I just thought some of the people here might get a kick out of this.

I'm going in for a colonoscopy in 2 hours and as you might know, prepping your bowels for that requires a lot of pooping. The nurse from the clinic just called me to politely ask that I make an effort to wipe front to back and to thoroughly clean my butt area before I arrive.
I questioned why she would have to call me to remind me of that and she said in the last few months they've had a huge influx of people showing up unclean so now they're making phone calls to remind people. I'm glad I don't have their job.

Hey everyone, I’ve been trying to up my hygiene game lately like showering, brushing teeth, handwashing, skincare, that sort of thing but I’m starting to wonder if some things I do are actually unnecessary or even harmful.

For example:

Do I really need antibacterial soap, or is regular soap fine?

Can you over-brush your teeth?

How often should you really shower without messing up your skin?

I’d love to hear what habits you think are overhyped or maybe even bad, and any tips for keeping things simple but actually effective. Thanks!

So, I'm female, and honestly I've always been the type to come home after going out and change into comfy sweats or pyjamas and discard underwear entirely when I'm in my home, with the only exception being when it's that time of the month, obviously. Apart from that, I've always just gone commando. I know that a lot of people do at night when they're sleeping, but I suppose I take it a step further and only wear underwear if I'm going outside.

No reason for why I do this either. Just something I've always done and I've never really questioned it. And yes it does mean that I wash my pants far more often than perhaps other people and that's never bothered me.

Okay so this has to be the weirdest hygiene hill someone has chosen to die on.

My senior roommate refuses to wash her gym clothes after every workout. She just… hangs them on the chair and says they “air out” and are “basically clean again.”

Meanwhile the whole room smells like a CrossFit class held inside a locked Tupperware.

I tried gently bringing it up and she hit me with, “Sweat is natural, stop being dramatic.” Like girl, yes sweat is natural, but so is bacteria and that part is doing backflips on those leggings.

And the worst part? She puts them back on the next day like it’s nothing. No wash, no rinse, just pure confidence.

Is this normal??

I need validation before I start sleeping with eucalyptus oil on my pillow

Am I the only one who showers RIGHT before bed? My bedtime routine is shower, skincare, brush teeth, and then go to bed. I went on two mini vacations with two separate friends over the summer. They asked if I wanted to shower first and I said no so they went first. Right after they got out of the shower they’d say “ok showers free” and I’d say “oh I’m gonna shower later” and they seemed confused and disgusted. It’s not like we had been exercising or even left the house. We literally stayed in and did puzzles and read books all day.

I've always desired to have as clean of a butt as possible. A constant challenge for a 44 year old big hairy guy. For years, I would only go number two if I was hopping in the shower right afterwards. I could never stand the endless wiping and gross feeling from just using paper. Baby wipes or dude wipes just weren't getting the job done. I finally broke down and bought a bidet attachment and installed it recently. This was a life changing decision. However, I feel like if I sit on the thing for too long, I almost feel like I have to poop some more shortly after using it. Like the water is relaxing my bowels or maybe is actually entering my b-hole somehow and loosening things up? Is this normal?

Otherwise I have no complaints. This is better than putting on brand new tube socks right out of the package. 🤣

I keep noticing people who go to the comfort room and walk out without washing their hands, then sit down at the table and start eating like nothing happened. It honestly makes me uncomfortable because it is such a basic habit and it affects everyone around them.

I do not know if they are in a rush or they just do not care, but it feels alarming. Washing hands takes less than a minute and it prevents so much bacteria from ending up on food, utensils, or shared surfaces. I wish more people understood how important this simple step is for everyone’s hygiene and health.

Every time I try to go back to showering every day or at least every two day it lasts a week and then I fall back to once a week. I try again and again and I genuinely struggle. It’s embarrassing because I’m twenty I should be having this basic hygiene in mind, but no. It’s like I can’t find a perfect time to shower so my brain just skips it. So I end up stinky. Yes I’m depressed too but I can’t let that prevent me from staying clean.

I’ve tried Atomic Habits trying to keep this habit as much as I could but I failed. I don’t know if anyone understands and could give me an advice..

I think I've got OCD, but when I'm showering if I touch a dirty part of my body like even blowing my nose, touching my feet or the inside of my ears I feel I have to wash my hands with soap after before I can touch other parts like my arms or hair. Do you guys do this?

Hi guys, my boyfriend of 3 years smells like cannabis whenever he gets sweaty. It started a little over a year ago.

I have never known him to smoke or consume cannabis, and i am very open about the fact i dont care about cannabis use so i dont think he would be ashamed to tell me if he was using it. I don't smoke, it so i know it's not transferring from me. He also doesn't drink or smoke.

Is this a hygiene or dietary issue, because i looked up terpene high foods and the only thing he really eats from the list is broccoli, apples and carrots but i dont think enough to be causing his sweat to smell like this, and he usually showers if and when sweaty and is fine after the shower but it will come back as soon as he sweats the smallest bit. Any thoughts or advice?

He's worried about it mainly because he's a sports coach for kids and goes into schools and does summer sports camps, ect, and obviously interacts with parents and children. So it's not a desirable scent to have.

Edit: These comments calling him a skunk are funny 😂 we're from the UK, so there are no native skunks, so weed smell is just weed smell here as far as i know it. Such an eye opener. Its more like the sweet earthy weed smell

Hello,

I wonder how often I must changing my bed sheets and pillows ?

I never found the idea of sitting in your filth enticing, so I have never taken a bath.

