Showering daily seems to be unhealthy; decreasing shower frequency would save time, and it might be easy to control body odor with antiperspirants. Here’s an NYT article.
Relatedly, there exist forms of clothing that stay wrinkle- and odor-free for 100 days of wearing without washing, though at the moment a shirt costs $100.
A less radical version of this is to take only short, lukewarm showers. Taking a fast, 3-5 minute lukewarm shower seems to get almost all of the benefits of long, hot, soapy showers with very few of the negative side-effects. It also saves time.
I made the switch years ago, and I find that my dry skin problems are entirely solved. I still take a hot and soapy shower occasionally, but it isn’t an every day kind of thing.
Anecdata: My use of antiperspirants is a leading indicator of underarm pimples. In half-blind tests, others have shown to be unable to tell if I have recently applied an antiperspirant or not.
Also, other people have also demonstrated a lack of sensitivity to whether or not I have showered in the last day, provided that I have showered in about the last 72 hours (even through periods of heat, but not stress or exertion, perspiration).
Have you actually asked if they can tell a difference, or have they just not said anything? Because it’s considered socially rude to tell someone they need to take a shower.
FWIW, I typically find that people smell more attractive after not showering for a day, although there are rare individuals who are very much exceptions, and I frequently find the same is true after two days, though exceptions aren’t rare.
I’m hoping the second batch of those Wool and Prince shirts are cheaper. Then I just need to find socks to have a whole outfit that doesn’t need constant laundering.
Flip-flops are excellent for that reason. I have really sweaty, weird-sized feet, so they’re especially nice, and if, like me, you already have a reputation for being eccentric, people won’t mind when you show up to nicer events in a blazer, jeans and flip-flops.
Regarding the wrinkle-free claim for Wool and Prince, I found this to be true only up to a point. I took the company’s advice at face value and would just throw the shirt into my backpack and go; after a while the wrinkles became pretty much permanent. No amount of dry cleaning fixed them.
One should also watch out for stains as the shirts stain very easily. I was unable to wash out a grease stain.
The coloration also faded over the 3 months I wore the shirt without washing.
Wool stills seems to be the best candidate for long use, little washing. I currently own only wool t-shirts (3 of them) and they are holding up well. They are 100 weight, so two of them have developed small holes around the belt area (which are only visible if one looks very closely and stretches the fabric). They were bought in May and it is now November. In general, based on previous purchases, the life of these wool clothes is around 100-200 days of use.
Jeans are also pretty amazing when it comes to how often they need to be washed. I find that they also last about 200 days of wear and only need to be washed 4-5 times during that time.
The odor-free claims are actually rather accurate if you allow the clothes to air out. My experiment with not showering or changing clothes at all for two weeks (even when sleeping) led to a very ahem distinctive smell developing; it may be better to switch between outfits daily and allow the other outfit to air out during the day. I have yet to try this and stay consistent.
I wouldn’t do that.
Whatever health benefits you get from not showering have to be weighted against the health problems caused by you banging your head against the wall after that nice girl/guy actually talks to you and you don’t even remember what you said because you can see they know that’s not wax on your hair.
No, thinking that you are not playing the seduction game for whatever reason is not a valid excuse, it’s just not playing to win by handicapping yourself. That’s not very rational :|
Here’s some actual advice related to personal hygiene and appearance in general:
Shower every day
Use deodorant everyday after showering (or, you know, just manage to not stink by whatever means necessary)
Always dress in a way that wouldn’t disqualify you in a job interview or a date. You know that ridiculous shirt you wear when everything else is dirty? Throw it out right now and buy another one of the shirts that make you feel confident.
Showering daily seems to be unhealthy; decreasing shower frequency would save time, and it might be easy to control body odor with antiperspirants. Here’s an NYT article.
Relatedly, there exist forms of clothing that stay wrinkle- and odor-free for 100 days of wearing without washing, though at the moment a shirt costs $100.
