• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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

Status
Not open for further replies.

beast786

Member
AbortedWalrusFetus said:
The worst part is that I have incredibly oily hair and skin, but it's still dry. When I have a beard, I have to rinse my face clean every few hours because it gets so oily, and yet the skin is still dry and flaky. It's like a damn nightmare. I just glad there are products out there that make it all manageable. I honestly think the reason my face is fine when I shave, but not when I have a beard, is because I get it cleaner with all of the shaving products and it's easier to wash. This whole thing just seems like it's a super conditional, not for everyone type of deal.


If you are going to try this experiment. Then you have to do what girls do. Not wash there hair every day. Especially if its oily. Take your shower without washing your hair. After a while you hair wont be that oily. When you have oily hair and you take a shower you basically separate the oil form your hair and scalp that is actually protecting your hair and scalp and washing it out, as oil and water does not mix. Look at the animals like birds.

Birds actually have a gland next to there tail that produce oil. And then birds take that oil and spread it all over there wings i believe it is called preening.

That oil is used to protect from things like fungi etc

Oily hair is actually a good thing.
 

Zoe

Member
AbortedWalrusFetus said:
That may be the case. But it also gets a shitton worse when I go camping away from showers for a week or two. Also, the dandruff shampoo makes it a ton better.

If I were you, I'd try cooler showers (as cool as you can tolerate it) plus exfoliating. The exfoliating could be something as simple as scrubbing a dry washcloth over dry skin.
 

ZealousD

Makes world leading predictions like "The sun will rise tomorrow"
I've been soapless (not shampooless or deodorantless) for years now and nobody has ever said a thing. I've even directly asked people and people agree, I don't stink.
 
I don't use soap either! Except when washing my hands but then I use hand wash (yeah I know, same thing basically)
Whatever I was using to clean myself, whether it be soap or various shower gels, they would all dry my skin out hugely, even the 'moisturising' bullshit.
So now I just wash with water like this guy, I wash my hair once a week and of course use deodorant daily. I don't smell whatsoever and now have skin that is nowhere near as dry as it used to get.
Feels good man.
Cheaper too, you guys should try it!
 
InsertNameHere said:
Maybe if you grew and killed all your own food.

Completely different thing we're talking about here.

Not really, unless you have data on the subject that we dont.


rapid32.5 said:
I take a quick shower/rinse right a way, paper just isn't enough for that shit.

... Talk about fucking laziness. Not to mention an amazing waste of water...
 

Raistlin

Post Count: 9999
So I assume the theory is that your hair will no longer be greasy once your body starts regulating things properly? Interesting ... might try
 
well, maybe i should give this stuff a try in summer vaction
can't risk doing it now tho, i don't want to be the token smelly guy everyone knows
 

gunther

Member
Im read something about this a month ago and decided to try it myself. Currently I'm with just shampoo and deodorant. No problems at all, actually i think that my smell has improved. I'm willing to try no shampoo but im worried about the results or the transition phase.
 

kaizoku

I'm not as deluded as I make myself out to be
interesting theory I could find myself subscribing to, but its not so much smell that bothers me but actual cleanliness.

soap doesn't just make you smell nice, it breaks up foreign substances that have accumulated on your body over time. Have you been handling machinery? Cleaning your house? Playing sports? Gardening? Putting your hands on public door handles?

If you don't use some kind of cleaner, not everything is going to be removed.

Unlike what he seems to think, your body doesn't develop some kind of natural repellent against everything defence mechanism, probably quite the opposite actually. Something can be absolutely filthy without smelling pungent.

Think what he's saying is his life is fine from being a little bit dirtier from not using soap.
 
I think people are overlooking that he showers every day, or every other day, and it takes about 2 weeks to a month for your body to get used to it. Of course you're going to feel oily after day or two.

I might give this a shot, but those first two weeks are going to suck
 
kaizoku said:
interesting theory I could find myself subscribing to, but its not so much smell that bothers me but actual cleanliness.

soap doesn't just make you smell nice, it breaks up foreign substances that have accumulated on your body over time. Have you been handling machinery? Cleaning your house? Playing sports? Gardening? Putting your hands on public door handles?

