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Comment by sxates | Hacker News Reader

I've been using a stainless steel "deoderant stick" [1] (it's just metal, no chemicals) for several years in the shower and its greatly reduced the amount of normal deodorant I use. The steel does a good job of eliminating odors. I only supplement with a dry-stick deodorant if I know I'm going to be getting hot and sweaty - most days at the office I skip it. Saves a lot of money too, since one of these will last you a whole lifetime most likely.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Odor-Works-Natural-Deodorant-Alternat...

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33% 1 star reviews "Doesn't really work" "You could also use a stone instead or do nothing"

Have you asked anybody if you smell?

My dad had this "crystal rock" deodorant that he thought was working until we told him otherwise.

I have one of these and can 100 pct vouch that it works for me, no question whatsoever. YMMV

Ha like that time when I was a young clerk, a couple approached me recounting their earlier near-miss with a skunk.

Thing is, the skunk didn't miss and everyone knew when they came into the store.

You can't smell me, but it's just like that time eh?

There was a time where you could expect people on HN to have a grasp of basic logic and often even chemistry, but I guess one can't live in the past.

Wife would say so - and I can smell myself. I think the trick is you need to rub it for about 30 seconds - longer than people are probably willing to do it. But there's noticeable before and after results if you do that.

Here's an article I found that goes into the chemistry of it: https://www.thoughtco.com/how-stainless-steel-removes-odors-...

tl;dr: stainless steel reacts with the stuff that makes onions, garlic and fish smell, thereby neutralising that particular odor.

So scrubbing yourself with stainless steel can replace soap but not deodorant. Unless you're literally rubbing steel particles onto your skin there's no lasting effect, it just kills the smells (if they are sulfur-based).

EDIT: of course this assumes you trust the article to be scientifically accurate.

OK so I believe you about the before and after, but people use deodorant to prevent odors, not remove them after they're already there.

Both you and pluma are confusing deodorant with anti-perspirant. Very often they are combined in the same product, so the confusion is understandable.

But deodorant is perfume, anti-perspirant stops sweating.

And?

People don't wait until they stink to put deodorant on, they put it on in the morning after a shower when they don't smell to prevent odors later on. Even if "prevent" means "covering them up with fragrance"

I thought I was being helpful with my comment. That was certainly my intention.

It was a correction to a misunderstanding. As neither of the two authors I referenced replied, I assumed that either they didn't see it, or accepted the correction, or dismissed it and moved on.

The arguments weren't about the large issues of the day, but the arguments were wrong based on a misunderstanding, and surely the world is improved when you have an understanding of things, great or small, rather than misunderstanding.

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With regards to your statement, you don't prevent odor by adding odor. You attempt to change the quality of the odor you emit by mixing in other odors with purported desirable qualities. You create an admixture of "good" and "bad" in a stronger odor.

This is not prevention.

If you have asthma or other respiratory condition, a strong odor can trigger that pathology, regardless of the qualities of that odor that would cause you to think it smelled good or bad. The strength of the odor alone is the trigger.

In that case you would much prefer the people around you used an anti-perspirant with as little extra odor added in as reasonable.

Or maybe you don't have any respiratory pathologies, but you find strong odor distracting. You might actually prefer low levels of body odor to strong levels of some deodorant.

I am not confusing anything. Wikipedia:

> A deodorant is a substance applied to the body to prevent body odor caused by the bacterial breakdown of perspiration in armpits, feet, and other areas of the body. A subgroup of deodorants, antiperspirants, affect odor as well as prevent sweating by affecting sweat glands.

(emphasis mine)

How is this supposed to work? I'm assuming not many chemical reactions are happening around that stainless steel. So is this any different than using a sponge, your hand or whatever solid object?

“Scientific evidence appears lacking.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_steel_soap

Maybe nobody has spent money to do a study, but it does seem to work. I was skeptical when a friend suggested it, but I'll be darned if it doesn't work.

So it's like Niel Bohr's horseshoe that he hung above his office door. When asked if he thought it brought good luck, he would reply "No. But they say it works even if you don't believe in it."

Perhaps I could kill two birds at once by selling stainless steel horseshoes for bathing use? "Uncle Bohr's Lucky Stainless Steel Bathing Horseshoe" or such?

Luck is hard to measure, smells aren't. I don't understand why you're so hostile to the possibility that stainless steel can remove odors that soap doesn't? This is easy to test. I've tested it.

I wasn't hostile to the possibility, but I have tried several such products and haven't been impressed either.

But FWIW here's an NPR article that says it doesn't work:

"Does a Bit of Steel Get Rid of That Garlic Smell?"

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=647335...

So you did a controlled test where you used just water one day, a sponge/washcloth another day, and a stone another day and had blinded judges to smell you throughout the day?

definitely works for getting rid of onion or garlic smells off your hands. you can use a spoon or knife or even the sink surface. i believe that the steel acts as a catalytic surface, but have no hard evidence. but try rubbing a spoon over your fingers under running water next time youve cut garlic and see for yourself.

You're getting a lot of flak for this from people suggesting it's not proven.

Just to add to the anecdata, I've known for some time that if I rub my fingertips on a stainless steel spoon after cutting garlic it greatly reduces the smell. This doesn't seem to work with a wooden or plastic spoon.

Sure, stainless steel does remove such odors, but how on Earth does that imply that it prevents underarm odors?

That's a good point. Though I do think that in a lot of circumstances regular removal of odour is sufficient.

I recently spent a few months in the countryside with very little social contact (a great way to get a lot of deep work done). I would only shower every three or four days and didn't use deodorant. On the first day I smelled fine. By day three or four the accumulation of odour was noticeable. Since returning to civilisation, I've mostly stuck to a shower each day without using deodorant other than when I think it'll be necessary (like if I go out dancing).

+1 to this anecdata. Lack of use of soap and deodorant along with regular showering is fine, and less consumery. I still use deodorant when I’m planning to be in a potentially hot, stuffy place with other people (e.g. car trips), and just take a shower after exercise.

I’d even go further to say I’m convinced that use of soaps and deodorant cause us to generate odor in an even worse way. This would make sense if you want to keep selling a product. We should research this!

And regarding the stainless steel stick, I just stroke my pit hairs with my fingers.

I didn't claim it prevents odor. Which deodorant doesn't do either - you're either masking it with other scents or using an antiperspirant to reduce sweating. It removes odor that soap alone doesn't, which means you don't need to mask your pit smells with perfume or clog your pores with chemicals when used daily. It keeps things in check.

>It removes odor that soap alone doesn't

Assuming it removes onion and garlic odors, how does it follow that it would remove body odor?

I have no idea why there is so much misunderstanding on this thread. Deodorant is NOT just fragrance, it is primarily an antibacterial. It is literally preventing odor. I do not understand why this is so difficult to believe.

lolwtf. Laundry ball technology.

I was going to ask which kind (dryer or washer, or plastic or wool) because my household uses those wool balls in the dryer, but now that I actually read about it they don't seem to do shit either...

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