We brush our teeth every day, yet no one has ever taught us how to wash our bodies

We have been taught to brush our teeth since childhood. How many times a day to brush, how to hold the toothbrush, how to brush up, down, left, and right—and as we grow older, we learn to use dental floss, interdental brushes, mouthwash, and get regular dental cleanings to maintain our teeth. Dental cleaning is no longer just a simple daily habit, but a complete health education. Taiwan has even promoted the use of fluoride mouthwash for elementary school students since 2001, and continues to promote post-meal tooth brushing, fluoride application, and oral health education.

But one thing is very interesting. We shower every day, yet very few people have actually been taught "how to clean their bodies." We know we need to shower, but we rarely discuss which areas of the skin are easily left uncleaned. Should we scrub hard, or wash gently? If the skin feels slippery after rinsing, is it moisturized, or is it due to leftover cleansing ingredients?

From "Showering" to "Body Cleansing Education"

We often think of showering as something very simple: getting the body wet, applying body wash or soap, rinsing off, and being done. But human skin is not just a plastic film wrapping the body; it is one of the largest organs, with vital functions such as serving as a barrier, sensation, immunity, and thermoregulation. The skin's surface simultaneously contains sweat, sebum, dead skin cells, environmental pollutants, topical products, and a large number of microorganisms. Therefore, what "cleansing" really needs to do is not just wash away the smell of sweat; modern dermatology has even begun to discuss a more nuanced question: How do we get clean without excessively damaging the skin barrier?

Because research has shown that surfactants in cleansers interact with proteins and lipids in the stratum corneum; over-cleansing, highly irritating surfactants, or an unsuitable pH can all cause dryness, tightness, and damage to the skin barrier.

From establishing the habit of showering until now, we have achieved initial results. Almost everyone showers every day; however, the focus of the next step should be on how to achieve complete cleansing (getting clean) without damaging the skin barrier. Besides being related to cleansing products, the cleansing method also plays an important role, which we will introduce in the following articles. Therefore, we need to progress from a simple showering culture to body cleansing education, gradually establishing new concepts and good habits for people in Taiwan.

Actually, other parts of Asia developed their own "bathing cultures" very early on

If we expand our view from Taiwan to Asia, we will find that Japan, South Korea, and Northeast China have all developed very distinctive body cleansing cultures.

Japan | Bathing has long since become a lifestyle culture

Public baths in Japan have a very long history. Japanese bath culture can be traced back to after Buddhism was introduced to Japan. In the early days, temples set up baths for monks, which were later gradually opened to the general public. Around the 12th century, commercial baths began to appear. Entering the Edo period, sento (public baths) became a part of urban residents' daily lives. For Japanese people, bathing gradually became more than just "washing away dirt." It simultaneously encompasses cleansing, soaking, relaxation, socializing, and daily rituals. To this day, Japanese hot springs and sento still have very clear bathing rules: wash your body clean first, then enter the bath.

South Korea | From bathhouses and body scrubbing to jjimjilbangs

South Korea has also developed a very vibrant public bathing culture. According to data from the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, in the 1970s and 80s, many homes did not yet have proper bathroom facilities, making "going to the bathhouse on weekends" a fixed routine for many families. Another highly characteristic culture of Korean bathhouses is body scrubbing. Soaking in hot water to soften dead skin, then cleaning the body with a scrubbing mitt—they even developed a profession dedicated to scrubbing guests. This later evolved into the familiar jjimjilbangs. Showering, soaking, steaming, resting, eating, chatting, and even sleeping can all be done in the same space. Body cleansing has thus progressed from "hygiene" to leisure and lifestyle culture.

Northeast China | Developing "bathing" into a full set of services

In Northern China, especially the Northeast region, there is also a very popular public bathhouse and body scrubbing culture. Bathhouses are not just for rinsing off, but include various services such as soaking, body scrubbing, massage, and relaxation. From Japan's sento, Korea's bathhouses and jjimjilbangs, to Northeast China's bath centers, although the cultural backgrounds are completely different, they all have one thing in common:

They make the act of "cleansing the body" more complete than just taking a simple shower.

What about Taiwan?

Public hygiene and personal hygiene in Taiwan have of course improved immensely. However, if we view "body cleansing" as a piece of daily health knowledge that needs to be learned, I believe we still have a lot of room for discussion. We teach children to brush their teeth, wash their hands, exercise, and eat healthily. Yet, very few people actually teach children how to wash their bodies clean. I have even heard of the most interesting perception: only wash the upper body, and when the shower water runs down to the lower body, it naturally washes the lower body clean! Perhaps we need to start re-studying "cleansing," this event that happens every single day. Because even if the impact of what you do every day is small each time, if you imagine showering to be like brushing your teeth, after several decades, the difference will be enormous.

We use our bodies every day through exercise, labor, and activities, but we do not massage and stretch them every day. This is also why I started researching body cleansing through my work in sports massage. Because showering is something we do every single day. The opportunity that truly made me notice for the first time that "the body's physical sensation seems to change after cleansing" occurred during the pandemic (2020-2023). I went from testing sanitizing formulas to researching different cleansing formulas and different washing methods, and ultimately discovered that some cleansing methods indeed make people feel a tangible sense of relaxation.