Why does it feel so good to be clean?

Have you murdered anyone, or caused anyone’s uncle to murder anyone? (Was it Macbeth’s uncle?)

‘cause I’m much more likely to have sex following a shower

I feel refreshed. A good feeling.

And, what @Simone_De_Beauvoir said.

Snarl We just found out we’re going on a “3 five minute shower a week” schedule down on the ice. I’m going to be smelly. I don’t know why it feels good, but it sure does. I’m going to miss being clean.

To me, my skin feels sticky and less smooth when i need a shower. Also, my hair gets greasy. Clean skin offers less resistance when other skin touches it, or something like that. Getting all that oil and sweat off just feels good!

Plus, we’re probably conditioned to like that clean-skin and clean-hair feeling.

We are in the middle of what is called the “build-up” to the start of the monsoon rains, the humidity is about a million. I take a minimum of 5 showers. I get so sticky I feel like I am turning into a velcro person. I love those 10 seconds of feeling clean after a shower. If only I had a giant fan that would dry me off before the stickiness sets in again.

@Les – where is down on the ice?

@rooeytoo: I believe Les is in Antarctica.

You asked: why does it feel so good to be clean, but in your notes continued with: Aside from smell, which can be bothersome, what it is about being dirty that feels so disgusting?

Opposites in everything are always closely related. Smell is our strongest sense. As disgusted as you were with the smell of being dirty, thus your pleasure increase when smelling clean many times over.

I know what you mean. When we go camping and 4 wheeling I tell my husband that I can only handle one night being caked in mud. It’s so uncomfortable for me to feel so dirty.

Ooh I don’t know, but when I’m sick I don’t feel like getting in the shower, but when I finally do it feels soooo good. It makes you feel just refreshed and new.

@casheroo – Agreed.
@rooeytoo – @EmpressPixie is right on. At least its cold down here; not much sweating until I go to the gym, but still. I hate that greasy hair feeling. Blech.

This question makes me think of this song.

I wonder if it’s because your skin can “breathe” better.

And this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8IfCSnYPYo

@simone de Beauvoir, I’d rather have sex in the shower

Your skin needs to “breath”. When there is dirt your skin can’t sweat or “breath” properly.
Mythbusters did a test, and you get really sick if your skin is covered by latex paint, same principle.

@Les – sounds a silly question, but can’t you just melt some ice???

@rooeytoo – We kind of do. I think though I’m not entirely sure, I’ll have to check we use distilled/desalinated sea water for all our water needs (drinking, bathing, etc.). I don’t think it is melted, but because I am at McMurdo Station (an island near the actual continent), there is sea water (unfrozen) all around us. We are trying to conserve energy, which I think is the main reason we are reducing showers. It takes a lot of energy to not only desalinate water, but to heat it. I think that is the main problem. At the South Pole, they only get 2 two minute showers a week because there really is a lack of water out there. Pole is an amazing place. I’d love to go there sometime, but I’ll have to learn how to deal with smelling. ;-)

Not a silly question. Quite good.

I don’t know, but being clean-shaven gives me that same feeling. It’s probably related to some psychological release or maybe a physical one if you’re in to that sort of thing :)

I feel all gooey when I need a shower. When I hurt my ankle a few weeks ago I had to go to my moms to get in the shower because our shower isn’t on the main floor. I felt a million times better afterward. I hadn’t done anything for a couple days but sit in my chair with my foot up, so I wasn’t dirty or stinky at all. It’s kind of like when you put clean sheets on the bed…it’s feels way more comfortable than it did the night before for some reason.

My husband has had hay fever all weekend and hadn’t showered for a couple days and got MAD when I told him he smelled like penis cheese. I would appreciate it if someone told me I stunk!

LMAO@ penis cheese!!

@knitfroggy Huge chuckle at Penis Parmesan.

@Facade and @Zen He wants to know how I know what penis cheese smells like…I told him I didn’t know exactly, but that’s they only thing I could identify his odor as…

haha, gross

I love to take showers. There’s nothing that feels as good as getting out, lotioning up & putting on clean clothes. Even when I’m sick, I force myself to get in there. It just makes you feel so much better. And I’m with Simone_De_Beauvoir. Hubby doesn’t get near me until I’ve had a shower.

Especially when sick, the feel and smell of sweat is icky. Being clean is a reset in your brain to go have fun getting dirty again.

@hungryhungryhortence You are just a little kid at heart.

Not just clean, but shaving is an added bonus! Almost like it is removing even more grime. Clean and shaven feels better than just clean to me.

@JLeslie I agree!

Probably conditioning. We spend most of our time being more clean than not; we normalize it. When we stop being clean, we’re less than happy about it.

I didn’t really care how often I showered – I’d wash maybe 1–3 times per week – until I got my first job. Working outdoors, effectively wading through the muck of 300–500 people. I’d go home all sweaty and smelly and literally covered in dirt, stand under the shower, and blast it all into oblivion. From that point on, I became a fan.