zero cost bathing

[grenzbegriff]

I have gone nine years now without using anything to clean my body (e.g. soap or shampoo or conditioner).  For the last six years, 99% of my bathing has been simply getting into the creek or river once or twice a day.  I'll get in quickly and get out to get all wet, physically scrub myself just for the abrasive effect, and then dip back in to rinse. 

I have long hair and I brush it regularly, and wash it with just water.  Sources close to me say it smells "like hair" and "doesn't smell bad".   The rare hot shower does help but in my experience is not necessary, I have gone for periods of three months without a hot shower.

See also the immune system and other benefits from immersing in cold water.

When a hot shower is available I enjoy it as an amazing luxury.  I have a wood fired tub and shower at home that I have used for the luxury sometimes, but it's not necessary. 

I do use vinegar as a deodorant in the armpits - it instantly kills the smell, and within 20min the vinegar smell is gone too.  I've spread word about that and several friends have started doing it too and are very happy.

[Fru-Gal]

I agree, it’s been about 6 years no shampoo or conditioner for me. Soooo much money saved, and better hair.

[aloevera1]

I've been intrigued by this idea a lot.

What are your hair like?

My hair is very fine and prone to breaking, becoming all frizzly at the ends...

Did you observe any changes to the hair texture since you switched? @grenzbegriff @Fru-Gal

[Fru-Gal]

When you first do it, your scalp may go into overdrive for a few weeks/months and produce a lot of oils. Also, if you’re on the younger side (say, 30s or less), you may in general produce more oil/sweat.

I have definitely seen some examples where the hair looks a little too oily. You can also use a bit of apple cider vinegar in water as a rinse to remove excess oil, and a brushing routine nightly to distribute the scalp oils to the ends of the hair.

My hair texture is about the same, but improved over expensive shampoos/conditioners where the result was always a toss-up: sometimes frizzy, sometimes shiny, sometimes not.

[eyesonthehorizon]

The only thing that surprises me here is that the creek water doesn’t leave a smell. I assume the creeks & rivers I’ve been in were polluted but the bacterial funk of them has ruined many a pair of shoes, even when allowed to thoroughly dry shortly after an accidental dip, & I became convinced this is typical of raw freshwater.

[Metalcat]

I frequently use water-only cleaning for my hair and have for years.

My hair also smells like hair. After the transition phase, scalp oil stops being greasy and starts being waxy and makes hair ultra soft and thicker. When scalp oil is in greasy phase, it's sticky, so it grabs onto and dissolves dirt and shit and smells like wet dog. But in waxy form it doesn't easily absorb or hold onto anything.

It's quite shocking once it transitions, but the transition can be really disgusting, and you have to clarify the silicone buildup out of your hair first, or it may never transition properly because scalp oil and silicone do not mix well, and silicone will stick around on hair pretty much forever.

I'm not jumping in creeks though.

[Gerard]

Like some of the other posters, I've been no-soap no-shampoo for many years (it helps that I have very very short hair). After the first week where your body is still producing masses of grease to protect itself from the previous soap onslaught, it's pretty good! And it means you can wash yourself in oceans and lakes when you're on vacation, without sullying natural waters.

I'm gonna put in a big plug for old-school long-handled washbrushes, the kind you see the Old Prospector washing himself with in western movies. Scrubs you clean, invigorating for your skin, easy to dry and pack when travelling. You can get a pretty good one at Muji stores.

[Metalcat]

Like some of the other posters, I've been no-soap no-shampoo for many years (it helps that I have very very short hair). After the first week where your body is still producing masses of grease to protect itself from the previous soap onslaught, it's pretty good! And it means you can wash yourself in oceans and lakes when you're on vacation, without sullying natural waters.

I'm gonna put in a big plug for old-school long-handled washbrushes, the kind you see the Old Prospector washing himself with in western movies. Scrubs you clean, invigorating for your skin, easy to dry and pack when travelling. You can get a pretty good one at Muji stores.

You can also use them dry, which is considered to provide better exfoliation and better improvement to circulation.

I'm a big fan of dry brushing, although I tune out the ayurvedic "detoxifying" nonsense about it. It just feels really great and makes my skin nice.

