# How to maintain your hygiene

## Wash consistently

The most significant rule [in developed nations](people-image-modern.md) is to manage how you smell.

- A society that has extremely affordable soap and laundry detergent expects people to use it profusely.
- While it doesn't mean you have to have *no* smell, it *does* mean people are more sensitive to it.
- Unfortunately, it's *also* considered impolite in many circles to indicate to someone that they smell bad.
- Further, if you're surrounded by a community of people who practice the same habits as you, you're likely to never hear about it.

You will often not *think* you smell bad:

- Our bodies become accustomed to the smells around us in as little as 20 minutes.
- If you're [interacting with a new culture](people-rules.md), you're almost guaranteed to smell like any food that was in your origin culture that's not in the new one.

Scrub your entire body with soap and water:

- You don't necessarily need *hot* water to wash yourself, but if you have hot water wait for it to come through the pipes before stepping in.
- Soap chemically attaches itself to soil on the skin, then water washes it away.
- Antibacterial soap doesn't perform any differently from ordinary soap, but can often damage the skin's microscopic ecosystem.
- Bar soap is cheaper, lasts longer, has a lingering scent, and is more ecologically friendly than body wash.
- Conserve soap that's worn down to a sliver by attaching it to another bar while wet.

Wash your hair with shampoo:

- If your hair squeaks when you pull on it, you haven't rinsed all the shampoo out.
- Routinely washing hair can dry out hair and cause dandruff.
  - Only wash your hair every few days for the body's oils to come back into the hair.
- Dandruff cures:
  - Shower with cooler water.
  - Add vodka to shampoo to moisturize and strengthen hair.
  - Rub aloe vera onto the scalp.

Routinely wash your hands:

- Wash before and after you touch anything you must keep clean.
- Obsessively cleaning hands will make the skin crack, so use lotion.
- Ironically, *obsessive* handwashing implies mental illness.
- If you can't get your ring off your finger, lather it with soap or run it under freezing water.

Clean more vigorous substances off your hands with specific things:

- Permanent marker (rub hand sanitizer into your skin)
- Food stains from fruit or other organic material (wipe hands with vinegar in a towel or rub a raw potato into it and let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse)
- Tree sap (rub with nail polish remover or alcohol-based hand sanitizer)
- Grease or engine oil:
  1. Apply hand lotion *before* working on a project
  2. Mix cooking oil and sugar in hands (bath oil and salt work as well, but will irritate any cuts/scratches).
  3. Scrub into hands focusing on knuckles, cuticles, nail beds, and palm creases.
  4. Wash with warm water (cold water won't remove the oil, but hot water removes the body's natural oils).
  5. Scrape any grease under fingernails with a nail stick.
  6. Use a nail brush to scrub dish soap into uncleaned areas and rinse with warm water again.

When you're done, [clean off](home-housekeeping.md) any visible particulates (e.g., hair) from the soap or dispenser before putting it back.

If you have particularly bad body odor:

- Scrub all your skin with a hard scrubber, such as a hard-bristled brush or pumice stone.
- If you have any particularly offensive areas (e.g., armpits), rub isopropyl alcohol (i.e., rubbing alcohol) onto it at least once a week.

## Maintain your teeth

Dental hygiene is necessary for your image, but also critical for health.

A poor diet can harm teeth:

- Chewing ice creates microscopic fractures in the teeth.
- Drinking soda and eating candy can coat the teeth in acid and sugars that damage tooth enamel.
- Excessive alcohol consumption decreases saliva production, increases dry mouth, and promotes tooth decay.

Brush your teeth twice a day:

- Only products with Novamin can repair your teeth.
- Make toothpaste yourself:
  - Sprinkle baking soda onto your toothbrush
  - Use apple cider vinegar or mouthwash
  - Mix your own in an airtight bowl:
    1. 6 tsp baking soda
    2. 1 tsp Stevia powder
    3. 4 tsp vegetable glycerin or 2 tbsp coconut oil
    4. 10--20 drops of peppermint oil

Improve your brushing:

- Brush your teeth *before* eating:
  - Brushing is supposed to remove plaque, not food.
  - Since food softens the enamel brushing right afterward can harm teeth.
- Water reduces toothpaste's potency, so don't wet the brush with water.
- Squeeze from the back of the tube to get all of it:
  - Squeeze it all out with hairpins.
  - Attach a binder clip at the end of the tube to get every last bit.
- Brush in a circle while angling the toothbrush to get between the gums.
- Routinely leave teeth-whitening toothpaste on your teeth for a few minutes before rinsing.
- Rinse your mouth out with warm water to eat anything afterward without an aftertaste.
- Store the toothbrush in a low-moisture location.
  - Attach it to a clothespin to make it easily accessible.
  - Get an electric toothbrush to *very* thoroughly clean your teeth.

Flossing is essential, but mouthwash has very little to do with dental health.

- Rinsing your mouth with hot water (especially salt water) after eating will usually remove most bad breath.
- In fact, halitosis is a [marketing](marketing.md) word made by Joseph Lister, the creator of Listerine.
  - Bad breath is relative to naturally occurring food odors.
  - The cultural differences are most pronounced when someone visits another country.
- Dissolve 1 tbsp Epsom salts or 1/2 tsp baking soda in 1/2 cup warm water to make natural mouthwash.

You can whiten your teeth if you're self-conscious about it:

- Most people aren't concerned with white teeth as much as bad breath.
- Rub the inside of a banana peel on your teeth for 2 minutes to absorb the minerals into your enamel.
- Make a baking soda/strawberry teeth whitener:
  1. Make a paste of 1/2 tsp baking soda and a mashed-up strawberry.
  2. Spread onto teeth with a toothbrush or finger.
  3. Let it sit for five minutes, rinse out and brush with toothpaste.

Avoid bad breath:

- When brushing your teeth, brush your tongue to get rid of most bad breath.
  - If you don't have a toothbrush, scrape it with a spoon or wipe it with a paper napkin.
  - Invest in a tongue brush to clean it thoroughly.
- Lick your wrist and smell it to know how your breath smells to others.
- If you routinely wake up with a gross taste in your mouth, drink a glass of water before going to bed.
- Use breath mints when with others for an extended time (gargle salt water if you don't have any).
- Eat parsley to remove the odor of garlic or onions.
- If someone offers a mint, you likely have bad breath, and you should take one without questioning them.
- Bad breath usually comes from your diet.
  - Drink water after drinking other beverages to purge odor-incubating sugars from your mouth.
  - Watch strong foods like garlic or onions
  - Fiber-rich vegetables increase salivation and wash away bacteria.
  - Crunchy vegetables scrub off the teeth.
  - Calcium from dairy products help re-mineralize teeth.
  - Chewing gum helps produce saliva that lowers the potency of acids in the mouth.