Rocket Shower: Does it work?
 

My office is moving to new digs in a couple weeks, losing the showers :( I'm not looking for advice on clean up strategies, we've discussed that several times and I've been in hospital enough times to know how to give myself a sponge bath, but rather if anyone has used Rocket Shower, if it works as advertised and/or is there a home brew equivalent.

http://www.athletegift.com/products/rocketshower.htm

At that price, I'm not willing to try! I know that a locking bathroom (PLEASE tell me you'll have one at the new place!) with a wash rag, hand towel and some body soap or the hand-soap in the bathroom works just fine and costs less.

Losing the single occupancy bathrooms too, have to use the handicapped stall :( I agree it's a bit pricey for basically witch hazel and alcohol, was wondering about a home brew equivalent.

Possibly a person could mix up that concoction all by your lonesome? Ten dollars per shower. A Y membership would be cheaper. Maybe one of those portable showers in a black vinyl box. ? Most of us get away with those shower wipes and or a wash cloth and sink. Got the bucks, guess give it a try.

It's $10.00 for an 8.5oz spray bottle, which is enough for way more than one "shower." I've seen plenty of shower gel soaps that cost much more than that.

I don't think it's really all that expensive, but for just being witch hazel, peppermint oil, and grapefruit peel extract, I think you can probably whip up a similar formulation on your own for less money.

How about trying something like Purell or a generic instant hand sterilizer available at Xmart. At around $3 per 8 oz versus $10 (plus shipping) for the Rocket Shower, it's worth a try.

http://www.pfizerch.com/product.aspx?id=488

Interesting idea, but I'm not sure that I'm up for sliming my entire body in Purell at work...

How about a portable office shower? May be too expen$ive.

http://www.shower-anywhere.com/Offic...er_stalls.html

Buy a bottle, take it down to your local herb shop or natural food grocery store with the good selection of essential oils, and get the friendly woman with herbal knowledge to help you concoct a recipe.

Body odor is cause by bacteria, not by sweat. Sweat, by itself, shouldn't smell.
My wife's been using rubbing alcohol as the sole source for deodorant for a few months now with no problems. Kill the bacteria, kill the odor. 70% alcohol kills most bacteria.

One thing you might want to try, though, is to take some fennegreek. It makes your sweat smell like maple syrup. It's weird how it works, but it does. Not sure if it makes anything else taste like maple syrup... but I'll have to do some experiments and see what the wife says... you know some of you were thinking it...

Please spare us the details of your wife's pancake breakfast...

I think I'm going to order some, decide if I like it, then reverse engineer a refill.

Sounds like a plan. Share the results of your highly scientific experiment :P No, really. It sounds like it would smell a little frou-frou, but I'm always looking for a better alternative to baby wipes in the handi-stall when someone hogs "my" locking bathroom in the morning.

I've been using witch hazel for a while now -- it works really well. Sometimes I use some powder too, but usually the witch hazel does the trick.

I notice that one of the fragrances is "witch hazel". It got me thinking....

Why not just use witch hazel in a spray bottle? No kidding. That would be refreshing and cleansing and anti-biotic and pretty low-cost too.

Hey, ya know. I think I will give that a try. Good thinking; witch hazel in a spray bottle with a dry wash cloth to pat dry. Why not.

Oh, oops. Sorry, lil brown bat, I didn't see your post when I posted mine about witch hazel.

Anyway, you've tried it, aiye?! And it works well? Any comments from your work associates?

How much mileage do you get from, say, 8 ounces?

A Purell bath??

I am not sure why, but that doesn't even sound good. I think it would leave you with the feeling you get after the digital exam from your doctor during your physical. Slimy icky - and then you are highly flammable to boot!:eek:

Is not alcohol pretty tough on the skin. At work , I'd hate to get all lathered up and not be able to rinse.

What wrong with a wet washcloth in a bathroom stall?

cleanup
 

I have been bike commuting year round since the late '60s. Most places I have lived, there was no shower or lockable bathroom. Usually 10 miles one way or more, for the past 11 years in Dayton, OH, 12 miles, and I ride about 18-20 mph. I use the sink, handsoap and paper towels. If someone comes in while I am cleaning, I just talk and continue, just like I would have in highschool gym class. If they know me, they understand. If not, it doesn't matter anyway. Most folks are pretty blown away that someone would ride a bike to work anyway and really admire it, whether they admit it to you or not.

or a handiwipe. No problem.

I think that's a great idea. It made me think of the doc bronners soaps.

Maybe get two bottles. Fill one with diluted doc bronner soap. I think that all co-ops have this. (http://www.drbronner.com/drb_sai_liquids.html). I like the peppermint. The eucalyptus is ok too and it also repeals fleas.

And fill the other with plain water and use it to rinse. I'd get the jumbo industrial sprayers at home depot. The sprayers are around $3.50, but are very durable, and have nice spray pressure.

I've used mixes of water, isopropal alcohol, wintergreen alcohol and witch hazel. You have to be pretty oily to handle these. Don't get these in your eyes. Probably don't want to be smoking around these either.

I've used wet-naps to good effect when backpacking. They require some technique to use in a top-down approach with deodorant afterwards. I think the wet-naps would work better than the rocket shower, plus they are really convenient to carry, use, and dispose.

I've used Rocket Shower for more than two years and found it very effective. My commute is 16 miles. I never counted how long one bottle lasts, but I estimate it is over 50 rides.

I keep meaning to rewrite this as a (potentially sticky) thread called "Stinky Rides Again!"...

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=421095