[grenzbegriff]

What are your hair like?

My hair is very fine and prone to breaking, becoming all frizzly at the ends...

Did you observe any changes to the hair texture since you switched? @grenzbegriff @Fru-Gal

Mine is very fine, the ends do become split and frizzy and I snip them off occasionally.  It's been so long now.

I do know that before when I did use shampoo and sometimes conditioner, I very frequently had an itchy scalp, nasty smell, and dandruff.  My hair would dry out and get tangled and become hard to comb.  Since going water only, for the last nine years it's been much smoother.  It's a little shiny from the grease which is natural, but it's not overly greasy, and it's never dried out.  I haven't had an itchy scalp or significant dandruff all this time that I can remember either.  It brushes well.  If I leave it in a ponytail or bun for months like I sometimes do if I'm real busy, it might take an hour or two to unravel and brush it out, but it always does.  I'll just do that while on a walk or phone call or something.

Similarly, back when I used various soaps and body washes, I frequently had skin rashes and dried out skin in various places all over my body.  No problems like that since, for nine years -- my skin is smooth.

Similarly, I used to use chapstick or eucerin on my lips when they would dry out.  This was a big problem for me, I often had cracked lips that would bleed a bit.  I quit that also nine years ago, and since then, while my lips are sometimes a little dry, they've never bled and aren't cracked.  They stay relatively moist on their own as long as I drink enough.  And this is in dry climates like california in summer, and even when I stay in my hometown in the winter with the furnance running.

I also realized I haven't had a haircut or shaved in nine years either - before that I spent about $10 for that every three months, which is what.. about $400 in the bank now not counting inflation/growth.  I do trim my mustache so it doesn't get in the way but that just takes about 30 seconds every few weeks.

I'm 33 so this nine years ago is when I was 24 that I stopped all that.  I imagine the various problems were due to all of drying out, killing off healthy surface bacteria, allergies to various chemicals, and other ways that the toxic chemicals or metals in these products messed with the health of the skin and hair.  My body seems to know how to take care of itself without novel chemicals. 

I do brush my teeth, with an herb powder a local friend made, and floss.  I think those are good to do, just like scrubbing the body, but that doesn't require unnatural molecules.

[GuitarStv]

I'm a guy who sweats a lot and smells bad afterwards.  I ride my bike long distances, and would not recommend a no soap approach for people who do this - you will develop saddle sores and they suck.  I wrestle, and would not recommend a no-soap approach for anyone involved in the sport.  Between ringworm, staph, impetigo, herpes, scabies  . . .  there's a shit ton of stuff out there waiting to infect you.

I have however recently had a fascinating revelation regarding tea tree oil - If I rub a couple drops of tea tree oil on my armpits rather than use regular deodorant I don't get body odor.  This is the strangest thing, as for my whole life I have smelled bad without deodorant the moment I start to sweat.

[grenzbegriff]

I have however recently had a fascinating revelation regarding tea tree oil - If I rub a couple drops of tea tree oil on my armpits rather than use regular deodorant I don't get body odor.  This is the strangest thing, as for my whole life I have smelled bad without deodorant the moment I start to sweat.

I had a similar experience with vinegar originally.  I'm no expert but I speculate that it's because:
- body odor is mostly due to the types and population sizes of bacteria.
- tea tree oil is a concentrated complex of chemicals created by the tea tree, many of which are antimicrobial and antifungal, because trees are making these compounds to protect themselves.  Different kinds of synthetic or natural deodorant can have a variety of ingredients that can have totally different effects from each other.  Some of them mask the smells, some of them are probably antimicrobial in various ways, etc.  Some of them probably kill or mess with the natural bacterial coating on the skin - the skin microbiome as it were.  That's the impact I'm most trying to avoid by not using chemicals on my skin.  If the natural symbiotic bacteria are destroyed it leaves a void where other weird and potentially nasty smelly ones can thrive for a while.  Maybe there's something symbiotic between humans and tea tree, as we evolved together for who knows how long, and trees also have symbiotic relationships with bacteria.  I'm fascinated by how plants' antibacterial compounds can selectively kill the "bad" ones, but it seems to be a thing.  I'm sure it's complex and they're not 100% always killing the bad ones and leaving the good ones but it somehow works out well generally.

