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Random Internet dude goes over a year without using soap/shampoo. Surprising results

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Alo81

Low Poly Gynecologist
I'm sorry but this seems so fucking absurdly unnecessary.

The focus on chemicals is way overblown; you can get products that are light on chemicals and you don't need to use a lot of shampoo and soap.

I will never, ever, ever believe this guy does not smell. I'm sure we've all had times where we stunk after the gym or something, and we took a shower but didn't use soap or body wash, for whatever reason, and got out of the shower with pits still smelling. Simply rinsing them with water does not work.

I heard about this and thought it sounded absurd too. Then I decided it was dumb for me to judge without actually trying it so I've been trying it for a month.

No smell, alls good. Plus, I have a girlfriend of 4 years so we're close to each other often and she has no complaints about smell - neither do any of my friends or family or whatever.

I'm not doing it because of some agenda or anything. It's simply that someone said it worked, I doubted it, tried it my self, and now I know for sure it is totally viable.
 
I shower once a week and haven't used soap in years. Not even kidding. I don't smell at all in fact one girl at work always comments on how 'clean' and 'fresh' I smell. And no, she's not being sarcastic.

I use shampoo, though. Can't stand greasy hair.
 

Herne

Member
I gave this a try three months ago and had no problems. Washing with just warm water - nothing else - my hair looked and felt fine, and there wasn't any bad smell or any smell at all. The only reason I stopped is because I tend to be lazy about going to the barber - I just let it grow and grow until it becomes unbearable, so a lot of the time people will see me walking around with a hair "style" that looks like it came out of the 70's or 80's.

I stopped because, with all that hair, it became impossible to brush. I only brush or touch my hair once - after a shower. I don't style it or put anything on it, no sprays or anything. When my hair got to a point two weeks ago where it was a real pain trying to brush it, I went back to shampoo, and it was easy to brush again. I got a hair cut today so I may go back to just using water, but when it starts getting too much I'll go back to shampoo.

Seems to work for me.
 

Raiden

Banned
I shower once a week and haven't used soap in years. Not even kidding. I don't smell at all in fact one girl at work always comments on how 'clean' and 'fresh' I smell. And no, she's not being sarcastic.

I use shampoo, though. Can't stand greasy hair.

Once a week seems a little low. Even if you're not getting sweaty or anything.

Or do you clean yourself with water and a washing cloth and shower fully once a week?
 
An old friend of mine showered with just water for years and he smelled of dirty armpits and balls. This whole thing is crap in my opinion, but I have no firsthand experience.
 

Dereck

Member
I'm 26
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You should make one of those "guess my race" threads, it would be like 10 pages, I can't tell at all.
 

J_Lee

Banned
No soap for about 3 weeks or so, I can tell I have a smell when I sweat but it's not a offensive odor more of a neutral smell I guess you would say. I will tell you that you will need to clean yourself thoroughly for the first week or so because your body is having to balance it's self back to no soap environment.
 
No soap for about 3 weeks or so, I can tell I have a smell when I sweat but it's not a offensive odor more of a neutral smell I guess you would say. I will tell you that you will need to clean yourself thoroughly for the first week or so because your body is having to balance it's self back to no soap environment.

I knew a guy that didn't use soap and didn't think he smelled. He smelled.

People don't think they smell that bad to themselves because we are always around ourselves. We are used to our own scent. I may very well be much stronger to other people.

Unless you've checked with someone you can trust to tell you "Nah, you don't stink" I'd be weary of self-smelling.
 

J_Lee

Banned
I knew a guy that didn't use soap and didn't think he smelled. He smelled.

People don't think they smell that bad to themselves because we are always around ourselves. We are used to our own scent. I may very well be much stronger to other people.

Unless you've checked with someone you can trust to tell you "Nah, you don't stink" I'd be weary of self-smelling.

I have, my mom smelled me the first week and told me I needed soap, done a follow up and she said I don't stink.
 

Kientin

Member
I stopped using soap awhile ago. I do use shampoo once every 3-4 days though, hair gets way too oily even when I tried going shampooless for a month and it didn't let up.

The oils on my skin feel much more stable, usually my skin would range from super dry to very oily. Acne seems to have cut down as well. Also yeah, no complaints from family or anyone I've met about scent. I just scrub myself down with a sponge when I shower and it does the trick.

I do shower every day, or I will stink.
 

Everdred

Member
Holy shit... this thread bump has brought to my attention the fact that I've been doing this for over 2 years now... I would never go back to using shampoo/conditioner.
 

Mariolee

Member
I stopped using soap awhile ago too. There doesn't really seem to be a difference except that when I sweat it doesn't smell nearly as bad.
 

ShowDog

Member
I went a couple months without shampoo a while back. Just kinda scrubbed my hair with my hands in hot water. It worked just fine, and I didn't smell, had my girl check. Eventually I got some conditioner to use once a week instead of using nothing, and now I have shampoo and conditioner. I probably condition once a week and shampoo once or twice a month. My hair turns into a frizzy mess if I wash it too much; its just really coarse and hard to manage in general. I keep it pretty short.

