Cat (Austin, Tx) on 05/10/2010

My grandmother Guffys skin was as soft and smooth as a babys butt till the day she died at 94. One day, when I was a younger woman constantly on the go, she noticed how dry and ashy my skin was and elected to tell me about her method of bathing. It was the only thing she said she did to keep her body clean and soft. First, she never took long baths (and NO, she did not smell). She said bathing dried out skin. Second, she never used hot water on her skin. Third, she never needed lotions. I listened; yet, despite the evidence before me, I did not take her advise. Hot showers were invigorating, I exclaimed. Who ever heard of not bathing, I secretly thought. Why do not the young listen! For years now I have suffered with extremely dry and itchy skin. FINALLY! I recalled my grandmother Guffys bathing method for clean, itch-less, soft, ageless skin. Here it is:

1) Massage 2-3 tablespoons of (antibacterial, anti-fungal) coconut oil over your entire dry, naked body, but not your face. Be sure to include your private areas and feet - get utterly greasy with it! Let it soak 5 minutes.

2) Take a clean, white, DRY bath cloth, folded in fours and scrub your entire body. When one side of the cloth gets cruddy, refold to a clean side of the same cloth. Don't forget private areas.

3) Shower/rinse in very lukewarm to cold water and ONLY wash your private areas with diluted baking soda and water or an organic non-soap or as I sometimes do, diluted ACV.

3) Get out of the shower and barely pat dry.

Believe! This works! People who touch my skin always exclaim at how soft it is AND my husband who has scratched my back many a time has taken to gently rubbing my arms a lot. Just try it! It is not real expensive or hard to do and results are quick. If you are allergic to coconut oil, switch to a light olive oil or sesame oil. Soon you will do as I did - throw away all your bathing soaps and bottles.

Replied By Terri (Waymart, Pa) on 07/28/2010

If you don't mind my asking, what did your grandmother do for her face? Thanks Terri

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Replied By Terezia (Dallas, Tx) on 09/30/2011

.... Wow, this is the routine I myself worked out many years ago, after noticing that a dab of coconut oil put in the bath water doesn't just condition the skin, but cleanses better than soap.... so I just omitted the bath part and kept the coconut oil-dry towel regime.

I do take fast showers with home made soaps, but that's secondary to the coconut oil cleansing.

Definitely stops itching, and improves skin texture.

(fluoride in water is also known for rapidly aging the skin, aluminum in commercial soaps drys skin out... What else is in tap water... We have no idea)

I'd also recommend dry brushing (see bamboo drybrushes at Amazon) with essential oils (lavender, geranium, petitgrain, orange, anis, chamomile... I like lavender anise) against itching. Dry brush instead of morning shower or after you are dry (and already itching :)

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Replied By Cat (Austin, Tx) on 04/12/2012

I only saw my Grandmother, who lived with us when I was a young girl, use pure, cold water on her face every morning. Though she KEPT a bottle of witch hazel on the shelf by the sink, I never saw her use it on her face, just plain water.

But here's my mother's grandmother/ witch hazel story: When my mother birthed a huge 3rd child, she was so badly ripped up that she could not move for the terrible pain. My grandmother, who had been travelling, visited her at the hospital the afternoon of the morning birth and assessed the situation. She then went to a pharmacy and purchased a giant cotton pad and witch hazel. She soaked the cotton pad and placed it between my mother's legs. My mother said, within minutes, she could actually feel the drawing of the pain by the witch hazel and within two hours, she was walking around, pain free. I did mention once before that my grandmother was a healer/mid-wife from a rural community of the early 1900's. She was known far and wide, especially to the "train jumpers" that she fed from a huge black kettle in her back yard, near the rail-road tracks, during the great depression. She was a woman who saw people in need and dived in -- AND, it didn't matter to her what color, religion, philosophy, or background came off those trains. People were hurt and starving, so.....

peace out, CAT

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Replied By Teriinttown (Tacoma, Washington) on 02/03/2013

This is incredible and it worked to stop my itchy skin and cured my chronic dry skin. I am grateful to no longer shower in tap water as well. Thanks for sharing. Have you got some Grandma Guffy advice for shampooing the hair?

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Replied By John B. (Hawaii) on 07/09/2021

For hair washing add 1 cup Borax dissolved into a gallon of water and use it as a shampoo on dry hair to massage into your hair and scalp...rinse. You may need some hot water initially to dissolve the powder.

Replied By Elaine (Edmond, Oklahoma) on 07/27/2014

I can vouch for the Witch Hazel and stitches from child birth. I asked my mother to bring me a bottle of WH as I was in a lot of pain from hemorrhoids. I had learned that WH was good for that. So, I put about a third of a cup in my Sitz bath. The relief to the hemorrhoids was almost immediately. But I noticed the pain relief to my stitches was even faster! And my doctor mentioned it was healing faster than usual.

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Replied By Sharon (Salt Lake City) on 12/06/2021

I love that story. I have been using Dr Bronners baby soap and I add Grapefruit seed extract, Tea Tree oil because I had MRSA three times on my face and am so afraid of getting it again so I wash my face with it twice a day. And I then follow with Aloe gel and my own face cream. I make my aloe gel stripped from my own aloe plant. But my face gets itchy and I get worried so I keep using it. But it causes dryness which I know is part of the itchy. Thank you. S

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