Do Americans really believe this?

[yorost]

To be fair, Americans are pretty extreme in their hygiene habits, just as they are with everything else.  My sister spent a year in France and discovered (to her horror) that it's true: French people shower once a week, and to them that's perfectly fine.  It's whatever you're used to.

I'd bet that most Americans don't actually need to shower every single day.  If you use deodorant, or heck, just apply some perfume or cologne every day, you'll smell fine unless you've got some kind of horrible disease that makes you detectable from across the room.  Seriously, what the hell are you doing that makes you smell so bad?

My wife's family feels I'm lavish in that I shower every day.  They let me do it while visiting (China), but it causes problems between them and my wife.  Not until my wife lived with me for awhile did she start to understand why I used deodorant and showered every day, now she hates it when I don't do a good enough job.   However, especially in winter, she can go a week without shower or deodorants and I can't really tell.

[jsem]

Back to the topic of showering:

https://www.cracked.com/article_19121_7-basic-things-you-wont-believe-youre-all-doing-wrong.html
Yeah.. it's cracked but whatever:

From a young age, we're taught that the daily use of a hot shower, copious amounts of soap and a scratchy washcloth are necessary to rid ourselves of dangerous microorganisms and the putrid smell of human skin. And if you aren't squeaky-clean, you can forget about dating, career advancement and the promise of a future that doesn't involve dying alone in a den of your own filth.

As it turns out, showering or bathing daily, while it may make us more socially acceptable, wreaks havoc on something hilariously called the horny layer. Hot water, soap and abrasive surfaces strip off the horny layer, exposing living cells to the elements. And although we've just used the words "strip," "exposing" and "horny" in the same sentence, we assure you that this is not the making of a sexy situation. On the contrary, damaging this protective layer of skin makes us more susceptible to disease.

Before recent modern conveniences, people bathed less often, and frequently in the same water. Even nowadays, showering doesn't kill bacteria or other microorganisms, though it does move them around. A colony of bacteria living on your shower wall might move to your leg; a colony from your leg might move to your head; a colony from your groin might even take up residence on your hands. For this reason, surgeons in many hospitals are not allowed to shower right before operating.

Studies have shown that there are no measurable differences in the number of microorganism colonies a person is host to regardless of how frequently that person showers. Of course, using antibacterial soaps can kill microorganisms, though in an effort not to create too many super bacteria, medical experts generally recommend not using these soaps daily.

So how the hell are we meant to do it?

The most important thing to do to keep the skin healthy is to preserve the horny layer. There's no magic number of showers each week, though it's generally agreed that the number would fall somewhat shy of seven. Skipping showers, or, if you'd like a fancy French term, celebrating sans douche days, gives your skin time to repair some of the damage that the last shower caused.

When you shower, use warm or cool water and a mild soap (if at all), and rehydrate the horny layer by rubbing on some moisturizer afterward. Better yet, convince an attractive friend to help with this. Once you've cleaned up, you'll want to make sure you air dry. Ignore protesting roommates or family members and remind them, as you're drip-drying at the breakfast table, that they should be grateful you're showering only a couple of times a week.

[darkshade]

I think most people smell bad anywhere.

Half the time I take a shower, it's not to cleanse myself, but to wake up/feel better.

[ZBomber]

two words

sweaty balls





shower daily

[Infinite Cactus]

two words

sweaty balls





shower daily

For some reason, I read this as if it was a 90s action film/and or Xtreme PSA

[YtseJam]

Ever walk into a 7-11? We go in and can smell the guy on the magic carpet behind the counter glaring at you like you're going to steal a twix's ballsac as soon you walk through the door. This can all be avoided by bathing, shaving and using deoderant.

[Jamesman42]

two words

sweaty balls





shower daily

This is my only argument for daily showers.

[Orbert]

I still maintain that if you're a normal person leading a normal life, but you're doing something which makes you smell, or (as the case may be) causes your balls to sweat all day, then you're doing it wrong.

[Jamesman42]

I live in Florida, and currently a drive home in the afternoon is gonna make you sweat some.

[pogoowner]

I still maintain that if you're a normal person leading a normal life, but you're doing something which makes you smell, or (as the case may be) causes your balls to sweat all day, then you're doing it wrong.

I don't know, I think a lot of normal people have to move around or do manual labor on a regular basis.

[JayOctavarium]

I think most people smell bad anywhere.

Half the time I take a shower, it's not to cleanse myself, but to wake up/feel better.

this

[Orbert]

I still maintain that if you're a normal person leading a normal life, but you're doing something which makes you smell, or (as the case may be) causes your balls to sweat all day, then you're doing it wrong.

I don't know, I think a lot of normal people have to move around or do manual labor on a regular basis.

Okay, true.  I was thinking it's a given that if you work outdoors or move furniture or otherwise perform manual labor, then yeah, you sweat and therefore need to shower/bathe regularly.

Because of the OP and my personal situation (trapped in an office with Indian contractors), I guess I was thinking about students who basically sit on their asses in classrooms, or office workers who spend all day in air-conditioned buildings, yet somehow manage to sweat and stink like a pile of rotting garbage.

[El JoNNo]

Here in Canada we smear seal blubber on our pits. 

[Orbert]

Kinky

[Sketchy]

Nah dude, I'm not stereotyping, just sharing a humorous moment from my day.  There are people in the UK who are just as ignorant as anywhere else in the civilised world.

That's civiliZed, you limey!

Dude, you got your "s" the wrong way around.

[Tick]

There are plenty of smelly people in America. I deal with quite a few of them at work.

[lordxizor]

There are plenty of smelly people in America. I deal with quite a few of them at work.

The few times I've come in to work with people on 3rd shift (overnight) at my company, there have abeen a few really smelly ones.