I went without soap as well. Again, absolutely no problems but I'm not a smelly person in general. I used to cover even my entire back in soap during a shower, which dried the shit out of my back and shoulders when combined with the hot water. All kinds of itching in the winter. And totally unnecessary.
 

Mariolee

Member
What advice do you guy have for dandruff? My scalp is really dry and I use Head and Shoulders Dandruff shampoo about twice a week like they recommend.
 
What advice do you guy have for dandruff? My scalp is really dry and I use Head and Shoulders Dandruff shampoo about twice a week like they recommend.

I was in the same boat as you. After years of trying different shampoos that exact shampoo was the best I could find for my scalp (anything else was awful), but it still left it really dry and my hair got greasy quickly. Haven't used shampoo now for a few months and it's so much better! Now I just wash my hair every 1-2 days with slightly warm water (not using very hot water helped with shampoo too) and the problem has gone. I haven't been brave enough to try ditching soap on other parts of me, but I don't feel the need to anyway as it was always just my scalp that was the problem.
 

squall23

Member
Is doing something like this mainly for people that have skin problems or will it also improve people's skin that don't have problems?
 

isuzu

Member
You should make one of those "guess my race" threads, it would be like 10 pages, I can't tell at all.

I'm brazilian, so it's pretty much a bunch of european blood mixed + african + native brazilian. I've heard people say I look like Audrey Tautou (lol, I wish), Michelle Obama (some neogaf dude. made me lol) and some people even ask if I'm asian. I have no fucking idea what race I am, really. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

Mengy

wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
What advice do you guy have for dandruff? My scalp is really dry and I use Head and Shoulders Dandruff shampoo about twice a week like they recommend.

Stop using shampoo.



And I'm serious. I used to have bad dandruff, only Selson blue seemed to keep it under control for me. Since I stopped using shampoo over a year ago my dandruff and dry scalp problems have vanished. Shampoo was causing my issues, for my entire damned life.
 

meow

Member
Ohhh I remember seeing this a long time ago! I want to try this for my hair but don't know if I'll be able to stand the breaking in period. hmmmmm

I don't think I can give up washing my face w/ product though.
 

.GqueB.

Banned
What advice do you guy have for dandruff? My scalp is really dry and I use Head and Shoulders Dandruff shampoo about twice a week like they recommend.

Not sure if this is good advice but I do no shampoo and coconut oil personally. Not sure what style your hair is but I also use a brush when I rinse my hair off.
 

krrrt

Member
I shower once a week and haven't used soap in years. Not even kidding. I don't smell at all in fact one girl at work always comments on how 'clean' and 'fresh' I smell. And no, she's not being sarcastic.

I use shampoo, though. Can't stand greasy hair.

I am like this. Have people telling me I smell good all the time and girlfriends confirming the absence of a bad smell. Caucasian male btw.

I also very rarely use deodorant.
 

NotBacon

Member
Never heard of this guy, but I've been doing shampoo only for years and years. Feels good main.

I have to shampoo because my hair goes oil crazy if I don't, but body washes/soap are so dumb. I'd rather not dry out my skin and interrupt my skin's natural cycle...
 

dhlt25

Member
I tried this for a month only wash my hair with water, my hair got really greasy for a few days then it go away but the dandruff and the itch didn't. It was terrible, I went back to head and shoulders
 

Pimpwerx

Member
I'm gonna try no shampoo starting tomorrow. However, I'm a private tutor, and work in close quarters with my clients. So I don't think I'll do the no soap thing. I'll try it next Summer, as that's when my work load is lightest. I'm intrigued by this. My mom has dreads, so she doesn't shampoo very often, and when she does, it's special stuff. Her hair stays clean, she doesn't have dandruff and it smells nice. I, OTOH, shampoo and condition every day, and I sometimes get dry scalp and dandruff. This seems like a very worthwhile experiment. Of course, it means I'm gonna have to wait a month or so to cut my afro, eventhough I wanted to do it fairly soon. Thanks for the thread bump. This never crossed my mind until I read the thread.

Also, can black people who've done the no shower or no shampoo thing chime in? I'm curious to know what your results have been. PEACE.
 

heidern

Junior Member
Not going with soap & shamp I can respect but only if you are looking for love in the wild - am I right?

If by "in the wild" you mean not infested by dandruff then I guess yeah.

What advice do you guy have for dandruff? My scalp is really dry and I use Head and Shoulders Dandruff shampoo about twice a week like they recommend.

Just wash your hair with cold water every day, no shampoo. I used to have lots of dandruff but now there's none.

Is doing something like this mainly for people that have skin problems or will it also improve people's skin that don't have problems?

Yep, it works for anyone. If I remember correctly, after showering in cold water for 3 days I was shocked at how much softer my skin felt. At the moment I've slacked and use hot/warm water and then maybe end with cold water for the last minute. But my experience is that this process is best if you only use cold water.
 
I stopped using shampoo in 2011 after reading this thread. I still use soap, a mild goats' milk soap. Shower every morning. After I go swimming in the ocean I will use a lather of soap to help get the salt out.

