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Keeping Clean

Soap is key in helping to keep you stink-free!

Suds Up

As you start to go through puberty, your body will make

smells it never made before—and not great smells, either!

Your feet may get stinky (a smell you may notice when you

take your shoes and socks off after a long day at school).

Or perhaps your feet will smell fine, but your armpits will

not. Regardless of where the stink starts, washing with

soap is a simple solution.

Whether you take a bath or a shower, use soap, lather it

up, and wash yourself from head to toe. Use a washcloth,

sponge, or loofah to help. Almost any soap will do, but if

you have sensitive skin, stay away from soaps with dyes or

perfumes, and skip using bubbles when taking a bath.

While most girls your age need to take a bath or shower

every day, you don’t need to wash your hair quite as often.

Talk to your mom or dad about the best schedule for you.

Keep Your Hands Clean

When you touch something—such as a doorknob, a desk,

or a computer keyboard—it is covered with germs from

other people who have touched it before. Your body is

meant to fight different kinds of germs naturally. But if you

put your germ-covered fingers in your mouth (for example,

when eating a sandwich or biting your nails), the germs can

go right inside your body. And even though your body can

fight off most germs most of the time, sometimes you

may get sick.

The quick fix is to wash your hands before you eat and

always after you use the bathroom. That way all of the

germs you’ve collected go right down the drain. Use soap

and water and—if you can—wash for about 20 seconds,

which is how long it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday”

song twice.

Your pubic area, which is the V-shaped patch between your hip bones and your legs, also needs to be cleaned. But you may want to ditch the soap when you do because soap can be irritating. Just take a wet washcloth and gently wipe between the labia (Tap Here) to clean the area.

Antibacterial hand

sanitizers seem to be

available just about

everywhere you go:

schools, grocery stores,

doctors’ offices. While

hand sanitizers are OK

to use when a sink isn’t

available, washing with

soap and water (and

making a good lather) is

always the best choice.