Hygiene - Can 'being overly clean' be BAD for you?

yes it is harsh .:

i have played with some to see how it bubbles, it does do a good job but it is super irritating, ive still got 2 lbs of it sitting in my cabinet because i hated working with it, it is powder form and really sends out a super fine dust that will make me get choked up, watery eyes and itchy face even if i wear a proper mask. It does make darn fine bubbles though which can be nice in a bath, even still i dont use it or formulate with it anymore since seing the reaction first hand to its concentrated form.

look for Cocamide DEA, in bubbling products, it is more mild and becoming more frequently used.


all of the ingredients in the commercial products are approved and safe in low levels, but when they are in every product we use every day, the effects of that buildup and long term use aren't adequately studied in most cases

Anyway, I'm going to keep on with my regular hygiene - we've all heard the horror stories about groups of some folks back in the 1960's and 1970's that showed up at their doctors' offices with diseases that hadn't been seen in society since the middle ages because of their aversion to standard hygiene practices.

we arent saying do bath or wash, what we are saying is constantly being clean can be worse than being slightly dirty because the body cant fight to make a stronger immune system.
and i to only use organic soaps and toiletries.
i find if i use the toileties with chemicals i come out with rashes and my skin really hurts

Originally posted by TheDuckster
didn't know that 30 mins in warm/hot tub would INCREASE sperm count in men? I always thought that if there was TOO MUCH heat around a man's organs, that there would be a DECREASE in sperm count.

Well, supposedly that is true internally. However, they are finding out that externally it has just the opposite effect. Anyway... for whatever it is worth. Plus, you waste more water when you shower, so..

[edit on 30-3-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

I firmly believe too much hygiene has a bad effect on us.
Just like everything else it's a balancing act. I can't condone synthesized chemicals at all.. we never needed them before.. Nature has several neutral solutions to use instead of chemicals.
Also it's correct that we carry several bacteria we need.
Some on the skin and about 2 lbs in our intestines lol. without them vegetables and fruits would have no nutritional meaning to us and we need those nutrients being omnivores. We get those bacteria when we eat our first "tainted" foods as a baby. Up to that point our intestines are sterile. Just an example

I was highly sensitive allergic, it wasn't because of too clean a house or no pets. I'm predisposed to astma (including sensitivity to allergies) genetically.
But unless the effects of your allergies are too severe I suggest to stick with it. You will become less sensitive over time.. I had real bad allergies from cats. I now own 2 cats in a rather small appartment and am not bothered by allergies at all. I'm still allergic to dogs because I never stuck with them like I did with cats.

@gluetrap, Have any recipies for your soaps. I'm really interested in that. I'd love to decide what I come in contact with myself.

As for cleaning products, I hate chemical products. Ive been cleaning with steam for 2 years now and it's great.

If being "clean" is good for you, why did I never get sick while camping in the desert for 2 and a half months? As soon as I was back in society however, blam, started getting colds again. I hadn't showered the whole time and was perfectly fine without soap. We did have an emergency supply in case we got feces on our hands though . Not to mention the time I had diarrhea in my pants and had to hand wash them...THAT was a lot of fun !

I would tend to agree with the posts about how being exposed to the environment that you are actually going to live in while young is important to proper immune system development.

I personally think that many people over do it with the showering/bathing, and strip too much of the natural oils from their skin. I'll usually skip a day if I'm having a slow week end, but when it gets really hot I just can't stand to. I try to wash my hands more often, but you know......

I agree and think that too much cleaning can be bad for you, especially if you use products with a lot of chemicals in. After years of using ordinary (full of chemicals) products, my mum is now allergic to them. Just the smell causes her to sneeze repeatedly and get a lot of 'gunk' in her nose and throat. Makes me wonder just how bad for us these chemicals are. The same thing happens to her with cigarette smoke - maybe this has some of the same chemicals as cleaning products??
She is allergic to any non-natural/organic cleaning products, cigarette smoke, perfumes, and everyday products such as soap, make-up, shampoo etc.
It's certainly made me more cautious about some products and the chemicals they contain.

I also agree that a bit of dirt helps your immune system - I played in the mud with pets as a child and the worst I ever got were colds (well apart from all the wasp stings!)