. Now I don't notice at all. When I don't regularly work out and work up a sweat, my hair and ears will tend to get a bit greasy. I also find I keep my hair a bit shorter. Showers are much faster.

My closest companion doesn't complain about any smell, but she also doesn't tell me anymore that my hair smells good.

I was just going to try it out for a while, but now I am sure it's permanent.

I tried this 7 years ago and I got way too greasy all over, so much acne, so much time trying to get clean in the shower. Hair like the fonz. And I’m old. Gave it up after about 2 weeks. Should I have stuck it out?

Yes. Two weeks to a month was the low point. Then body adjusts and stops producing so much oils.

I'd be curious to know if you have anyone in your life that was around you and could have complained about your odor and what they think about this

I shower everyday but use shampoo maybe once a week and soap after my gym sessions or particularly warm days. My girlfriends never complained, they often told me I smelled good and I have no reasons to doubt them. I think it really does depend on the person. I lived in a lot of shared flats, I could smell some roommates' body odor across the room 1 hour after they showered, some other roommates seemed to never have any body odor, even after going for a run.

The type of clothes you wear also has a huge influence. Some fabrics are naturally anti fungal/bacterial, some other will smell like death after even the lightest efforts.

I need to use specialised shampoo because I have a dandruff problem that gets pretty gnarly if I don't take care of it for a couple days.

Yeah, but that’s the annoying catch 22... you very well could have dandruff only because you’re drying the skin on your head out too much. Just like the oils and nastiness on the rest of your skin, after a sufficient period your body could adjust and equalize and be fine.

I used to have terrible dandruff. Purely anecdotal, but I stopped using shampoo in my hair, and the problem mostly went away. I still wash it throughly, using only water, scrubbing hard with a towel when I dry off. My hair is noticeably less oily after washing, but it's no longer frizzy and stays in place better when I comb it. I have short hair.

I used to be the same way. While I generally scoff at "natural"-sounding cures, tea tree oil (sometimes called melaleuca oil) shampoos have literally cured my problem. I don't know the mechanics of it, but it works extremely well. If you feel like trying it, make sure you get one that is really strong smelling (not a bad thing, the smell is pleasant). I use Paul Mitchell, but others have worked for me too...just not the really cheap ones that barely smell like it.

Teatree oil has a very harsh smell that's impossible to ignore. Some people might find it pleasant, but I personally can't stand it.