Also if you’re taking daily showers you need to make sure you’re not taking hot showers as they dry out your skin.

A lot of the smell factor depends on the individual circumstances, where they live, the time of year, what they eat (people who eat healthier smell less), whether they exercise, and simple body chemistry.

I think it is safer to take daily showers (as long as you’re not wasting too much water), although not necessary for everyone–you certainly cannot categorically claim that everyone smells bad 24hours without showering– if this is the case for you i would look to your diet and exercise.

Hygienically speaking, science would agree that daily showers do not fall into the same category as twice-daily brushing.

In fact a couple of things hygienically speaking are more important than daily showers.

Washing yourself in a bidet or with water after using the restroom– using dry toilet paper by itself is disgusting. Imagine if you got feces on your hand, would wiping it off with dry toilet paper suffice?

Brushing and flossing at the very least once daily. Not flossing is disgusting. If there is any visible tartar between, or god-forbid ON your teeth then you are not flossing properly or enough. Also remember to use a tongue scraper.

Washing your hands before meals, and after using the restroom– especially under the nails (which should be trimmed)

I’m glad you talking about using scrubbers in the shower, because without them you really cannot have an effective shower.

I think what underground man was trying to say is that of course people smell of something, and smell different as time passes after a shower, but it is not neccessary that that smell is offensive. I think you have laid out a good litmus test of offensive odour- the peer review, and i think if you’re passing that on the first day after showering, then you’re fine.

Don’t get me wrong, I think showering regularly is very important, but daily showering doesn’t take precedence over true hygiene issues such as the ones i have laid out.

Yes, there are some people who can probably get away with showering less frequently. I feel they are a definite minority. I also believe that the people who shower less frequently probably do a poorer job of showering during a given shower, further necessitating the daily shower.

This article is about how to not smell horrible through the magic of daily, high-quality, personal hygiene. Daily showers will probably make 99.9% of people smell decent. Showers every other day will make fewer people smell decent (whether it’s 20% or 95% is really irrelevant). I would rather advise people to shower daily than to advise, e.g., 3 times a week. I know that some people need to shower daily (I would say most people), and an extra shower isn’t going to hurt the few that don’t.

The only way to resolve our conflicting anecdotal evidence is to appeal to science. Unfortunately, I don’t really want to look for controlled study on the topic. :p

Your roommate goes several days without showering? I’d bet good money others can smell him. Maybe your sense of smell is weak. Unless he never sweats and does a really good job of showering when he does shower, I have trouble believing that he doesn’t smell.

If you can’t smell him, maybe it doesn’t mean he doesn’t smell. It might just mean that you’ve gotten used to it (and seriously, it might possibly that you smell, too, hence being used to it).

There are reasons that the daily shower became commonplace. Smell is a major one.

I don’t agree. I know because one of my roommates goes for days without showering and I never smell him despite being around him plenty. Now, his girlfriend might have a different story, but in general, unless you’re having sex with someone, you’re not going to smell them if they haven’t showered for a day.

End the cycle! Learn to bathe! Smelly people of the world un-funk! Suffering co-workers of the world, stand up and speak!