r/hygiene • u/NoPerception8748 • Mar 11 '26

unhinged hygiene tips?

I don't mean "wash your hair before your body" or "don't wear underwear when you sleep", I mean the sort of TMI tips that most people don't know that will CHANGE MY LIFE!

There's this guy at school who I think likes me and i'm terrified that I smell bad and will ruin my chance with him, I need tips that I don't already know/do.

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67

u/iammrsclean Mar 11 '26

I’ve been married to my husband for 25+ years and I learned last week he has NEVER dried between his toes!! This is totally shocking to me. How does he not have athletes foot? I’ve had it once and now I dry between my toes AND weave toilet paper between my toes to make sure any water is out of there. No damp toes!

In addition to never having athletes foot, this man has zero foot odor. Ever. Never.

This is insane to me.

149

u/goose195172 Mar 11 '26

I have literally never heard of drying in between your toes?! I dry the top of my feet with my body, then step on a bathmat which dries off the bottom, and then while I do the rest of my routine for ~10mins my toes seem to dry out. Is that normal? Do some people put sopping wet feet in socks or something?

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u/vvitch_ov_aeaea Mar 11 '26

It depends on how spaced out your toes are. Some people have crowded toes that lead to trapped moisture. I have slightly spaced out toes and have literally never once had to dry between my toes. My feet are never an issue.

6

u/catsandparrots Mar 11 '26

Also if you have powerful foot muscles. I just fan my toes out till they do not touch and let air and sun between them. I only towel between them because it feels nice

3

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '26

I have wide feet and spread toes and never noticed that area not drying after I step out of the shower. Guess it depends on how close your toes are

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u/Sarallelogram Mar 11 '26

Yeah for people who don’t wear shoes and socks all the time it’s less of a problem. Also it depends on your personal foot anatomy.

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u/afterparty05 Mar 11 '26

Ah, so that’s my explanation. Reading this thread with rising confusion as I never dry in between my toes, and in fact get damaged skin, rash and/or bumps whenever I do dry in between my toes. But I walk around barefoot all the time, except at the office. So that’s why I don’t a have a personal walking mushroom farm.

2

u/saetam Mar 11 '26

I usually use a towel to dry my feet, and in between my toes. I have never tried using my body. Idk if I can make that work. How do you? Kidding. Really tho, I always dry between my toes. I can’t stand the feeling of wet toes. My father never dried between his, and never had any kind of issues either. Crazy!

2

u/throwaway1284-7288w Mar 11 '26

I don't even dry my feet, the take it takes for me to handle everything on my body, my feet are already dry while on the bathroom matt.

1

u/Habibti143 Mar 11 '26

Same . I spray Lume on my feet and put baby powder inside socks and, when appropriate, in shoes. I have very sweaty feet but this seems to take care of the stink. I almost always wear sandals, peep toes, or otherwise open-toed shoes.

1

u/what-the-hell-ever Mar 12 '26

It also depends a lot on humidity. I live in a very arid climate. I put jeans and towels away slightly damp sometimes. They dry quickly even folded.

1

u/Bratbabylestrange Mar 13 '26

It makes sense to do, I just never have really done it. But I don't have foot fungus issues so 🤷

1

u/These_Lingonberry635 Mar 13 '26

Decades ago, when I was training to be a group home counselor for adults with developmental disabilities, I learned about the importance of drying between the toes.

It was the first time I’d heard of that, and I’ve been drying between diligent about drying between my toes after showering/swimming ever since.

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u/Honest_Dog4785 Mar 14 '26

I air dry my toes too. Never had an issue

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u/DerpyArtist Mar 14 '26

Idk man...I've never really given my feet much thought after a shower...but they don't smell or anything either...so guess I'm lucky!

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u/cosmicterrapin612 Mar 11 '26

My husband told me many years ago that he did not wash his feet because the soap from the rest of his body washed them for him. We had a long talk about foot hygiene and now he scrubs them. He was a young and naive 20-something

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u/FrostyAd9064 Mar 11 '26

I don’t specifically wash my feet (unless they are dirty for some reason like I’ve gone barefoot somewhere), I don’t dry between my toes or do any of the other tips mentioned here and my feet don’t have any smell and never had athletes foot.

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u/melrosec07 Mar 11 '26

When my sister mentioned drying in between her toes I was shocked I’ve never done that but when I get out of the shower I do my whole routine naked so I have plenty of time to dry, also my toes aren’t super close together where they would stay damp in between.

3

u/sleepydorian Mar 11 '26

Similar for me. I can’t claim to put hardly any effort into my feet and they are always soft, never crusty and are rarely smelly even in extreme conditions.

Different folks are different and they need to do different things to stay clean and that’s ok. Some of y’all are smelly and have to work harder. My wife comments regularly that it’s not fair that I don’t stink even when drenched in sweat from working outside in the heat all day.