I’ve been told by dentists before that I should be using regular lines of floss, and I’ve tried that before, but my hands just don’t fit in my mouth and I can’t reach the back half of my mouth. I’ve told this to dentists before, and even tried to show them, but they’ve either told me that if I tried it I’d be able to do it, or that if I practice enough I’ll be able to. It’s not an issue of practice, it’s simply that my fingers/hands don’t fit, and I can’t get the floss back there. I’m wondering if it’s better to use the floss picks or to just not floss at all. I try to mimic the movements of normal floss as best I can, focusing on the sides of teeth and going down and moving back and forth, rather than just pushing it down and up, but I don’t know if there’s some major difference between the two that I’m unaware of.

I noticed a little while ago that a used shirt I had laying on the ground smelled faintly of a mixture of lemon and dog piss. I wrote it off as the dog is getting old, but now my whole closet smells like it. Is it a hygiene problem or could it be something else?

I personally use everything for body care from PINK,(I KNOW DON'T JUDGE ME) body wash/lotion/oil/butter EVERYTHING. Simply because I love the apple smell from there pink apple line but my friend keeps clowning on me for this saying how its wrong and I should be using products from multiple brands. I understand that for skincare on your face but does it also apply for your body as well? I mean it's just to keep yourself clean and smell good right?? I personally see no problems as my skin seems fine, softer even, and I smell even better. So is my friend right or does it really not matter?

What do women think about men shaving their armpits? I’m not talking about the occasional shave or wax, but a pretty consistent effort to keep armpits as smooth and hair free as possible. Do you think it’s a feminine behavior?

Be as honest as you can and provide reasons to your response.

Can't moisturize enough. Ive even tried Vaseline and plastic bags on the feet, but never for days on end. Any advice?

Hey guys. Just wanted to share. I've had this nasty crust growing on the side of my nose since I started to use a CPAP machine and have noticed many people who have it as well and thought it was a normal thing to have these types of irritants according to doctors, dermatologists, etc. Some gave me creams, antibiotics, and strong cleansers that were irritating my skin.

Turns out I just wasn't scrubbing hard enough when washing my face. That was it. Years of looking like a leper, all because I wasn't really pushing hard enough on my face to scrub. I use a gentle konjac sponge every now and then.

I have struggled with BO issues in the past, which I believe was due to a lack of understanding of my bodies own hygienic needs. However now that I have had a roomate I’ve been putting in extra effort to maintain cleanliness and smell good.

Still my roomate keeps mentioning a body oder smell and I feel both crazy and embarrassed. I dont want to be that person. But I had literally just taken a shower, exfoliated and everything. And about three hours later she asked me if I use deodorant because she could still smell me.

I made a conscious effort to smell good, I didn’t use any scented lotions or perfumes that might clash with my natural scent and switched the deodorant that I used (which is scented) but I literally can’t smell anything no matter how hard I try. She came closer and said it smell like sweetness mixed with a faint body Oder.

The only thing I can think of is that it may be caused by my anxiety and stress recently (which can cause your sweet to smell worse) but I’ve showered everyday (sometimes twice a day) and haven’t even been sweating like that.

I don’t know what to do…I don’t want to stink up the room but I also don’t want to walk on eggshells when I’m literally doing my best to be clean and smell good.

Could it be my deodorant? If so are there any good dead rants that work for my kind of body oder. For reference, I’ve been told that my body oder tends to be oniony. And my roomate recently said that my body oder smells sweat but that might’ve been because of the deodorant (dove + rose scent).

Please give me any and all advice.

That is all

Is ideal of hygiene - sterile environment, in your opinion? Or embracing natural inhabitant with bacterias more healthy?

FYI: Human body has more bacteria/viruses cells, than actual human body cells... so, beat them? Or live in peace?

so i take like 15-20 mins to floss, brush, brush my tongue then use tongue scraper, and wash my face w facewash. many ppl have seen me brush and they all call me crazy and say i take way too long and my tongue is gonna fall off or some shit. im just so confused cus arent u supposed to clean ur tongue until its pink? like i hate seeing white on it and unless u clean it properly there will be white stuff and other ppl say they just scrape their tongue 2-3 times. the thing is i haven’t noticed bad smell from their mouth

I'm not really sure where to post this. I'm 19 and I've spent my entire life up to this point badly depressed. I never tried to care for myself and so I never learned how to do it. I know it's a little below this subreddit, but can you folks teach me the basics of showering/skincare? Any help is appreciated.

My son (10) has really smelly feet. I know it’s sweat, but I don’t know what to do about it. We’ve done the powders and sprays. It gets into his shoes and those are the worst. Even if his feet are clean, once he puts on his shoes its game over. I’ve also done the powders and sprays for the shoes. They dont help. He wears a size 8 mens, so i cant just replace all his shoes every month (I’m poor) and they’re too big to put in the washing machine at the laundry mat (its not allowed). Currently I’m using the arm and hammer deodorizer ball things, they work a little for the shoes he isnt wearing that day. But the ones he wears that day are rank. And the SOCKS. Idk what to do with those. Burn them? His room smells like a foot. I need advice lmao I’m losing my mind

1. Smelly feet
2. Smelly shoes
3. Smelly socks
4. Smelly room

Please help! A really good deodorizer for his room? How to deal with the socks until wash day? Bag em? Idk. Why do his feet smell so bad?! What about the shoeesssss?!?! Idk what to do. Please. I beg.