Medicine and hygiene: What happens if you don't bathe for five years

"We spend two whole years of our lives taking a shower or a bath. How much of that time (and money and water) is actually a waste?” wrote Dr. James Hamblin

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Hamblin wrote a book about his experiment, Photo: James Hamblin

Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

18.01.2021. 09:26h

"I feel completely fine."

This is how Dr. James Hamblin answers questions about his decision five years ago to stop showering.

“You get used to it. It seems normal to you," he tells the BBC.

Hamblin, 37, is a professor at Yale University's School of Public Health and a doctor specializing in preventive medicine.

He also writes for the American magazine Atlantic, in which he published an article in 2016 under the title: "I stopped showering, and life went on".

"We spend two whole years of our lives taking a shower or a bath. How much of that time (and money and water) is actually a waste?” he wrote.

In 2020, Hamblin further detailed his experience in the book Clean: The New Science of Skin and the Beauty of Doing Less.

Although Hamblin says we shouldn't stop brushing our hands and teeth, he thinks we don't have to be so persistent when it comes to other parts of the body.

The "Soap Avoidance" Experiment

The decision to stop showering began as an experiment.

"I wanted to see what would happen," he explains.

"I know many people who bathe very little. I knew it was possible, but I wanted to try it myself to see what the consequences would be."

And what happened after he stopped showering in 2015?

"Over time, your body starts to get used to it, so the smell isn't as bad anymore when you're not using deodorant and soap," he says.

"And your skin doesn't get as oily anymore."

"Many people use shampoos to remove oil from their hair and then use conditioner to add synthetic oils.

"If you can break that vicious cycle, your hair will eventually look like it did before you started using those products," he adds.

But the doctor explains that it is a gradual process.

He started using soap, shampoo, deodorant less often - instead of showering daily, he went from showering every three days, before stopping altogether.

"There were times when I wanted to take a shower because I missed it. I smelled bad and felt greasy," says Hamblin.

"But it started happening to me less and less."

Hamblin's reasoning was that as he used water and the products in question "less and less", he began to need them "less and less".

Watch the video. Wash your hands properly

Body odors and bacteria

An American scientist explained that our body odors are the product of bacteria that live on our skin and feed on sweat and oily secretions produced by our body.

Applying products to our skin and hair every day, Hamblin claims, disrupts the balance between skin oils and bacteria.

"When you shower all the time, it destroys ecosystems," he wrote in a 2016 Atlantic article.

"They come back quickly, but that usually favors the types of microbes that produce unpleasant odors."

However, the doctor says that not showering activates a regulatory process in which the ecosystem reaches a steady state and we stop smelling unpleasantly.

"You don't smell like rose water or body spray, but you don't smell like someone who doesn't bathe either."

"You just start smelling like a human," says Hamblin.

Different phases of fragrance

In an interview with the BBC in August 2020, Hamblin was asked if he was worried that he might "smell badly" and that people were "too well-mannered" to draw his attention to it.

The scientist explained that he asked his colleagues, friends and acquaintances not to hesitate to tell him if so.

That's how, he claims, he reached the point where his body no longer produced the unpleasant odors that we are so familiar with.

What's more, Hamblin says his wife likes his new scent, and other people have said it's "not bad."

"For most of our history, we've had smells through which we've communicated with other people," he explained.

However, the doctor says that such smells have largely been eliminated from our social biology.

"And so now we're hoping that people don't smell like anything or they smell like perfume or cologne or shower gel."

"Otherwise, they smell unpleasant. If there is any noticeable body odor, it is negative," he added.

But has Hamblin really stopped showering altogether?

He says he still rinses if he's "visibly dirty" or after exercise.

But the scientist also claims that we can exfoliate and remove the grease "just by scraping it off with our hands and occasionally brushing our hair."

Skin is a reflection of lifestyle

Hamblin's decision to stop showering wasn't just an experiment.

As part of the research process for the book, he spoke to a wide range of people, including specialists such as dermatologists, immunologists, allergists, and even theologians.

The book is quite critical of the skin care industry.

"The industry that sells personal care products and soaps is very focused on thematic solutions," he believes.

While some of those products are helpful, he says, it's important to approach dermatological health from the inside out—meaning that the health of our skin is both a reflection of our lifestyle and what's going on inside our bodies.

Science against marketinga

He believes that it is crucial to be able to distinguish between what is science and what is marketing.

Hamblin argues that we use more products than we really need because of the belief that we are healthier by doing so.

The doctor also thinks our grooming routine is a modern invention.

"Most people didn't have access to running water until the last 100 years," says Hamblin.

"It's something the royal family may have had access to, but people could only enjoy it occasionally."

"Maybe they went to the river or the lake, but it wasn't something we had to do every day," he adds.

"Also, we didn't have the capacity for mass production. That's why a lot of people used homemade soaps and didn't use them every day because they were too harsh on the skin."

Hamblin concluded in the book that we may be showering and bathing too much and that we might benefit from it if we cut back a bit.

One of the reasons behind this idea is that we still don't fully understand what happens when we change the microbial population on our skin.

"The bacteria on our skin are just as important to its appearance and our health as gut bacteria are to our digestive system," he says.

However, microbes have gotten a bad name throughout history.

"But over the last decade, because we have DNA sequencing technology, we know that microbes are everywhere and that they usually don't cause disease.

"A very small minority of them do," Hamblin explains.

"It should make people rethink what they're trying to achieve when they wash, because of course we want to get rid of germs-causing disease."

"But we don't want to get rid of all the microbes either."

Is showering overrated?

Above all, the scientist believes that not everyone shares the same idea of what it means to be clean.

He also thinks the custom of showering is overrated.

"I would say it's a preference, but not a medical necessity."

"But I'm not telling people to give up," says Hamblin.

So how do we try this method?

The doctor points out that he has no interest in suggesting what is right and what is wrong, or that he does not want to say that his approach is best for everyone.

This one just works in his case.

"But for people who have had skin problems or would just like to try this, I'd say to do less of it, go easy and get to a point where they feel good."

For example, less shampoo was the starting point for some, while others like to start with a milder deodorant.

"You can start by taking shorter, cooler, less frequent showers and using less soap," he says.

"It doesn't have to be anything dramatic."

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