Showering (or taking a bath) every day (or at least every other day) is your first line of defense when it comes to the “smellies.” For best results, wash all your parts (from your head to your feet). Remember to use soap. Soap is an important part of this process and sometimes boys forget. If you have noticed that you are particularly smelly, you can get special soap labeled “deodorant,” which will help keep you odor-free longer. It’s best not to use deodorant soap all over your body though, because it can really dry out your skin. Just use it for your smelliest parts (usually your armpits and your feet).
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Taking a shower before you go to bed at night will help you get out the door faster in the morning. However, if you are particularly worried about the smellies, or you and your brother like to wrestle at night after you take your shower, a morning bath or shower is probably the way to go.
Hand washing is another important personal hygiene issue to talk about, and the good thing is that you don’t even have to get completely wet to do it! Hand washing is not just about personal hygiene, because germs on your hands (which you use to touch everything) can make you (and people around you) sick. Sometimes it seems to boys that grown-ups are too worried about hand washing, but it is pretty important. If you eat without washing your hands, it’s like (and yes, this is gross) putting everything that you’ve touched since the last time you washed your hands . . . right in your mouth.