Your boyfriend has poor personal hygiene, and you are mad; I get it. Calm down.
You could be dating a guy who sees nothing wrong in showering or brushing his teeth once every three days.
He can wear the same pants for a week.
What even makes the issue worse is that he tries to hug or kiss you with those same teeth.
It’s not easy to be with a guy with poor personal hygiene.
When you try to bring it up, he becomes defensive and gets offended; he might not talk to you for days.
My Boyfriend Doesn’t Shower Or Brush His Teeth if you are in this situation this is for you.
In this article, I will share unique strategies for handling a guy with poor personal hygiene.
If you are ready, let’s dive in.
My Boyfriend Doesn’t Shower Or Brush His Teeth: Why He Acts That Way
1. Depression
A guy facing depression is most likely not to care about his hygiene
And can go days without showering or brushing his teeth because he’s not in the right state of mind.
If he recently lost his job or a loved one, it could be why he doesn’t care about his hygiene.
Sometimes a guy can say he’s fine and has tackled all the challenges life throws at him, such as losing a loved one but in reality, they haven’t, and it can make him sink into depression.
A depressed person can easily ignore his hygiene.
He can tell you he “forgot” to bathe or didn’t know time was far gone that’s why he didn’t brush his teeth.
If he consistently “forgets” to take care of himself, that could signify depression.
2. He Grew Up With Poor Personal Hygiene
If he grew up with poor personal hygiene, it wouldn’t quickly go away when he becomes an adult.
If he used to brush once every three days when he was still a kid, it would worsen as an adult.
A guy who had poor personal hygiene as a child would find it difficult to change because he’s used to it
And would become defensive the moment you bring up his hygiene issue.
3. He’s Just Lazy
It’s not easy to take care of your hygiene especially showering and brushing your teeth regularly.
All of these require effort and discipline, and if a guy is lazy, he wouldn’t want to do it; after all, it’s his body, and he can do whatever he pleases with it.
It takes a lot of responsibility to walk into the bathroom to have a shower and brush your teeth, whether you like it or not.
4. He’s In The Wrong Environment
A guy living in an environment where people don’t take their hygiene seriously would likely not take it seriously either.
Environment often influences our perception of things.
If it’s okay for everyone who lives around him to be unhygienic, then it would be okay for him too.
An unclean environment produces unhygienic people.
My Boyfriend Doesn’t Shower Or Brush His Teeth: How To Handle The Situation.
5. Have A Direct And Blunt Conversation
Most women in this situation are careful in bringing up the issue.
Even when they bring it up, they beat around the bush and end up not saying anything.
If you love him and want the relationship to work, you have to be blunt and direct in your conversation with him.
Tell him it worries you that he showers or brushes his teeth once every three days and that it’s making you very uncomfortable.
It would surely hurt his feelings; if he loves you and doesn’t want to lose you, he would listen to your concern and work on his hygiene.
6. Help Him Develop A Hygiene Routine
Maybe he doesn’t have a hygiene routine like how often he should shower or how many times he should brush his teeth within a given time.
By helping him develop and commit to personal hygiene, you would have given him a roadmap he can use to get himself clean.
You could tell him he needs to bathe three times daily and brush his teeth twice daily (morning and evening) and then make him commit to following that hygiene schedule.
7. Recommend He Visits A Mental Health Expert
If you sense your guy has mental health issues like depression, you can recommend he visits a therapist who would help handle the situation.
Depressed people often have lost touch with reality and hardly care about their hygiene.
When they overcome their depression, they start caring about their physical appearance again.
8. Give Him An Ultimatum
When other options have failed, you can give him an ultimatum to either work on his hygiene or quit.
I know it’s not the best strategy, but it’s effective and can make him realize you are serious about his poor personal hygiene.
You can tell him that if he didn’t take his hygiene seriously, you would leave the fear of losing you might make him take things seriously.
9. You Can Give Him A Personal Hygiene Gift
Giving him a personal hygiene gift is a subtle way of saying, “get clean, dude.”
You can get him a gift bundle that contains items he needs to maintain his hygiene, like soap and toothbrushes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do I Tell My Boyfriend He’s Unhygienic?
You need to discuss it with him politely. When a guy is unhygienic, he’s likely going to be defensive.
That means he would get angry and keep malice if you bring up his hygiene issue.
After telling him politely that he needs to work on his hygiene, be patient with him and observe if he’s taking urgent steps towards cleanliness.
If he’s not ready to work on his hygiene even after you’ve told him and given him some time, it might be time to end the relationship.
How Can I Help My Boyfriend Improve His Hygiene?
If you are looking to help your boyfriend improve his hygiene, you can take the following steps.
Help him create a hygiene roadmap.
Monitor him to ensure he adheres strictly to the hygiene roadmap
Have an honest and heartfelt conversation with him about his hygiene
Make him understand that even if you tolerate his bad hygiene, others might mock him for it.
Be patient and give him time to adjust.
My Boyfriend Doesn’t Take Care Of Himself. What Should I Do?
You can try to make him see why he must care for himself.
The best you can do is to talk to him and help him develop a hygiene plan or recommend he visits a therapist if he has mental health issues.
You can’t do more than the above, and there’s nothing you can do if he chooses not to change but continue with bad hygiene.
Why Do Guys Have Bad Hygiene?
Men generally don’t take personal hygiene seriously; they believe it’s something they can do anything they want
Men produce more sweat than women, which makes them look unhygienic when you are around them.
Most men are always on the move; they pay little attention to their hygiene.