Going without soap.

[soapguy]

This is something I read today and thought I would pass it down. Sorry it's so long.

I stopped using soap a year ago. It was easily one of the best moves I've ever made in my entire flippin' life.
About this time last year I read an article (which Mark mentioned here as well) extolling the virtues of a soap-free bathing experience. TL;DR version: Your body is designed to regulate itself. Smearing chemicals all over it wrecks its own built-in processes, and screws with naturally balanced pH levels. This made sense to me and I thought I'd give it a shot for a month.
At the beginning of February 2010, I blogged about the results I'd seen so far. I didn't stink at all (confirmed by friends, family and random people I ended up sitting next to on various forms of public transit), my skin felt better, oily and dry patches had all but disappeared and the light dandruff I'd had my entire life was almost gone. I was pleased with the results of my month experiment and decided I'd run with it for a while longer. As of January 1, 2011: it's been a year now, and I can't imagine ever going back.
More on the results I've seen: As I just mentioned, my skin feels better than ever before. Not that it ever felt bad, really, but it feels awesome now. Still no stink at all, I swear even when I'm really active and sweating I don't notice any B.O., and I used to be über self-conscious about this and would think I was stinking if I walked up a flight of stairs too quickly. So this is a huge improvement for sure. And with the exception of changing climates drastically, even the dandruff is history. My previously wavy and mostly unmanageable hair now seems much more willing to bend to my will, a dream of mine since I first looked in a mirror, brush in hand, then tried and failed to make any sense of that monster. So I approve for sure.
And speaking of hair, that was actually a perfect test. Sometime mid-summer I stopped by a barber and before I'd realized it he'd squirted a glob of shampoo onto my head. It was too late to protest, so I just sat through the scrubbing. For the following 2 weeks my hair was a mess: full of dandruff and totally uncontrollable. Once things balanced back out to the previously established no-soap norms, all was good again.
Unexpected bonus: travel is much easier. Now that I'm not lugging shampoo and conditioner with me on the road, there's that much less for TSA to hassle me about and more room in my luggage (which I quickly filled with coffee stuff, natch). Not that I always carried lots of liquid toiletries with me, but now I don't even have to think about what the hotel I'm going to might provide, or worry about having to borrow something from a friend until I can get to a store and buy my own stuff. Those details are gone. I love it.
The future? I will definitely be sticking with this. I'm still annoyed it took me 35 years to learn what I clearly already knew as a baby kicking and screaming when my parents tried to wash my hair. At least that's what I want to assume I knew back then. I know now, but I'd still rather not think about how much I spent on soap and shampoo and related products over the years when they were likely causing all the problems I was trying to protect against.
If you don't believe me, you can totally smell me when you see me in public. Really. Just ask. It won't be weird at all. Okay, maybe a little bit.
http://boingboing.net/2011/01/04/i-havent-used-soap-i.html

 

[OliveOil2]

I've seen a few articles online about no soap and the no poo movement, my guess is that they were using commercial detergent bars, and not really soap. I know that my skin feels so much better with cold process soap. To me a nice bar of soap makes a regular shower a luxury.
During the holidays a woman came up to my table at a crafts fair, she had so many questions, and it turned out that she had given up soap, and was very concerned about chemicals. I don't think that I convinced her that soap wasn't dangerous, and I was so glad that she didn't want to buy anything. I was thinking this is the type of person who would want to sue.

 

[Ruthie]

About 10 - 12 years ago in a Yahoo soaping group there was a nurse who regularly said that unless one worked in an especially dirty job, soap wasn't necessary to get clean in the shower. She used that to promote making soap into more of a special experience using special oils and scents. There might be something to that idea.

 

[OHello]

I just can't imagine not using soap/showergel or shampoo....

I live in a hot and humid climate. People get REALLY stinky here. So bad that I often find myself moving away from people in stores or holding my breath until I'm a safe distance away. I just don't think that I would feel clean without using something, even if that something was unscented, iykwim.

I tried switching to using homemade laundry detergent a while ago during summer because we go though so much and the EcoStore one that I like is kind of expensive. In the end I had to change back because the clothes started smelling horrible after a while because the homemade stuff didn't have any fragrance or enzymes in it.

