From "Showering Daily" to "Truly Clean"

In the previous two articles, I talked about why we need to re-emphasize the importance of body cleansing.

The first article discussed "body cleansing education" from the perspective of Asian bathing culture. The second article shared an unexpected discovery I made during the pandemic, which led me to study different cleansing formulas and why some people feel physical relaxation after cleansing their skin.

Finally, I want to return to the most practical question: How exactly should we wash to truly clean our bodies?

I believe that body cleansing cannot rely on good products alone. Product + Method makes a complete cleansing system.

Showering Daily Doesn't Mean You Are Truly Clean

Almost everyone showers every day, but whether every part of the body is truly cleansed is another matter.

Some people quickly rub body wash over their entire body and rinse it off; some believe that water running over them counts as washing; others feel they must scrub hard until their skin turns red to call it clean. Cleansing is not about the amount of force you use, but rather about removing the substances that need to be cleared from the skin's surface without over-stimulating the skin.

Therefore, over the past few years, we have compiled our actual testing and experiences into a very simple method.

Why Do I Recommend Using a Foaming Net?

Many people just use soap or body wash and scrub with their bare hands when showering. However, showering with bare hands is more like simple "applying and rinsing," whereas cleansing with a foaming net not only increases the contact between the lather and the skin but also has an exfoliating function.

Therefore, I have summarized the cleansing method using a foaming net into three important principles:

1. Gentle Rubbing

Many people intuitively believe that the harder they scrub, the cleaner they get. However, when a foaming net is pressed hard against the skin, the lather is easily squeezed to the sides, resulting in the net directly rubbing against the skin. So my approach is: keep the lather between the skin and the foaming net, and rub gently. It's not brushing, scraping, and definitely not rubbing until the skin turns red.

2. Short-stroke Back and Forth

Over 80% of people probably use long strokes when showering. For example, when washing arms, they almost always rub from the shoulder to the wrist in one go, back and forth several times. The advantage of this is that it saves time and quickly covers the whole body. The disadvantage is that it doesn't fully wash the key areas, especially the joints where dirt and grime easily hide.

I would suggest working in small areas with short strokes back and forth, drawing small circles, or using a cross pattern to clean repeatedly. Continually adding small amounts of water during the process will regenerate the lather, making it easier to thoroughly clean localized areas.

3. Stretch and Position

The human skin and fascia are extensible, so extending or stretching your limbs can expand the effective cleansing surface area, allowing you to truly clean the entire body. For example, when we wash our elbows (olecranon), we must bend the elbow and rub the bony protrusion of the elbow in a circular motion; when cleaning the gluteus maximus area, we should lift our legs and bend over or do a full squat to stretch the gluteus maximus.

The 5-Step Body Cleansing Method

Step 1 | Rinse and Wet the Body First

Let the water fully contact your skin to thoroughly wet your body before starting to use cleansing products.

Step 2 | Lather Thoroughly

Using FPL Cleansing Body Wash as an example, I usually pump about twice onto the foaming net, add water and rub it to create enough lather first, and then bring it into contact with the skin.

Step 3 | Gentle Rubbing + Short Strokes

Clean in small circular motions or a cross pattern back and forth. If the lather starts to diminish, add a small amount of water to re-lather. Do not rush to wash the whole body at once—complete it area by area. After washing one area, move a little to feel if there is a sense of relaxation; after feeling relaxed, proceed to wash another area.

Step 4 | Rub Gently While Rinsing (The Most Crucial Step)

This is a step that many people have never done before. The average person's method is usually "rub -> put down the foaming net -> rinse." My approach is: while rinsing, continue to gently glide the foaming net over the skin. Utilize the water flow and gentle rubbing to gradually wash away the remaining lather and cleansing agents until no obvious bubbles are visible. This step is the most critical part of cleansing.

Step 5 | Finally, Check with Your Hands

Put down the foaming net, feel the cleansed areas with your hands to confirm that the lather and cleansing products have been thoroughly rinsed away, and then complete the final rinse with clean water.

The Product is 70 Points; the Method Can Bring It to 90 Points

During offline experiences over the past two years, I often tell everyone: If a good cleansing product is worth 70 points, adding the correct method gives it the chance to bring the overall cleansing experience close to 90 points. And almost everyone can feel the truth of this statement. This is certainly not a research scale, but rather a metaphor I use to describe how "product and method are equally important." No matter how good a product is, if it's just quickly smeared on and rinsed off, it's hard to get a complete cleansing experience. Therefore, I believe complete cleansing at least includes: the right product + the correct method.

Cleansing is Like Practicing the Horse Stance in Martial Arts

I really like to use the "horse stance" to describe body cleansing. The horse stance looks very ordinary and is not the most flashy move, but if your lower body is unstable, it is hard to fully exert the subsequent movements and power. To me, cleansing is the horse stance of body care. Think about it: if the skin is dirty and sticky, its physiology and characteristics will be affected; and the superficial fascia, which is closely connected to the skin, may also be affected over time, leading to an increasingly unhealthy state of the fascia as the days accumulate.

If We Need to Learn How to Brush Our Teeth Since Childhood, Shouldn't We Also Learn How to Wash Our Bodies?

After writing these three articles, I still want to return to the question raised in the first article.

Why are we taught how to brush our teeth from an early age, but rarely is anyone taught how to wash our bodies? Isn't brushing teeth just bathing our teeth? If we only require teeth to be brushed clean but do not require children to wash their bodies clean, our health education is essentially failing.

Our dental care started with brushing teeth, and later gradually developed toothpaste, dental floss, interdental brushes, mouthwash, and regular teeth cleaning. Today we already know that "brushing teeth daily" and "whether the teeth are cleaned well" are two different things.

The same actually goes for the body. We have already completed the first step, making showering a daily habit for most people.

The next step should be progressing from "having a shower" to "knowing how to clean thoroughly." How to wash? What cleansing products to use? Is it rinsed completely? How does the body feel before and after cleansing? When we start to think about these questions, showering is no longer just a lifestyle habit, but begins to become a form of body education.

From Showering Daily, Start Taking Care of Yourself Daily

We always feel that health requires doing many difficult things. Exercising, controlling diet, sleeping early, stretching, training, massaging... but what can truly accompany a person for decades is often the small habits repeated every day. This is true for brushing teeth, and it is also true for showering.

The difference of one day may be small, but if continued every day for ten, twenty, or fifty years, it is no longer a small matter. This is also the concept I hope to convey most after spending so many years researching cleansing: don't just shower every day, but start learning to clean your body well every day. Cleansing is not the entirety of body care, but I believe it must be the first step, and the most important step, in body care!