Miscellaneous desk
< June 11	<< May \| June \| Jul >>	June 13 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Miscellaneous Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

June 12

Hygiene

I'm really fascinated by this article according to science it may be a good idea to shower two to three days as daily washing may be doing more harm than good. Is there a right way to shower and a wrong way or is there just the normal shower routine?https://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelwmiller/how-often-you-really-need-to-shower. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 110.151.109.163 (talk) 10:52, 12 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

It is claimed that Queen Elizabeth I bathed once a month whether she needed it or not. (https://life.spectator.co.uk/articles/relax-dont-scrub-why-we-should-all-bathe-like-victoria/) HiLo48 (talk) 11:41, 12 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I'm reminded of a line from Will Cuppy's The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody: "Queen Isabel of Spain bragged that she had only ever had two baths - one when she was baptized, and one when she married. They gave her a third one after she died." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:11, 12 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Bathing with soap or detergent does remove the oils from the skin and hair. If not replaced, this could lead to dry, chapped skin and dry hair. However, it's simple enough to replace the missing oils, with hair conditioner and skin moisturizer. Those with oily skin and hair don't need to do even this, as their natural oils will quickly be replaced. On the plus side, daily bathing makes it more likely one will find ticks, lumps, irregular moles, etc., in time to have them treated and minimize risks. SinisterLefty (talk) 16:40, 12 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I like to use an anecdote... I worked with a man named John. He thought everything was a conspiracy - including soap. So, he did not bathe. He did not use deodorant. He said that the human body self-regulates everything. He also claimed that his choice was justified because nobody ever told him that he stank in any way. He did. He did stink very badly. People quit their jobs just to avoid being within odor distance of him. So, I told him he stank, every day, every time we met. It made him more emboldened. His claim was changed to a claim that not only was soap a conspiracy but that the soap agency pays agents (like me) to tell lies about people who don't use soap. 68.115.219.130 (talk) 17:59, 12 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Who left the company first - you or him? Also, if it gets to the point that flies refuse to go near someone, then it's time for a shower. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:02, 12 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I transferred to another position in another building. I have heard that he went to work for the government somewhere. 68.115.219.130 (talk) 19:07, 12 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

<insert joke here> —2606:A000:1126:28D:F08E:2A5A:BEC4:DEAE (talk) 19:35, 12 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Me thinks 68.115 made all this up (because s/he's a soap company astroturfer...) 93.136.9.45 (talk) 19:51, 12 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

It could be the plot for a soap opera. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:57, 12 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

You should have told the smelly employee to get off his soapbox, then open it up and use it. :-) SinisterLefty (talk) 16:58, 15 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Supposedly The next big thing in fashion is Not washing your clothes. Bus stop (talk) 22:13, 12 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. The CEO of Levis says you should never wash your jeans. HiLo48 (talk) 00:02, 13 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

It is an aesthetic of grunginess that the CEO of Levis is suggesting but one has to ask oneself if this is an aesthetic in jeans that one desires. Bus stop (talk) 00:44, 13 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Can't find a source for it, but I heard a young lady on local radio here in Melbourne, Australia, declaring that she never washed her jeans, and stored them in the freezer between wears. She claimed that somehow "sterilised" them. HiLo48 (talk) 01:07, 13 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, the article you linked to mentions something like that. Advice from several major jeans manufacturers is to instead try putting your pair in the freezer overnight to help get rid of bacteria. Here is more on the subject. Bus stop (talk) 01:28, 13 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

A reliable source says that's all a bunch of [hooey]:

Zielinski, Sarah. "The Myth of the Frozen Jeans". Smithsonian. —2606:A000:1126:28D:C126:5C2E:5D33:1CCC (talk) 06:29, 13 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe a cousin to the theory of cooking one's underwear in the microwave. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:36, 13 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

....And then warming up dinner in it? Hmmmmm. HiLo48 (talk) 09:51, 14 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I'm guessing that the problem is that acid washed jeans and jeans with slashes in them tend to fall apart when washed. Who would have thought that intentionally damaging jeans could shorten their life ? I will buy normal, fully intact jeans, and wash them regularly, thank you very much. SinisterLefty (talk) 20:54, 16 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Julia Scott wrote an interesting article about going for a month without showering, instead spraying on some stuff to nourish her skin microbiome to stop her from getting stinky. It apparently worked.[1] 67.164.113.165 (talk) 10:16, 17 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Body odor comes at least partly from skin bacteria digesting skin oils, dead skin cells, etc. and producing smelly waste products. The thing she tried is spraying a certain strain of bacteria onto her skin to change the skin flora composition. This might have an effect if the newly introduced bacteria don't produce waste products that have an odor, and outcompete other bacteria that do. It's not so much "nourishing" the microbiome as tweaking its composition. --47.146.63.87 (talk) 07:56, 18 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]