 

[Miz Jenny]

I decided to try the baking soda/vinegar rinse instead of shampoo/conditioner. It doesn't work for my dry coarse curly hair. It felt and looked lile straw and it stripped my hair color. Tonight went back to s/c and it looks/feels so much better. Hoping my curing shampoo bar works. We're using homemade laundry soap too our clothes just don't smell nice. Even hanging outside didn help. The Soapmaking 101 recipe calls for 10-12 drops of orange e.o., which I'm hoping makes the clothes smell nice.

 

[Pepsi Girl]

I use my soap to shave my legs so even if I believed in the no soap thing I'd still need soap to shave!;-)

 

[mel z]

Yep, the no soap thing is a "fear of the man" and the chemicals thing.

I assure you people here need soap. Hot and humid like OHello said, and those that choose not to bath with soap or wash their clothes in any soap of some kind, smell horrible. You smell them coming before you see them in a crowd, and you can indeed spot the one that is not clean. Crap grows on our skin, sits on our skin, and there is a reason during cold and flu season you are told to wash your hands with soap and water, then use the germ stuff if you want.

As far as laundry soap, I have no problems with it. Soap, borax, washing soda, it cleans. Bleach for whites. I can't use fragrances, so I don't miss fragrance, as I had to buy fragrance free laundry detergent. A little EO on a sock or a towel (depending on which load, no towels with your darks trust me!) will give a faint aroma.

Your clothes, even if you don't sweat in them that day, do pick up dirt, pollen, hairs, skin cells, small insects, you name it, just from walking outside to go to the car or trash can, so they need to be washed too.

 

[lizflowers42]

I mean no disrespect, but you use the name soapguy...and you are telling a bunch of soap addicts they don't need soap...so I'm just a little confused... :eh:

 

[dagmar88]

I mean no disrespect, but you use the name soapguy...and you are telling a bunch of soap addicts they don't need soap...so I'm just a little confused... :eh:

He's just posting an article with a different take on it, not his opinion.

I think using soap/cleansers sparingly is the key. A lot of people tend to be overly clean.

 

[cursivearts]

I have to agree that it probably has a lot to do with the harsh detergents in commercial products, because that's what they are: detergents. I also agree with dagmar88 who said people tend to be overly clean. I do shower every day but I do not wash my hair every day, and I use my soap for both. My hair has had a lot more volume and whatnot since I started using the shampoo bar I made and I was able to stop using lotion when I started using the shea bar I made (I used to have to put lotion on every day or I would end up itchy).

As for whoever said that homemade detergent made their clothes stink, I wonder if it was an issue of buildup in your washer from commercial detergents. We used homemade detergent for a year (came back briefly because I missed the scents, but after this bottle of Tide is done, we're going back), and never ever had a stink issue, and my husband is one of those people who will let his laundry sit until it reeks. It might also be the formulation you were using!

 

[three_little_fishes]

I also agree that perhaps those who are using harsh, commercial bars would see an improvement upon stopping use. I only use shampoo once every 6 weeks before I go to the salon. I wash with baking soda and use an apple cider vinegar rinse. Been doing that for a couple of years now and my hair is in the best shape ever. I do plan to try out the shampoo bar that I just made once it has cured.

Soap though? I need my soap!

 

[lizflowers42]

He's just posting an article with a different take on it, not his opinion.

I think using soap/cleansers sparingly is the key. A lot of people tend to be overly clean.

I DIDN'T NOTICE THAT! Haha! Makes much more sense now.

 

[soapguy]

I mean no disrespect, but you use the name soapguy...and you are telling a bunch of soap addicts they don't need soap...so I'm just a little confused... :eh:

No disrespect taken. It is an interesting take on soap and once in awhile during research you come across stuff like this. In fact, I just read that some people place a bar of soap between the sheets to stop leg cramps. That in itself is not odd since people do strange things. However, experiments have shown that there is no explanation as to why it seems to work on some peope. Even the placebo effect does not shed light into it. Personally, I don't believe it. But, I am sure if you tried it and it worked you would have a different point of view on it.

 

[tkine]

Those that wish can go without soap, if they choose.
I choose soap...many different kinds, many different scents

 

[new12soap]

People went without soap for a very long time. In fact, we are probably only 2 or possibly 3 generations into a society that bathes daily. Before that is how perfumes came about, to try to cover the stench. It also brought about pestilence and disease, not getting and staying clean.

I think the person that wrote that article must still wash their clothes (and sheets, and towels, I hope), and still "showers" but just gets rinsed every day? At least that was my impression. I hope he is doing something. Still pretty gross to me, but eh, to each their own.