Vinegar seems to have a similar effect of instantly wiping out the smell presumably by killing the microbes, but it replaces it with the smell of vinegar which isn't the pleasantest, whereas tea tree oil replaces it with a very nice smell.

I'm a guy who sweats a lot and smells bad afterwards.  I ride my bike long distances, and would not recommend a no soap approach for people who do this - you will develop saddle sores and they suck.  I wrestle, and would not recommend a no-soap approach for anyone involved in the sport.  Between ringworm, staph, impetigo, herpes, scabies  . . .  there's a shit ton of stuff out there waiting to infect you.

I'll just speak from my experience.  I must allow that not everyone's bodies work the same and what works for me may not work for everyone.  My experience was that my body odor was much worse back when I regularly used soaps and shampoos, which I attribute to a messed up skin microbiome.  FWIW, since going no soap/chemicals, I traveled extensively by bicycle for a summer as well as some shorter trips for a few weeks without issues.  I do wash my hands with soap sometimes if I've been in a city or something.  I do a lot of physical work and sweat, and then go in the creek to wash off.  Clean water will get most things off anyway.  Other than that, I hope that my immune system is strong enough to protect me and so far it has.  I see using antibacterial soap or other chemicals like that as going nuclear on my skin biome which will leave me vulnerable to all kinds of things.  All that said, wrestling may be an exception to this, since then I'm coming in contact with other bodies and gyms and stuff that have who knows what going on with no natural ecosystem to regulate them.  I may well need to re-evaluate if I were doing that sort of thing.

[ca-rn]

I've been no poo for years too and instead wash my hair with rye flour with a bit of baking soda and follow with a diluted vinegar rinse.  I tried the straight water only and it did not work for me, I think the water is too hard and my hair never felt or looked good.

I do use soap to clean my sweaty bits but just rinse the rest of my body w/warm water and that seems to keep my skin happy.  I do need to apply lotion in the winter b/c its so dry here.

Love lukewarm showers in the summer but I've never washed up in cold fresh water- sound refreshing!

[GuitarStv]

I have however recently had a fascinating revelation regarding tea tree oil - If I rub a couple drops of tea tree oil on my armpits rather than use regular deodorant I don't get body odor.  This is the strangest thing, as for my whole life I have smelled bad without deodorant the moment I start to sweat.

I had a similar experience with vinegar originally.  I'm no expert but I speculate that it's because:
- body odor is mostly due to the types and population sizes of bacteria.
- tea tree oil is a concentrated complex of chemicals created by the tea tree, many of which are antimicrobial and antifungal, because trees are making these compounds to protect themselves.  Different kinds of synthetic or natural deodorant can have a variety of ingredients that can have totally different effects from each other.  Some of them mask the smells, some of them are probably antimicrobial in various ways, etc.  Some of them probably kill or mess with the natural bacterial coating on the skin - the skin microbiome as it were.  That's the impact I'm most trying to avoid by not using chemicals on my skin.  If the natural symbiotic bacteria are destroyed it leaves a void where other weird and potentially nasty smelly ones can thrive for a while.  Maybe there's something symbiotic between humans and tea tree, as we evolved together for who knows how long, and trees also have symbiotic relationships with bacteria.  I'm fascinated by how plants' antibacterial compounds can selectively kill the "bad" ones, but it seems to be a thing.  I'm sure it's complex and they're not 100% always killing the bad ones and leaving the good ones but it somehow works out well generally.

Vinegar seems to have a similar effect of instantly wiping out the smell presumably by killing the microbes, but it replaces it with the smell of vinegar which isn't the pleasantest, whereas tea tree oil replaces it with a very nice smell.

I'm a guy who sweats a lot and smells bad afterwards.  I ride my bike long distances, and would not recommend a no soap approach for people who do this - you will develop saddle sores and they suck.  I wrestle, and would not recommend a no-soap approach for anyone involved in the sport.  Between ringworm, staph, impetigo, herpes, scabies  . . .  there's a shit ton of stuff out there waiting to infect you.

