Random question - does anyone know of any shop bought non anti bacterial body wash?

[dscross]

Hi everyone,

This is a really random question but maybe some of you will know. I'm having massive gut flora problems through use of antibiotics. Because of this, I read a book on the microbiome and I concluded that we are too super santeritised in general in 1st world countries.

Basically, your trillions of good microbes largely look after you in most elements of your body, including your skin and hair. As an experiment, I stopped using shampoo and just used water and sponge on it everyday - after a few months, it basically started washing itself.

However, this also means I use too much anti bacterial soap in the shower every day, which is kind of bad. Obviously, I don't want to just use water on my body so I wondered if anyone knows any natural body washes. I have already found a natural deorourant which is quite good. I only really want to use antibacterial stuff on my hands.

Does anyone else do this or know or anyone who uses them? What is there to get? I'd rather just buy something which is ready to use.

Thanks - odd question I know.... lol

Edit: I want something chemical free as this also disrupts the microbiome.

 

[Avnger]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but you can pick up pretty much any generic body wash soap, and it won't have antibiotics in it. Antibiotic soaps are all specifically labelled like that.

Random example:

Dial anti-bacterial (labelled on bottle)
Dial regular


Just as a heads up though, anti-bacterial hand wash alone has no proven benefits and can actually be harmful by itself https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm378393.htm

 

[dscross]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but you can pick up pretty much any generic body wash soap, and it won't have antibiotics in it. Antibiotic soaps are all specifically labelled like that.

Random example:

Dial anti-bacterial (labelled on bottle)
Dial regular


Just as a heads up though, anti-bacterial hand wash alone has no proven benefits and can actually be harmful by itself https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm378393.htm

Is this not full of chemicals as well though, which would also pretty much disrupt your microbiota? The ingredients lists have some pretty weird stuff in it

 

[Avnger]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but you can pick up pretty much any generic body wash soap, and it won't have antibiotics in it. Antibiotic soaps are all specifically labelled like that.

Random example:

Dial anti-bacterial (labelled on bottle)
Dial regular


Just as a heads up though, anti-bacterial hand wash alone has no proven benefits and can actually be harmful by itself https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm378393.htm

Is this not full of chemicals as well though, which would also pretty much disrupt your microbiota? The ingredients lists have some pretty weird stuff in it

Sounds like you're looking for something "natural" instead of just something that isn't anti-bacterial. Only place I can possibly think of for that is a store called Lush (US store website). A couple members of my family and some of my exes are/were giant fans of products from there. The store is big on natural-esque stuff.

I'm just a software engineer though; more than this is beyond my reach

Just as kind of a tip though: Simply because you don't understand the meaning of an ingredient name doesn't mean it's bad for you. Di-hydrogen monoxide and sodium chloride aren't the most friendly sounding names if you've never heard them before, but no one is afraid of the names water and table salt even though they're the same things.

 

[Remus]

Lye soap maybe? I bet it would be easy to find online. I personally could buy some in thrift stores and the like cuz that's the part of the country I live in.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

As mentioned above- almost all body washes/soaps are not anti-bacterial. Washing in anti-bacterial soap every day would indeed by harmful, but unless you've been purposely buying products that are labeled as anti-bacterial you're all good.

In terms of natural products a quick google search will give you dozens of results. A lot of small businesses and even large corporations have "natural" or "organic" varieties to choose from. My first stop would be Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/147-2224978-8646138?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=organic+soap

 

[sanquin]

People always look at me weirdly when I tell them I only shower once every two weeks, and use a washcloth and some soap for the rest of the time. (Except for when it's hot outside and I sweat a lot, then I shower as needed.) But it's not like I smell, or that my hair gets stringy/messy in between showers. In fact, as you figured, your body is perfectly capable of taking care of itself for a large part. And showering every day using soaps and shampoos and the like actually strips away the natural protection your body produces. I never understood that obsession with daily showers in the western world.

Sadly I can't give you any recommendations, as I live in the Netherlands. But it's always good when more people realise that washing yourself too often is detrimental!

 

[Ravenbom]

I lather with regular bar soap, never quite understood the need for separate body wash.
Some of them moisturize, but you can get soap that isn't harsh and dries out your skin.

Anyways. If you're not getting sick, then stick with whatever you've been doing. If you're suddenly getting sick a lot, then chances are it's the environment and the people in your life that are the vectors, not your own skin. (Regardless of the soap used)

In the case that you're an athlete and you sweat and shower multiple times a day, you should have an anti-bacterial body soap. Especially if you're shaving body hair like if you're a swimmer. Staph is something that comes from your own skin, you don't need contract with other people to contract it, though joint use items like gym equipment is a good vector for sharing staph, especially if it becomes an infection where it can develop into MRSA and be life threatening.


As for any smells that you might find appealing in body wash in order to cover up smells you don't find appealing, you should consider man-scaping. This goes back to shaving and creating staph vectors, so you might want to consider anti-bacterial soap but not necessary (I don't use them) if you do it with a beard trimmer on a reasonable level like 4-5.
I set my beard trimmer to 4 or 5 for my pits and crotch like once a month, maybe 3 weeks if I've got a date.

Why? Pubes are different, if you haven't noticed. They're heavy, curly and they're like that because they're meant to carry smell. Primates are well known as smelly animals. Apes like us, even more so. We don't have a good sense of smell, so evolution amplified the signals.
SO? Trim them pubes and underarms.

Don't get rid of all your pubes or it looks like you have a mutant, monster baby dick. Then, since its summer, use some talcum powder (or baby powder) on your balls and maybe ass crack if you're going to be active. It absorbs moisture, smell and sweat and reduces any chaffing.



If you're having gut flora problems, chances are that unless you never washed your hands after wiping your ass or if you eat while on the toilet, changing your soap is not the issue.


First, try probiotics. Keifer, is a dairy product with a lot of probiotics.
An accurate online differential diagnosis seem unlikely, you should see a doctor. Especially if you're in college, you're paying for health care at the university already, go see a doctor.

BUT, my first guess is that you're changing as you age, we all do. Maybe diary products don't agree with you anymore. Or maybe you're allergic to things now that you weren't allergic to before. That's just a part of aging.
Isolate different parts of your diet until you find out what's going on. You might be surprised. All of these things are very common for people in their 20's.


If you have pain in your abdomen, you really should see a doctor, or a specialist in internal medicine. It could be a sign of really bad things.

There's also the possibility that it's something that seems bad but is totally natural like diverticulosis which is extremely common (35%) in the western world. (Statistically, two people that have posted here in this thread already have had it or will have it in their lives)


You should keep an honest food journal. Write down everything that you eat for a month and note days when you have problems. It should correlate to what you had in the last 24 hours. If you can't correlate food and symptoms you need to see a doctor because it could be serious. At least if it's chronic, a doctor can give you directions to life with it.

 

[dscross]

I lather with regular bar soap, never quite understood the need for separate body wash.
Some of them moisturize, but you can get soap that isn't harsh and dries out your skin.

Anyways. If you're not getting sick, then stick with whatever you've been doing. If you're suddenly getting sick a lot, then chances are it's the environment and the people in your life that are the vectors, not your own skin. (Regardless of the soap used)

In the case that you're an athlete and you sweat and shower multiple times a day, you should have an anti-bacterial body soap. Especially if you're shaving body hair like if you're a swimmer. Staph is something that comes from your own skin, you don't need contract with other people to contract it, though joint use items like gym equipment is a good vector for sharing staph, especially if it becomes an infection where it can develop into MRSA and be life threatening.


As for any smells that you might find appealing in body wash in order to cover up smells you don't find appealing, you should consider man-scaping. This goes back to shaving and creating staph vectors, so you might want to consider anti-bacterial soap but not necessary (I don't use them) if you do it with a beard trimmer on a reasonable level like 4-5.
I set my beard trimmer to 4 or 5 for my pits and crotch like once a month, maybe 3 weeks if I've got a date.

Why? Pubes are different, if you haven't noticed. They're heavy, curly and they're like that because they're meant to carry smell. Primates are well known as smelly animals. Apes like us, even more so. We don't have a good sense of smell, so evolution amplified the signals.
SO? Trim them pubes and underarms.

Don't get rid of all your pubes or it looks like you have a mutant, monster baby dick. Then, since its summer, use some talcum powder (or baby powder) on your balls and maybe ass crack if you're going to be active. It absorbs moisture, smell and sweat and reduces any chaffing.



If you're having gut flora problems, chances are that unless you never washed your hands after wiping your ass or if you eat while on the toilet, changing your soap is not the issue.


First, try probiotics. Keifer, is a dairy product with a lot of probiotics.
An accurate online differential diagnosis seem unlikely, you should see a doctor. Especially if you're in college, you're paying for health care at the university already, go see a doctor.

BUT, my first guess is that you're changing as you age, we all do. Maybe diary products don't agree with you anymore. Or maybe you're allergic to things now that you weren't allergic to before. That's just a part of aging.
Isolate different parts of your diet until you find out what's going on. You might be surprised. All of these things are very common for people in their 20's.


If you have pain in your abdomen, you really should see a doctor, or a specialist in internal medicine. It could be a sign of really bad things.

There's also the possibility that it's something that seems bad but is totally natural like diverticulosis which is extremely common (35%) in the western world. (Statistically, two people that have posted here in this thread already have had it or will have it in their lives)


You should keep an honest food journal. Write down everything that you eat for a month and note days when you have problems. It should correlate to what you had in the last 24 hours. If you can't correlate food and symptoms you need to see a doctor because it could be serious. At least if it's chronic, a doctor can give you directions to life with it.

Haha - thanks for that comprehensive advice. I don't need any more advice on gut flora though, it's more about looking after your microbiome in general. I know exactly what caused my disbiota - travel to foreign countries and too many antibiotics for other conditions. I have ulcerative colitis and SIBO so have become an expert on the subject and have taken doctors and nutrionists advice.im doing an experimental clinical trial to try and fix it. I also do all that nutrionial stuff you mentioned and then some.

Ps, i don't know how old you think I am but I'm in my 30s. I think you assumed too much there. I am perfectly capable of looking after myself. I think you should read up on the microbiome. I'm not saying don't wash but there is an argument for no soap.

 

[dscross]

As mentioned above- almost all body washes/soaps are not anti-bacterial. Washing in anti-bacterial soap every day would indeed by harmful, but unless you've been purposely buying products that are labeled as anti-bacterial you're all good.

In terms of natural products a quick google search will give you dozens of results. A lot of small businesses and even large corporations have "natural" or "organic" varieties to choose from. My first stop would be Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/147-2224978-8646138?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=organic+soap

Cheers. I am tempted to just do something all natural tbh, like get some manuka honey, but it's a bit expensive. I'm a bit wary of sticking random stuff on my skin now, that's why I wanted to see if anyone had some experience of it.

 

[Callate]

The "Dr. Bronner's" brand of castile soaps have a pretty good reputation. They're very simple- originally, castile soaps were mostly just olive oil and salt- and apparently they're sufficiently non-toxic that some people brush their teeth with them.

Edit to add: Just be aware that if you read the label, the creators come across as somewhat, ah, eccentric, shall we say.

 

[dscross]

The "Dr. Bronner's" brand of castile soaps have a pretty good reputation. They're very simple- originally, castile soaps were mostly just olive oil and salt- and apparently they're sufficiently non-toxic that some people brush their teeth with them.

Edit to add: Just be aware that if you read the label, the creators come across as somewhat, ah, eccentric, shall we say.

These look really good. I'm considering these. Have you tried them?

 

[Callate]

The "Dr. Bronner's" brand of castile soaps have a pretty good reputation. They're very simple- originally, castile soaps were mostly just olive oil and salt- and apparently they're sufficiently non-toxic that some people brush their teeth with them.

Edit to add: Just be aware that if you read the label, the creators come across as somewhat, ah, eccentric, shall we say.

These look really good. I'm considering these. Have you tried them?

I have. They work fine as soap, as far as I've determined, but I don't have your issues. My only warning would be that the most commonly offered variety is not messing around as far as the peppermint goes, if that's an issue.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

I can highly recommend Dudu Osun - just google it. Just make sure they're marked "all natural" and that it's a trusted seller, especially if you don't happen to have a walk-in shop available.

As it is probably far harsher than most soap bars you've used for personal hygiene, bear in mind that a little goes a long way. You don't want to completely remove any protective layer, just get rid of funny smelling bacteria and the gunk your body produces 24/7.

That's the deal, in general. You want it all natural, you need to re-learn some of the things you've come to get used to.

Always bear in mind that you don't want to cover up smells, but get rid of the source of the bad smells. I like this natural soap as it isn't just an industrial-grade detergent, but it also smells rather clean. If you do decide to use something this strong, be advised to also adapt your scrubbing and rubbing and maybe even your towels themselves.

Another all-time favourite would be the Savon de Marseille - the base ingredients haven't changed much for 600 years, so what can I possibly tell you? It works. I like the modern take on it where you can get an old school bar, well, cube of it that smells of herbs or citrus. I keep buying them, even though I still have some from my great-grandmother around. Those have lost a bit of their appeal in the smells department, but still work perfectly fine for cleaning and rubbing and scrubbing.

 

[dscross]

I can highly recommend Dudu Osun - just google it. Just make sure they're marked "all natural" and that it's a trusted seller, especially if you don't happen to have a walk-in shop available.

As it is probably far harsher than most soap bars you've used for personal hygiene, bear in mind that a little goes a long way. You don't want to completely remove any protective layer, just get rid of funny smelling bacteria and the gunk your body produces 24/7.

That's the deal, in general. You want it all natural, you need to re-learn some of the things you've come to get used to.

Always bear in mind that you don't want to cover up smells, but get rid of the source of the bad smells. I like this natural soap as it isn't just an industrial-grade detergent, but it also smells rather clean. If you do decide to use something this strong, be advised to also adapt your scrubbing and rubbing and maybe even your towels themselves.

Another all-time favourite would be the Savon de Marseille - the base ingredients haven't changed much for 600 years, so what can I possibly tell you? It works. I like the modern take on it where you can get an old school bar, well, cube of it that smells of herbs or citrus. I keep buying them, even though I still have some from my great-grandmother around. Those have lost a bit of their appeal in the smells department, but still work perfectly fine for cleaning and rubbing and scrubbing.

I'll have a look tomorrow. Which one is better out of the two?