A less radical version of this is to take only short, lukewarm showers. Taking a fast, 3-5 minute lukewarm shower seems to get almost all of the benefits of long, hot, soapy showers with very few of the negative side-effects. It also saves time.
I made the switch years ago, and I find that my dry skin problems are entirely solved. I still take a hot and soapy shower occasionally, but it isn’t an every day kind of thing.
Aren’t antiperspirants unhealthy?
For something widely and intuitively believed to be true, I haven’t seen the evidence.
Anecdata: My use of antiperspirants is a leading indicator of underarm pimples. In half-blind tests, others have shown to be unable to tell if I have recently applied an antiperspirant or not.
Also, other people have also demonstrated a lack of sensitivity to whether or not I have showered in the last day, provided that I have showered in about the last 72 hours (even through periods of heat, but not stress or exertion, perspiration).
Have you actually asked if they can tell a difference, or have they just not said anything? Because it’s considered socially rude to tell someone they need to take a shower.
I’ve asked, but my sample size is small precisely because of the social pressures you reference.
FWIW, I typically find that people smell more attractive after not showering for a day, although there are rare individuals who are very much exceptions, and I frequently find the same is true after two days, though exceptions aren’t rare.
But deodorants are supposed to be fine. How much difference does it make if regularly applied?
Many contain Aluminum salts which are suspected of causing cancer.
related, ex-officio briefs are awesome.
I’m hoping the second batch of those Wool and Prince shirts are cheaper. Then I just need to find socks to have a whole outfit that doesn’t need constant laundering.
Smartwool.
I have 2 pairs, they’re alright but not as awesome as I had hoped from the rave reviews.
Do you have better suggestions?
No, still looking.
Flip-flops are excellent for that reason. I have really sweaty, weird-sized feet, so they’re especially nice, and if, like me, you already have a reputation for being eccentric, people won’t mind when you show up to nicer events in a blazer, jeans and flip-flops.
Regarding the wrinkle-free claim for Wool and Prince, I found this to be true only up to a point. I took the company’s advice at face value and would just throw the shirt into my backpack and go; after a while the wrinkles became pretty much permanent. No amount of dry cleaning fixed them. One should also watch out for stains as the shirts stain very easily. I was unable to wash out a grease stain. The coloration also faded over the 3 months I wore the shirt without washing.
Wool stills seems to be the best candidate for long use, little washing. I currently own only wool t-shirts (3 of them) and they are holding up well. They are 100 weight, so two of them have developed small holes around the belt area (which are only visible if one looks very closely and stretches the fabric). They were bought in May and it is now November. In general, based on previous purchases, the life of these wool clothes is around 100-200 days of use.
Jeans are also pretty amazing when it comes to how often they need to be washed. I find that they also last about 200 days of wear and only need to be washed 4-5 times during that time.
The odor-free claims are actually rather accurate if you allow the clothes to air out. My experiment with not showering or changing clothes at all for two weeks (even when sleeping) led to a very ahem distinctive smell developing; it may be better to switch between outfits daily and allow the other outfit to air out during the day. I have yet to try this and stay consistent.
I wouldn’t do that. Whatever health benefits you get from not showering have to be weighted against the health problems caused by you banging your head against the wall after that nice girl/guy actually talks to you and you don’t even remember what you said because you can see they know that’s not wax on your hair.
No, pointing out the health benefits of not showering won’t help. Don’t mention damp cloths http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSJQEl5vcAo
No, thinking that you are not playing the seduction game for whatever reason is not a valid excuse, it’s just not playing to win by handicapping yourself. That’s not very rational :|
Here’s some actual advice related to personal hygiene and appearance in general:
Shower every day
Use deodorant everyday after showering (or, you know, just manage to not stink by whatever means necessary)
Always dress in a way that wouldn’t disqualify you in a job interview or a date. You know that ridiculous shirt you wear when everything else is dirty? Throw it out right now and buy another one of the shirts that make you feel confident.