Author Topic: How is it possible to shower without soap?  (Read 20809 times)

elaine amj

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Re: How is it possible to shower without soap?
« Reply #50 on: October 24, 2017, 10:18:35 AM »
I haven’t used soap for 2-3 years now as well as not using toothpaste or shampoo. I use coconut oil as an anti bacterial and mouthwash and baking sofa and apple cider vinegar as a shampoo.

My skin, teeth and hair has never been better.

My wife hasn’t mentioned I smell or have bad breath and my dandruff has reduced considerably as well as my eczema.



Just keep an eye on things. i switched to salt and baking soda for brushing my teeth a couple of years ago. Then this year 2 dentists commented that my gums were receding a bit. I am using toothpaste again...despite how much cleaner my teeth feel with salt and baking soda.

Did they say it was because of the baking soda? My husbands gums were receeding a bit and they said it was from brushing too hard.
I actually don't know. And didn't dare to confess what I had been doing. And freaked out enough at the thought of losing more teeth to resume brushing with toothpaste.

I like alternative things with fewer side effects. But really, it's quite risky as it is a world with many many anecdotal claims and not much solid research. I decided I like my teeth enough to quit experimenting with it.

I did rebel and quit using conditioner though. I do shampoo but found I was using hair oils anyway so conditioner was an unnecessary step. Bonus - my dandruff problem improved after quitting conditioner (contrary to conventional wisdom).

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JLee

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Re: How is it possible to shower without soap?
« Reply #51 on: October 26, 2017, 11:06:10 PM »
If you don't wash your hands frequently with soap through out the day you are putting yourself and others at risk of getting sick. Ugh!

Totally untrue. I work with doctors (in a non-medical setting). This happened to come up a few years ago when the shared bathroom soap dispenser didn't get refilled ASAP. The thing that does the "cleaning" work is the rubbing of the hands together thoroughly under running water. You don't need soap and you don't need hot water. Those are just nice things to have. This knowledge made me feel better, because I have traveled to several parts of the world where hand soap was simply not available.

lol. If you really believe this nonsense, try the following experiment. Rub some vaseline into your hands so they are nice and greased up. Now place your hands under cold or cool water and try to get rid of the vaseline by rubbing your hands together vigorously. Record your findings. Now repeat the same experiment with hot water and soap. Record your findings. Compare the outcomes.

I was not aware that Vaseline made people sick.

GuitarStv

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Re: How is it possible to shower without soap?
« Reply #52 on: October 27, 2017, 08:26:51 AM »
If you don't wash your hands frequently with soap through out the day you are putting yourself and others at risk of getting sick. Ugh!

Totally untrue. I work with doctors (in a non-medical setting). This happened to come up a few years ago when the shared bathroom soap dispenser didn't get refilled ASAP. The thing that does the "cleaning" work is the rubbing of the hands together thoroughly under running water. You don't need soap and you don't need hot water. Those are just nice things to have. This knowledge made me feel better, because I have traveled to several parts of the world where hand soap was simply not available.

lol. If you really believe this nonsense, try the following experiment. Rub some vaseline into your hands so they are nice and greased up. Now place your hands under cold or cool water and try to get rid of the vaseline by rubbing your hands together vigorously. Record your findings. Now repeat the same experiment with hot water and soap. Record your findings. Compare the outcomes.

I was not aware that Vaseline made people sick.

While washing with water removes some bacteria, it would seem that washing your hands with soap is significantly more effective at removing the stuff.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3037063/

"The results demonstrate that handwashing with non-antibacterial soap is much more effective in removing bacteria from hands than handwashing with water only. Although handwashing with water alone reduced the presence of bacteria on hands substantially, the study supports the policy of many current hand hygiene campaigns promoting the use of soap"


http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001052

"Microbiological studies demonstrate that washing hands with water alone reduces the concentration of various bacteria on hands [4],[33]–[35]. The reduction in these bacteria is generally less than the reduction in hand contamination following handwashing with soap [4],"

"The observation in this evaluation that children living in households where residents washed their hands with soap after defecation had less diarrhea compared with children living in households where handwashing after defecation was less thorough is consistent with findings of previous intervention studies"

"Handwashing with water alone might be seen as a step on the handwashing ladder: handwashing with water is good; handwashing with soap is better. "

nereo

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Re: How is it possible to shower without soap?
« Reply #53 on: October 27, 2017, 08:41:16 AM »
I'm confused how we got from showering with/without soap to hand washing.

One can shower without soap but still wash their hands with soap after every poop.  They aren't mutually exclusive activities.

NeonPegasus

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Re: How is it possible to shower without soap?
« Reply #54 on: October 27, 2017, 09:05:35 AM »
TMI alert - I will be discussing nether regions using proper names. And this is about not using soap.

When my oldest daughter was 3 and a newly potty trained kid, she started complaining that her vulva hurt. It also smelled bad and was bright red and painful. I asked her pediatrician and she said it was due to irritation from urine due to improper wiping. I extrapolated that to mean I should clean her better. So I did. With all natural soap. And her vulva continued to be stinky, red and painful. I took her to a pediatric gyn who explained that her skin was so thin, the soap was causing the irritation and that irritation manifested as smelliness, red skin and pain. The solution was to discontinue all soaps and chemicals, wash with water only and coat with diaper cream at signs of irritation. I changed the habits and lo and behold, it worked wonders.

Fast forward 7 years. Since puberty, I've had an issue with yeast overgrowth (diagnosed clinically). Even DH developed problems. I finally got it under some semblance of control using boric acid suppositories but still it was an issue. It especially seemed to happen after sex if DH didn't pull out. I mentioned this to a new gyn and she told me point blank that what I was experiencing was a reaction related to irritation from soap. The solution was to stop using soap.

This was a scary idea for me because we are very clean people who like to clean before and after sexy time. I discussed it with DH. We did research and learned this is an issue for men's bits as well, especially the tip of the penis. We gave it a shot under the understanding that any smell issues would be remarked upon and resolved. The results have been remarkable. No more "yeast overgrowth" issues for either and there is no additional smelliness other than a little stronger pheromonal type smells, which are actually nice. Water works just fine.

Soap is now relegated to pits, hands and actual dirt-caked parts.