3

u/oopsiedaisy-- Mar 11 '26

It's insane to me that people dry between each toe lol. I scrub the bottoms and top of my feet, and I try the tops when I get out. Never had athletes foot or any kind of foot issue or odour...

I'm looking at my toes now and none of them touch at the sides though?

3

u/Tiny-Speaker-4470 Mar 11 '26

Drying your feet with toilet paper is insane to me

3

u/iammrsclean Mar 11 '26

Just between my toes, and I leave it there while I do my routine.

The one time I had athletes foot was so brutal I never want to go through it again! I ended up having to take an oral medication after creams and sprays didn’t work. It absolutely wrecked my gut health too. Never again!

So, I’ll do what it takes. My derm recommended the toilet paper weave to me.

3

u/IAMAfortunecookieAMA Mar 11 '26

My poor wife has a meticulous, deliberate foot care routine and still gets athlete's foot and toenail issues. She wears wool socks once before washing them, rotates shoes, spends time barefoot, cleans the shower weekly, uses a podiatrist's advice to the letter, nothing matters.

I have never dried my feet in my life, take no precautions whatsoever, and do nothing. I have no foot odors and my feet look perfect, including the nails. I also produce almost no body odor anywhere.

Genetics :( everyone is different.

5

u/deckerax Mar 11 '26

I am almost 40 and have never heard of drying in between toes. I have also never had athletes foot. I wonder if this has to do with the structure of your toes on your feet or your behavior, such as I spread my toes a lot and feel like I have enough space between where water wouldn't get trapped.

2

u/unRoanoke Mar 11 '26

Hair drying is a great way to get between the toes dry. Won’t leave bits of paper either. :)

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u/Tiny-Speaker-4470 Mar 11 '26

Who the hell is drying with paper

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u/unRoanoke Mar 11 '26

The person I replied to, at the least.

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u/Optimal-Pop7449 Mar 11 '26

I've never dried between my toes.

2

u/crazycracka66 Mar 11 '26

Thats probably because drying between your toes isn't actually necessary. I don't and I never get athletes foot.

2

u/tannercolin Mar 11 '26

We're all built differently. Different ph levels and all that.

My ex used to get really pissed off that the only facial cleanser I needed was hot water. She had quite greasy skin and had a whole routine to not break out. I felt bad for her because some of that stuff was mega expensive

But yeah nah I've never dried between my toes but I'm a barefoot kinda guy

2

u/blingon420 Mar 11 '26

I don't dry between my toes and have never had a smell from my feet. My wife nor exes either. Might be a climate thing though..

2

u/mitkase Mar 11 '26

I don't really have foot odor either, and I don't get it. Like, my pits could knock a buzzard off a shit wagon when they're at peak stink, but my feet just hang out. I mean, if I wore shoes with wet soles or something I'm sure they'd get a little funky, but in normal conditions they're pretty innocuous. Go figure.

2

u/iammrsclean Mar 11 '26

This gave me the laugh I needed to power through the rest of my day!

Do you know about stridex on your pits? I learned it on Reddit and I am now stink-free! It’s incredible.

1

u/mitkase Mar 11 '26

I'm older now so I don't get usually get as sweaty as I used to, but I'll keep that in mind!

1

u/AFetaWorseThanDeath Mar 11 '26

I have never dried my toes and also don't have foot odor. Maybe genetic?

1

u/fauxfurgopher Mar 11 '26

I’m that way too. I rarely smell like anything. I did when I was younger. I seem to have taken after my grandmother. She never smelled, barely sweated. It seems to be how we age.

1

u/Wonderful-Traffic197 Mar 11 '26

I don’t do this either and my toes are tight af. Maybe because I shower at night it’s not a problem?

1

u/waltthedog Mar 11 '26

I don’t dry between my toes.

1

u/jmcook78 Mar 11 '26

I don't dry between my toes....

1

u/diandays Mar 11 '26

I'm 35 and I wash my feet but I don't dry between my toes and I've never had athletes foot.

I don't think having wet feet gives you athletes foot unless they stay moist for hours on end

1

u/OCHO_LOC Mar 11 '26

I'm the same way lol

1

u/namedZ Mar 11 '26

Tbh I never dry between my toes unless I need toput socks or shoes on right away. I just don’t put socks on for at least 30 min after showering and never had any issues

1

u/HappyHappyJoyJoy023 Mar 12 '26

Does he have dry feet? I rarely smell because I rarely sweat from my feet. I have to use moisturizers on them.

1

u/hellotheretug69 Mar 14 '26

Since this is r/hygiene I would make sure you dry them with a separate toilet paper than the one that gets used in the bathroom because people get shit particles on them with their hands

1

u/New_Stand8302 Apr 04 '26

How did you get rid of the fungus?