If you don't use some kind of cleaner, not everything is going to be removed.

Unlike what he seems to think, your body doesn't develop some kind of natural repellent against everything defence mechanism, probably quite the opposite actually. Something can be absolutely filthy without smelling pungent.

Think what he's saying is his life is fine from being a little bit dirtier from not using soap.

Again, hot water and a little elbow grease will get the job done, whether you want to believe it or not.

Soap may make things a little easier though, but then again a sponge or washcloth without soap would too.
 

satriales

Member
I used to suffer from very bad eczema and was told by my dermatologist to stop using all soaps, shampoo, deodorant etc.
I was hesitant at first but after I stopped using them I didn't feel any dirtier or smell any worse, water on it's own is a good enough cleaner and the lack of soaps helped a lot with my skin problems.

My eczema is much better now and so I do use deodorant again and sopas/shampoo occasionally, but for my everyday shower before work I just use water on it's own.
 

genjiZERO

Member
I try to avoid washing my hair. After a while it really does get a lot better. I haven't tried the not washing up, but I imagine it works. Sebum is essentially wax, and wax breaks off when it gets thick enough leaving a sheen.
 
what if you use hair gel/wax?
how are you supposed to get that shit out without shampoo?
no soap (except for hands/ass) i can see
no shampoo? lol
 
Nooooooo. This just means a ridiculous amount of people who are already in need of dire washing with shampoo and soap on the Internet now have an excuse. Back when I was in college it was extremely easy to spot people who didn't bathe regularly. Obviously it wouldn't be 100% but most "nerds" I saw who didn't bathe with shampoo was pretty obvious.
 

Zoe

Member
VGChampion said:
Nooooooo. This just means a ridiculous amount of people who are already in need of dire washing with shampoo and soap on the Internet now have an excuse. Back when I was in college it was extremely easy to spot people who didn't bathe regularly. Obviously it wouldn't be 100% but most "nerds" I saw who didn't bathe with shampoo was pretty obvious.

This guy still bathes regularly.
 
I'm totally down with trying this. Quick question what about gels and such. Seems like filling your hair with that kind of stuff defeats the purpose but what would you use?
 

Meadows

Banned
By the way, I'm guessing the only reason that we so often hear of people doing this for a year and them going "oh yeah, it was great, I never stunk", is because 99.9% of people that do it get a week in and realise they fucking stink.
 

entremet

Member
BruceLeeRoy said:
I'm totally down with trying this. Quick question what about gels and such. Seems like filling your hair with that kind of stuff defeats the purpose but what would you use?
You don't have to try the experiment as prescribed. You can shampoo and decide not to use soap. Or shampoo twice a week instead of everyday.
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
I'm too worried about being a smelly person to go without soap. However, the shampoo thing I've known for a long time. Haven't washed my hair in about 3 years. No grease, no stink no nothing. I do run it under the shower every day though. Shampoo is a scam.

what if you use hair gel/wax?

I use wax. I just run my head under water in the mornings.
 
entrement said:
You don't have to try the experiment as prescribed. You can shampoo and decide not to use soap. Or shampoo twice a week instead of everyday.
I would love to try not using shampoo but I just don't think water could clean out whatever gel product was in my hair
 

Zoe

Member
BruceLeeRoy said:
I would love to try not using shampoo but I just don't think water could clean out whatever gel product was in my hair

You could always cut back on the gel...
 

Degen

Member
it's in times like these that I realize just how Charlton Heston I am about my shower gel

FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS
 
i don't buy this

i have longer hair and 4-5 days without shampooing makes it greasy as fuck

i can only imagine the swamp ass too after sitting around in the same computer chairs
 

SHAZOOM

Member
People complaining about greasiness from not taking a shower/bath for awhile aren't paying attention to the article.

