Maybe it’s me…. :O(

BTW, there are a bunch of typos in your article. “I used to be user self conscious about think and would think I was stinking” took a few reads to parse.

“We use soap to clean ourselves because water alone would be ineffective by itself. Our skin produce oils which dirt and other things such as bacteria can get trapped in. Because the chemical properties of water and oil are different in that the two cannot be mixed together so water alone cannot remove the oil and trapped dirt. Soaps have chemical properties that can mix with both oil and water. Soap has a chain-like structure that allows one end of it to bind to the oil and the other end to water molecules. This allows the oil that contains dirt to be removed and washed away. It is the chemical properties of soap that makes it effective in cleaning ourselves. Warm and hot water help the soap to work faster in breaking up the oils and dirt. One important thing about soap is that not only does it remove the dirt and oil from our skin, but it also helps remove bacteria that can be harmful and cause illness.

Very good question and I hope this helped answer it. Please feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.”

Rarely wash my face in soap, don’t remember ever doing it regularly. Face is not stinky or covered in medieval type scum.

Wash my hair once a week with baby shampoo. Used to wash it every day, when about ten years ago it occurred to me that my hair was dry and frizzy and scalp itchy because I scrubbed it every day. After a few days of nervous withdrawal, saw big improvement in the condition of my hair, except when I wash it actually. So probably will totally give that up – may wash my hair in beer once in a while, because on a quest to demonstrate that beer is all things to all people.

Wash my hands with soap a lot. Have dry hands, but bacteria free in the interests of public health. As I don’t routinely touch people with my bum or wobbly bits, not sure not using soap thereabouts is a potential public health issue. Nonetheless, I do use soap there, because it feels awesome.

“Alright everyone. I’ve been talking to some scientists about this and they’re not impressed. The clean look and feel might be only enough for superficial observation, but that’s about it.

And it looks like they’re not much impressed with the paleo stuff in general.”

You announced to everyone that you’ve been talking to some scientists and that they were not impressed, implying that you expect everyone to not only listen to you what you have to say but also take what you have to say seriously. There’s certainly nothing stopping me from doing my own research, but you didn’t exhort me to do that. You claimed vicarious authority, and I requested support for that claim. You made vague claims (what does “not impressed” mean w/r/t using or not using soap?) and appealed to unknown authorities to support them. Sean may only be some paleo guy but his claims are at least based on his own experience. You haven’t even met that admittedly low threshold of credibility.

Happened upon this looking why my scalp itches/oily /scales with these coconut oil based shampoos – only use natural bristle veggie/body brush on body for almost 8 years now – soap only in cracks/ crevices when funky – I do work rebuilding old vehicles so I get grubby – have to wash hands with grease cutters …. oh well .. i find diet really effects how I smell as well – been pretty much cave man diet for 5 years – meat fat and veggies – really enjoy sourdough and strudel( home made ) only when I go nuts on sweets or breads so I notice some funky aroma from pits – i live on the desert floor so plenty of heat and dirt/dust- I trim my underarm hair in summer – old arab trick – give bacteria little space to grow – lately though my hair which i wash almost daily if I am out and about – dry scalp – then oily from the coconut based organic shampoos and then if I dont keep shampoo’ing will get crazy itchy and scale – just tried the baking soda /cider vinegar – already itch is gone and scalp feels soft and clean – I feel like idiot child for not investigating this sooner – especially how I treat my body –

I never get complaints on my body odor when out or with groups – if ever I do get some funk going – apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon /or lime juice rubbed in pits cures it – if anything of interest comes about – I will share the experience ;
cheers:

@jeffasellin

Check this out.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=the-worms-within-2010-12-17

I reiterate: we’re animal. The real problem is we’ve been trained and taught that we’re not.

Where I get dubious is when people start making magical claims without much science to back them up. Soap is toxic! Your body produces amazing natural oils that you foolishly have been removing! Bacteria is Bad! Bacteria is Good! Soap users are contributing to virulent plagues by making super-resistant strains! No soapers never use soap EVER!

Clearly, there are benefits to using soap. Clearly, there is a finite limit to this. If anyone remembers a recent BB article about Ben Goldacre and his book “Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks and Big Pharma Flacks“, then you may recall he has a whole section on how cosmetic companies tart up shampoo, soaps, moisturizers and other such chemicals. HOWEVER, he also points out that they are beneficial….but no more beneficial than some simple products like Vaseline.

He discusses, at length, the tricks and Bad Science is used to tart up these products…and how it’s not that Science is sending the wrong message but that marketers and con men are using fake science to confuse and lie or using legitimate science trickily and selectively to sell things.

Anecdotal evidence is nice and all, but it’s just that…anecdotal. I’d be curious if anyone’s actually done some research on this. I think everyone would have to agree (except for the fringe) that soap is a beneficial thing in some situations…whether or not it’s needed in all of them is possibly up for debate. I find it rather amazing that Sean manages to stay so clean all the time and generate so little body odor. I know my gym clothes STINK TO HIGH HEAVEN and I smell unpleasant when I make them smell that way.

I will say that the ‘try it for a month or two and you’ll see how amazing it is’ falls in the same category as ‘you’ll cough a LOT when you first start smoking, but then it gets better’ for me. There are too many variables in this equation for me to do more than say, “No, thank you. Help yourself, but I’m not interested.”

Some people are not bothered by this odor and some are . . . like me. I really don’t like the way humans smell naturally.

Woo-woo alert. Look, the smartest thing that’s been said in this thread is YMMV, or variations of it. Let’s not make pretend claims with no evidence to back it up. Rubbing oils off of your body, whether with a hot water, olive oil, beeswax, or animal fat, can hardly be called an “unnatural state”. Such claims smack of the “ZOMG it’s CHEMICALS!!!” hysteria from folks who’d rather not engage in interesting discussion and analysis. Which chemicals interact in weird ways with the body, and which do not, and why? These questions are interesting, because they allow for answers. Claiming that using soap is “unnatural” because of “chemicals” is meaningless.

What gives?