Intimate Hygiene 101 A No-Nonsense Guide

Ask someone what they use to wash their intimate areas and most will say shower gel, or whatever's in the shower, or some variation on the theme of I've never really thought about it. Understandable. Nobody taught them otherwise.

The problem is that shower gel was never designed for that job. Bar soap wasn't either. Using either of them there every day isn't neutral. It's actively working against the skin's natural defence system, and most people have no idea what's happening. This is the guide that tells you.

Your shower gel is the wrong product

Every soap and shower gel sits somewhere on the pH scale. Most standard products land around 5.5 to 7. Traditional bar soap can run as high as 9 or 10. Intimate skin, for both men and women, sits considerably more acidic, typically between 3.8 and 6 depending on the individual.

Use an alkaline product on acidic skin repeatedly and the skin's natural pH shifts. The bacterial balance that protects the area gets disrupted. What follows is predictable: more susceptibility to irritation, dryness, and recurring freshness issues that respond badly to more washing rather than better.

None of that is a hygiene failure. It's a product choice problem with a straightforward fix.

Men's and women's intimate hygiene what's different

The fundamentals are the same for everyone don't use standard soap or shower gel down there, keep things gentle, and don't overdo the washing. But the products that solve the problem differ by sex.

Women's intimate skin, particularly the vulva, maintains a naturally more acidic environment, typically sitting at a pH of around 3.8 to 4.5. A dedicated, pH-balanced wash like Below The Belt's Intimate Wash for Women is formulated to match that range exactly. Men's intimate skin sits at a slightly higher pH, closer to 5 to 6, and the bigger daily issue tends to be heat and friction rather than the area simply needing a specialised cleanser. That's why Below The Belt's men's range centres on Fresh & Dry Balls and Anti-Chafing Cream rather than a separate wash.

pH reference intimate skin vs common products

How often, and what to do after the gym

Once a day is the right frequency for most people under normal circumstances. More than that and you risk over cleaning, which strips away the protective bacteria that make intimate hygiene work in the first place.

After the gym is the obvious exception. Sweat accelerates odour causing bacterial activity, and sitting in post workout kit for an hour doesn't help. For women, a second wash with a proper intimate cleanser after exercise is reasonable. For men, a fresh application of Fresh & Dry Balls covers the same problem from a different angle. Loose, breathable underwear helps everyone. Change out of damp clothing promptly. No product fully makes up for either.

What to stop using

Heavily fragranced products top the list. The scent in a standard shower gel or soap isn't a problem for most of the body. Apply it repeatedly to intimate skin and it's a reliable route to irritation that people often mistake for something else entirely.

Antibacterial washes are the second common mistake, designed to eliminate bacteria when intimate skin actually depends on a specific bacterial balance to stay healthy. Disrupting that with an antibacterial formula works directly against the goal. If a product leaves the skin feeling tighter, drier or more reactive after use, that's worth listening to.

The one change that makes the biggest difference

For women, switch from whatever's in the shower to a pH balanced, soap-free intimate wash, used once a day. For men, swap the regular roll on or nothing at all for Fresh & Dry Balls, applied the same way every morning. Small changes, considerable difference.

Tens of thousands of people have already made the switch across to Below The Belt's range. Most of them report the same thing afterwards they wish someone had told them sooner. This is that person telling you sooner.