I'll just speak from my experience.  I must allow that not everyone's bodies work the same and what works for me may not work for everyone.  My experience was that my body odor was much worse back when I regularly used soaps and shampoos, which I attribute to a messed up skin microbiome.  FWIW, since going no soap/chemicals, I traveled extensively by bicycle for a summer as well as some shorter trips for a few weeks without issues.  I do wash my hands with soap sometimes if I've been in a city or something.  I do a lot of physical work and sweat, and then go in the creek to wash off.  Clean water will get most things off anyway.  Other than that, I hope that my immune system is strong enough to protect me and so far it has.  I see using antibacterial soap or other chemicals like that as going nuclear on my skin biome which will leave me vulnerable to all kinds of things.  All that said, wrestling may be an exception to this, since then I'm coming in contact with other bodies and gyms and stuff that have who knows what going on with no natural ecosystem to regulate them.  I may well need to re-evaluate if I were doing that sort of thing.

Antibacterial soap seems to be worse than regular stuff for wrestling, that's the first thing I tried and abandoned - it makes my skin dry and irritated.  Just a hot water wash doesn't seem to be enough though either (also tried it, got skin infections).  That's why I've been playing around with adding tea tree and jojoba oils to my body wash, which seems to be the sweet spot.

There's definitely some sort of individual body aspect to it too though.  I always make sure to shower immediately after class and have a whole sanitizing routine for everything from class.  But I know guys who don't shower after class and take a couple hour bus ride home with no ill effects.  :P

[oldladystache]

I've found baking soda to be the right thing for me. hair, body, teeth, dogs. If I get my hands really dirty I'll use a little soap, and I use dishwashing liquid for the dishes. I add a little unscented detergent to my baking soda for my laundry

[ATtiny85]

I'm a guy who sweats a lot and smells bad afterwards.  I ride my bike long distances, and would not recommend a no soap approach for people who do this - you will develop saddle sores and they suck.  I wrestle, and would not recommend a no-soap approach for anyone involved in the sport.  Between ringworm, staph, impetigo, herpes, scabies  . . .  there's a shit ton of stuff out there waiting to infect you.

I have however recently had a fascinating revelation regarding tea tree oil - If I rub a couple drops of tea tree oil on my armpits rather than use regular deodorant I don't get body odor.  This is the strangest thing, as for my whole life I have smelled bad without deodorant the moment I start to sweat.

One is allowed to say they stink, but one is NOT allowed to say they don’t stink. You are not qualified to tell others how their noses perceive you.

[GuitarStv]

I'm a guy who sweats a lot and smells bad afterwards.  I ride my bike long distances, and would not recommend a no soap approach for people who do this - you will develop saddle sores and they suck.  I wrestle, and would not recommend a no-soap approach for anyone involved in the sport.  Between ringworm, staph, impetigo, herpes, scabies  . . .  there's a shit ton of stuff out there waiting to infect you.

I have however recently had a fascinating revelation regarding tea tree oil - If I rub a couple drops of tea tree oil on my armpits rather than use regular deodorant I don't get body odor.  This is the strangest thing, as for my whole life I have smelled bad without deodorant the moment I start to sweat.

One is allowed to say they stink, but one is NOT allowed to say they don’t stink. You are not qualified to tell others how their noses perceive you.

Ha, agreed!  That's why the first thing I did was run to my wife and ask her if I was imagining it, or if my armpits smelled better after a jog.  She confirmed.  Eventually.

Tea tree oil is magic stuff.

[Chris Pascale]

I need soap for B.O. reasons, and conditioner because my skin gets very dry.

One of my daughters improved her hair by not using shampoo and conditioner like she used to.

[GilesMM]

A frugal member of our gym ($10/mo, btw), works at the gas station nearby. He rides his bike over every morning around 10:30 to the gym.  Then he goes in the locker room and makes full use, usually starting with a trip to the toilet, during which he chats noisily to his mother on the  phone for 1/2 an hour. Next is a hot steamy shower for maybe an hour.  All freshened up, he dresses and makes his way past the exercisers on the gym equipment and back to his bike for a ride home.