 

[bodhi]

People went without soap for a very long time. In fact, we are probably only 2 or possibly 3 generations into a society that bathes daily. Before that is how perfumes came about, to try to cover the stench. It also brought about pestilence and disease, not getting and staying clean.

I think the person that wrote that article must still wash their clothes (and sheets, and towels, I hope), and still "showers" but just gets rinsed every day? At least that was my impression. I hope he is doing something. Still pretty gross to me, but eh, to each their own.

Its also how carrying a bouquet at weddings came about.

About the original article, there is a lot to be said about letting the body maintain its own homeostasis and avoiding irritating and often dangerous chemicals, but in todays world with the modern diet, im betting the person who wrote this lives somewhere with treated water. chlorine, etc...

soapguy, you might want to hide this data from the general public. its bad for business

 

[Badger]

I like my soap. I have used commercial soaps and can use them if I have to, but I really prefer handmade soaps and I consider them sort of a luxury that I allow myself to have (and have a lot of now that I am making them myself!)

 

[thinkativeone]

The minute I read this I thought it must be a guy. No offense meant - just that usually guys have shorter hair. I don't know of ANY women on the no 'poo LiveJournal community that don't at least use SOMETHING to wash their hair - unless they have some type of pixie cut and use water only and various strengths of tea or something. People experiment with everything from apple sauce to flax seed gel (I've tried quite a few things). I have lightly curly hair that goes all the way past my backside and I could NOT do baking soda/ACV rinses because my hair would matt horribly. I have to comb my hair and re-crunch the curl back in using The Curly Girl method (great book, check it out at your library if you have curly hair, guy or girl - no kidding). I use the conditioner only method - it has to be a conditioner with no silicones which coat the strand. That's the cheap stuff like VO5, and a few others. Then scrunch aloe vera gel in. I wish I could go chemical-free with conditioner but I have not found any inexpensive enough that detangle my hair. I only wash my hair 2-3 times per week now and use a homemade freshening up spray in between. My hair is much healthier now!

I agree with PP about most not using real soap - castile is so nice and doesn't have all that junk in it that you get mass-market style.

Anyway, I also know of a well-known natural doctor that only uses soap on the underarm/groin region. The main reason is because when getting natural Vitamin D, it takes about 24-48 hours to soak into your skin and using soap will wash it off. I do the same as he does except I use soap with a loofah all over once my skin feels like it needs it (about 1-2 times per week). Then I apply some oil or body butter to prevent drying.

 

[new12soap]

Anyway, I also know of a well-known natural doctor that only uses soap on the underarm/groin region. The main reason is because when getting natural Vitamin D, it takes about 24-48 hours to soak into your skin and using soap will wash it off.

Um, what?

 

[three_little_fishes]

The minute I read this I thought it must be a guy. No offense meant - just that usually guys have shorter hair. I don't know of ANY women on the no 'poo LiveJournal community that don't at least use SOMETHING to wash their hair - unless they have some type of pixie cut and use water only and various strengths of tea or something. People experiment with everything from apple sauce to flax seed gel (I've tried quite a few things). I have lightly curly hair that goes all the way past my backside and I could NOT do baking soda/ACV rinses because my hair would matt horribly. I have to comb my hair and re-crunch the curl back in using The Curly Girl method (great book, check it out at your library if you have curly hair, guy or girl - no kidding). I use the conditioner only method - it has to be a conditioner with no silicones which coat the strand. That's the cheap stuff like VO5, and a few others. Then scrunch aloe vera gel in. I wish I could go chemical-free with conditioner but I have not found any inexpensive enough that detangle my hair. I only wash my hair 2-3 times per week now and use a homemade freshening up spray in between. My hair is much healthier now!

I agree with PP about most not using real soap - castile is so nice and doesn't have all that junk in it that you get mass-market style.

Anyway, I also know of a well-known natural doctor that only uses soap on the underarm/groin region. The main reason is because when getting natural Vitamin D, it takes about 24-48 hours to soak into your skin and using soap will wash it off. I do the same as he does except I use soap with a loofah all over once my skin feels like it needs it (about 1-2 times per week). Then I apply some oil or body butter to prevent drying.

I actually have super thick, curly, mid-back length hair. With a great cut (ouidad cuts are amazing, I don't use their products) I have no problem with matting anymore. I used to get a ton of tangles and my hair looked like a rat's nest. But, ouidad and no-poo have done amazing things for my hair.