this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2026
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PSA: deodorants don't do shit if you don't shower before applying. If anything, it might make the smell worse.
Second PSA: Deodorants never do shit, use an antiperspirant.
Just a warning though. Aluminum antiperspirants can cause skin irritation and absolutely cause aluminum salt stains on clothes (bright yellow pits on white shirts).
Also there is a correlation link between aluminum levels and Alzheimer's, but nobody had proved causation so it may be an unrelated coincidence.
Easier just to shower, scrub well, and use deoderant. That is usually enough for the average person, just not heavy sweating people or people in very hot environments.
PSA: Also wash your clothes (without fabric softener) and stop buying polyester. Much of the "BO stink" is from sweating in polyester clothes and not washing them for a few more wears. Plastic doesn't absorb and dry out the bacteria so it is much much worse than cotton, linen, or wool. Also use vinegar as fabric softener, it doesn't smell after the final rinse cycle and it doesn't leave a waxy film on your clothes that keeps the bacteria nice and comfortable like formula softener.
Aluminium antiperspirant stains are actually pretty easy to remove if you soak your shirts in something acidic - I use sulphamic acid (commonly sold as the main ingredient in coffee machine descaler, so pretty safe, and not as smelly as vinegar) and just leave things for a day, then any residue that's left just comes out in the wash. The reason it stains is that long-acting antiperspirant seals the aluminium salts in tiny wax beads which break open over the course of the day to keep releasing more, and wax needs a lot of exposure to soapy water to dissolve, but it's protected by the aluminium salts jellifying when wet, and they in turn are protected from rinsing away by the surrounding wax. Acids can attack both.
Counterpoint, aluminum is bad for you, anti-persperaint is hard to clean off your body and cloths, humans are allowed to smell a little. As long as you're not smelling like a highschool gym and shower regularly and after exercise, a light application of deodorant should be plenty for the majority of adults.
Can‘t disagree more. You just need to buy a proper one and not Axe or similar deos that smells like ass. The deocream from Greendoor works like a wonder and is not an anti-transpirant, and I sweat a crazy amount.
I know people who think this, and they need an antiperspirant.
There's a very wide spectrum of BO.
Some people just flat out don't have BO; it's a genetic thing. And some people will smell regardless of showering and deodorant/antiperspirant use.
An unfortunate majority can’t smell their own BO and think they fall into that category.
I think you have your ratios wrong.
If you think you’re one of the people who doesn’t have a BO then I have unfortunate news for you.
I know Im not one of those people, but my wife is.
Third PSA: deodorant smells fucking awful. I would rather smell your natural stink, though I'd most prefer if you just bathed regularly.
Fourth PSA: your surface microbiome can be cultivated through diet and washing habits. If you have a healthy lifestyle, your pit stink will be mild even when you've been exercising. (However, your microbiome is inherited from your parents, so if they were disgusting, you might need probiotics)
I used to be able to skip antiperspirant and just use non-scented deodorant.
And then I birthed a kid. My hormone balance has never been the same and I stink more. Deodorant is a necessity now.
People are different and need different levels of hygiene control.
Probably you are overthinking it. Even bathing is new to humans, you don't "need" it
Oh I adore when a stranger on the internet tells me I'm overthinking my own body.
Bathing is by no means new to humans. Plus, we've been masking our funk in different ways for thousands of years.
I suppose I should have clarified as "daily bathing"
Okay I'll just have a bath installed in the office then.
Just shower before you go out and wear clean clothes
I actually just don't go to the office anymore but basically the temperature most people find comfortable is hot for me and also I get sweaty walking. I'm built for a nordic winter.
At home I can keep temperatures comfier for myself, prefer about 18 indoors.
I stopped wearing deodorant a few years ago. Clean clothes and showering. I do get funky after being soaked in sweat for hours so maybe if I worked in a kitchen right next to people that'd be a different story
Do you have any Asian genetics in your ancestory? There's a gene that causes you to not have BO, which is common in Asia.
My wife has the gene, although it's from her native American ancestry (either 1/4 or 1/8). We can go camping for a week and she'll maybe smell like sweat, while you can smell my BO from a mile away a few hours after showering and new deodorant.
Nope I'm honky as shit