An old man we called uncle Ab laughed heartily when my grandmother suggested that he bathe. "In the winter? You're nuts" was his reply. Ab was frugal, and stinky.
I often wear work pants for days at a time. You get to a point where they can't really get any dirtier. If I get muddy one day the pants actually get cleaner as it powders off over the next couple days. Smell is not an issue. I tend to get a lot of earthen material on my pants. Lots of deodorants have a clay base. Shirts are a different story and get quite ripe. I've tested this a few times. After about 3 days of hard demolition work, a shirt reaches it's stink apex. 3 days later it's not too bad.-------- I suspect that the soil level in the shirt allows the bacteria to reach an optimum level -an equalibrium.
I've employed many homeless guys who have completely given up on bathing. A few times when I've coaxed them into a tub it became clear that the human body also has a stink apex that is reached in a few days. Give it a month and he smells like a cow. Not rosy sweet but far better than on the four day without a bath.
