I’m building this blog on a clean slate…literally.

Humans invented soap well over 4000 years ago but it did not gain widespread popularity until fairly recently. 2000 years ago, the Romans used to rub oils onto their bodies and scrape dirt and dead skin off themselves with a curved stick called a strigil. 500 years ago, soap use was restricted to the aristocracy. It wasn’t until the last few hundred years, that regular body cleansing with soaps infiltrated mainstream society as a daily, or almost daily, ritual. The West’s war on germs intensified our reliance on soap as we strove for the pinnacle of hygiene.

I was raised with the astringent edict to bathe daily whilst soaping every square inch of my body and shampooing my hair. As a youngster with supple skin, this practice was sustainable. But as I got older, I noticed my skin got drier the more soapy hot water I used.

This is to be expected. Soap cleans dirt and grime that is stuck to the oily secretions on our skin. It does this by creating miscles, molecular spheres that keep oil on the inside and water on the outside. In this way, soap allows oils (and any dirt mixed in with the oils) to literally be washed away. Everything has a downside. The problem with using soap on skin is that it strips skin of its natural oils that act as a protective barrier against the elements. Without this oil barrier, skin tends to dry out. Also, the skin’s microbiome, a protective layer of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microbes that live symbiotically on and in us, struggle to maintain a healthy balance because they have been stripped of the environment to which they have grown accustomed. This puts the skin at risk of colonization, invasion and infection by opportunistic microbes that can now thrive unchecked on a stark, arid, post-suds landscape.

As I noticed the dry skin, I gradually shifted to a practice of only using soap on my dirty bits. After all, it’s not like I was mud wrestling or riding bulls. Sure, I exercised regularly. But sweat is easily rinsed off with water. Over time, I used fewer and fewer personal hygiene products. I even stopped using shampoo and the conditioner we use to replenish the oils shampoo strips away. In turn I I switched to the “no-poo” method. Yes, it’s a thing. DuckDuckGo it. Not only is my hair and skin more lustrous. I save money on products and save the world from plastics.

In my professional life I have seen my fair share of skin-related maladies. Many of these, like eczema, psoriasis, and dermatitis, respond well simply by allowing the skin to reset to a healthy microbiome balance. There is even a condition called dyshidrotic eczema that is caused by frequent handwashing. The remedy? Cut back on the soap.