Mine did and still does.

Mine's jealous.

What advice do you guy have for dandruff? My scalp is really dry and I use Head and Shoulders Dandruff shampoo about twice a week like they recommend.

Stop using shampoo. It will get worse as all the dandruff stuck to your scalp falls off, and then it will get better. You will still have some, it's normal.
 

Mariolee

Member
What if I use gel sometimes? That probably significantly dries my scalp causing irritation and dandruff right? I don't use handfuls or anything, usually a little drop or two into my hands and I spread it across my hair.
 
What if I use gel sometimes? That probably significantly dries my scalp causing irritation and dandruff right? I don't use handfuls or anything, usually a little drop or two into my hands and I spread it across my hair.

I've been trying to stop using shampoo because I don't like the way it makes my hair look, but after about a week I start getting a really dry scalp/dandruff.

Is their any non-shampoo way to solve this problem?
 
cs1132_KirksCastileSoap.jpg


Doesnt leave my skin dry, works great when washing hair, and doesnt have a strong odor.

I use this stuff myself and also to make wipe solution for my infant daughter (with some other things). I oil cleanse my face. I just started doing this stuff a few weeks ago but vast improvements. Skin tone evened out, breakouts under control, dry patches disappearing, etc.

I used to get so mad because my husband showers irregularly and doesn't stink and his hair is soft and lovely, while I was often taking TWO showers a day and my hair and skin were terrible. I just couldn't understand why he had it so easy. I knew I had sensitive skin, but didn't realize, I guess, how bad it was.

Haven't been able to make myself transition to no shampoo. A friend of mine hasn't shampooed in two years and her hair is gorgeous. I get so oily, though, that I'm not sure I could handle the adjustment period.

I've been trying to stop using shampoo because I don't like the way it makes my hair look, but after about a week I start getting a really dry scalp/dandruff.

Is their any non-shampoo way to solve this problem?

Could try a coconut oil mask for your head/hair.
 
The pH of your body stays relatively the same being at about 7.36-7.44. Stinkiness is probably caused by the irritation the product has on the skin and the skin reacting. not, the pH level in your blood. I know people who don't use soap and shampoo. They think they don't smell but the BO is strong with some of them. Also, I tried going without shampoo for a good long month because I got so fed up with being made of for my dandruff in high school that I tried everything I could. Anti-dandruff shampoo was the only thing that ever helped me with that problem.
 

Sydle

Member
About a year ago I went to soap only for my pits, crotch, and ass. The rest of my body and face have never been so clear or soft. Used to get frequent acne and my complexion was uneven. Since going just cold water on my face twice a day I have no breakouts and my complexion evened out. Never going back.

Stopped using shampoo about a month ago. My scalp is dry, but this may clear up if I give it more time.

Will try no soap on pits next.
 
I shower once a week and haven't used soap in years. Not even kidding. I don't smell at all in fact one girl at work always comments on how 'clean' and 'fresh' I smell. And no, she's not being sarcastic.

I use shampoo, though. Can't stand greasy hair.

once a week? damn let me guess you live in a very cold climate?
 

Peagles

Member
This thread is fascinating... Can I ask... Do people regularly soap up their entire body?

Because I've always had bad reactions to soap I only use a hypoallergic one on my armpits and I use Pinetarsol for washing anywhere else. My whole family is the same so I was just brought up like this. I do use shampoo though but only twice or three times a week. I guess it'd be easier to stop that if you had short hair (I don't).
 

DeVeAn

Member
In middle school not one ever said anything to me and I would go days without showers. I look back and think wtf. After a full day of no shower my hair is too greasy. I can't not use shampoo.
 

Krabardaf

Member
No shampoo is ok for certain people. I do it only once or twice a month, never get greasy, no bad odors.

No soap... I guess I could try a week or something.

Now, showers once a week, common, that's pretty disgusting. I'd stink like hell if I'd do that.
 

params7

Banned
Alright lets do this. Its going to be a struggle. I've noticed that even going a day without shampoo, my hair gets greasy/oily and I hate it, but I got it cut short so lets see if i can tolerate it this time.

Any tips? Can I still wash hair with water everyday?
 

Mengy

wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Alright lets do this. Its going to be a struggle. I've noticed that even going a day without shampoo, my hair gets greasy/oily and I hate it, but I got it cut short so lets see if i can tolerate it this time.

Any tips? Can I still wash hair with water everyday?

I take a shower every day and scrub my hair and scalp good with a washcloth and running water. My only advice to you is to stick with it for at least a month in order to give it a fair chance. Your hair will feel greasy at first, it does for everyone while their hair's natural oils reach equilibrium. But when it gets back to "normal" you will notice it right away, and it will surprise you. Just stick with it if you are serious about trying it for real, don't give up too easily.
 

Linari

Neo Member
Been over 17 months since I've started this and the results are great. My long standing problem with dandruff has gone away, hardly any smell (still use deodorant), and dry skin is no more.

I've asked random people and friends to see if I smell and all have said no.

The only I need to do now is to get used to using cold showers.

Race: African w/ white, native american and indian
 
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