HE STILL TAKES SHOWERS/BATHES. JUST WITHOUT SOAP/SHAMPOO. JUST WATER.
 

kehs

Banned
I don't know how the guy in the article went a year without taking showers/baths. At the very least use just water and leave out the soap/shampoo. greasiness.
 

Orayn

Member
Obligatory Sketpoid link drop to an episode including a segment about anti-shampoo sentiment. There are enough warning signs in this story that I doubt it would really achieve much besides making you smelly and greasy.
 

News Bot

Banned
I use hairspray sometimes (because fuck wind) and shampoo is the only thing that gets rid of it, so it's necessary for me. Oh well.

EDIT: Oh, and I never use anything on my face aside from water. I have extremely clear skin.
 

Jzero

Member
I kind of want to try this. I can also never do anything with my hair. I just don't want to stink when i get near people.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
rapid32.5 said:
I take a quick shower/rinse right a way, paper just isn't enough for that shit.

Are you one of those people who has an assplosion every time you take a shit? Might want to cut out the fast food and other crap if so.
 

elfinke

Member
Devolution said:
Sounds more like he should have just tried a different soap.

Yep, this.

Loofah + moisturising body wash FTW!

Interesting experiment nonetheless, with some interesting comments below (quiet a few, predictably, mentioned 'YMMV' - I'm pretty certain my mileage would suck). I don't think I could survive the changeover period - even going one day (when the hot water system shit itself last year unexpectedly) without showering and I'm trying to get out of my skin...
 

gwarm01

Member
entrement said:
I guess the trick is to use really hot shower water, which can kill noxious bacteria.
If you were showering in water hot enough to flat out kill the bacteria on your skin, you'd be long dead before they were.
 

Garcia

Member
Copernicus said:
I don't know how the guy in the article went a year without taking showers/baths. At the very least use just water and leave out the soap/shampoo. greasiness.

Yeah, like...read the OP first? He baths.
 
SHAZOOM said:
People complaining about greasiness from not taking a shower/bath for awhile aren't paying attention to the article.

HE STILL TAKES SHOWERS/BATHES. JUST WITHOUT SOAP/SHAMPOO. JUST WATER.

It doesn't say this anywhere. He never says he takes a shower or bath at all.
 

Salsa

Member
think im gonna try this actually

i have almost no hair on my head anyway

does he still washes his hands though?
 

SnakeXs

about the same metal capacity as a cucumber
Trent Strong said:
It doesn't say this anywhere. He never says he takes a shower or bath at all.

It's implied, beyond the whole "I've gone soapless" and not "I've gone without bathing".
 

entremet

Member
Trent Strong said:
It doesn't say this anywhere. He never says he takes a shower or bath at all.
This is the original article. He mentions he showers daily:

Do I stink? No. I didn’t say I stopped bathing you dillweed! I just stopped using soap and shampoo when I do. I still shower daily but now a long shower lasts about 5 minutes tops. I also still use deodorant but on a whole I actually smell better. Some people can not smell their own BO, I’ve always been hyper sensitive of mine and I smell better after a month of not using soap then I would missing one day of showering with soap. Tara also keeps pointing out how good I smell, even before I tipped her off to the experiment. Which by the way was almost 3 weeks into it.

http://blog.seanbonner.com/2010/02/01/ive-given-up-using-soap/
 

Einbroch

Banned
My roommate was into this stuff and didn't use shampoo for winter break, seeing as how classes were over and no one was on campus except a few people working (me included). He was so fucking greasy and nasty the first few weeks he almost gave up. Then it got a little better, but after 6-7 weeks he was nowhere near as clean as he was when he used shampoo and soap. He just didn't look right, especially his hair.

It may work for some, but it seems to me to be very YMMV.
 

goober

Member
I still don't get how he doesn't use soap.

Let's say he takes a shit. He washes his hands using only water? Then he goes and eats some food.

That's like, bacteria and shit all over his food, right? I don't know, it just seems unsanitary.
 

Meier

Member
I don't get the point personally. Shampoo and body wash cost about a dollar or two a month each at most. The whole concept of "not wanting to be a slave to them" is ludicrous to me.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom