I’m sure this caught your eyes.
Wait… taking a shower or a bath without soap? Eew!
Bear with me.
I first learned of this in 2012 from a friend. He told me that he has not used soap for years. I was intrigued by this because my natural instinct to be minimalist begun around this time.
He let me smell him.
Nothing. No body odor. No pungent smell. Nothing to make my nose crinkle in disgust.
The next few days, I thought about this a lot.
It’s true. The natives of this land did not have soap. They seem to manage just fine. I have read a lot about how Native Americans had the most beautiful and clear skin. In fact, they didn’t have many problems with diseases and illness until the white men came over, right?
I thought to give it a try.
I love it. I never looked back.
My skin has cleared up considerably. I don’t have that ‘stuckey’ feeling when washing my body with soap.
I save so much time. I literally can shower in five minutes and feel good about it.
I also save so much money. In the United States, we spend about 1.3 billion dollars on soap. Just soap alone. That is a lot. That’s more money for me in my wallet.
I also reduce my impact on the environment. Imagine how much work it takes to make one bottle of soap and to bring it across the country to my grocery store. Instead of throwing away or recycling many bottles or containers of soap- I just don’t use anything at all. It feels good knowing that I have eliminated a portion of my waste and reduced my footprint.
An unexpected side effect was that camping is more fun. I’m already acclimated to using less and just water to get clean (except for my hands when working with food). So camping is not as stressful as it once was.
Now, I’m not saying that I smell like perfection. I have days where my body odor is strong and unwelcome. These days are usually when I am stressed, not eating well, or not drinking enough water. It’s great to be able to listen to my body better without all that soap covering up what it has been trying to tell me.
I do use natural deodorants and try to dry brush every morning when possible.
I did use soap once just because. I hated it. The soap felt suffocating and unnatural. Eh, I think I’ve broken up with body soap for good.
Don’t worry, I still wash my hands when handling food, working with others, and playing with animals.
What do you think? Would you try this?