James Allan, founder of Smelly Men in black jiu jitsu gi

What soap should you use after BJJ? An honest answer from someone who trains

By James Allan, founder of Smelly Men. Brown belt, seven years on the mats, and a member of SBG Rossendale in Haslingden.

The short answer

You don't need a special BJJ soap. What protects your skin is how soon you shower and how well you wash, not what the bar claims. Any gentle soap that doesn't dry your skin out will do the job, as long as you use it straight after training. A good tea tree bar is a nice thing to have. It isn't a shield.

Why grapplers think about this at all

Close contact on shared mats means skin problems pass between people more easily than in most sports. The usual suspects are ringworm (tinea gladiatorum when grapplers get it), staph and mat herpes. The US National Athletic Trainers' Association position statement on skin diseases covers all three, and its advice is mostly about habits, not products.

What actually protects you

  1. Shower as soon as you can. At the gym if it has showers. Mine doesn't, which isn't unusual, so the rule is simple: get out of the sweaty kit straight away and shower the moment you're home.
  2. Wash properly. Lather up and cover the contact areas: neck, hairline, arms, ears, feet. Soap works by lifting sweat, oil and grime off your skin so the water can rinse it away. The rubbing and rinsing do most of the work.
  3. Wash your kit every time. Gi, rash guard, shorts, belt if you're brave. Don't put clean kit in a bag with used kit.
  4. Don't share towels.
  5. Check your skin. A new round, scaly patch or a cold sore means no rolling until it's been looked at. It's a courtesy to everyone you train with.
  6. Look after cuts and mat burn. Broken skin is an open door. Cover it.

None of that needs a special product.

What I actually do

No showers at my club, so this is the routine I've settled on after seven years.

In the bag: a spare t-shirt, deodorant, a small towel, nail clippers, hand sanitiser and plasters. Short nails mean fewer scratches, for you and your training partners. Plasters are for mat burn and cuts before they turn into anything else.

Straight after class: rash guard off and into its own compartment in the bag, away from everything else. Clean t-shirt on. Gi folded and stashed.

At home, kit first: everything goes straight in the washing machine, with white vinegar in the fabric conditioner drawer. When the cycle finishes, it comes straight out. Damp kit sitting in the drum is how you get that smell that never quite leaves.

Then me: into the shower while the kit's washing. Sports Day soap on an African exfoliating net sponge, which gets into the places a bar alone doesn't. Dry off, then Sports Day deodorant.

Nothing clever. It's just done the same way every time.

Do antibacterial soaps help?

Not in the way you'd hope. In 2016 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned 19 antibacterial ingredients, including triclosan, from consumer soaps. The manufacturers hadn't shown that they worked any better than plain soap and water. The FDA's advice is still to use plain soap and water.

What about tea tree oil?

Here's the honest version. In the lab, tea tree oil has solid evidence against bacteria and fungi. The best-known review is Carson, Hammer and Riley in Clinical Microbiology Reviews (2006). The catch is time: in those studies the oil works over minutes to hours, and soap is on your skin for seconds before you rinse it off.

So a tea tree soap won't sterilise your skin. You're still getting a soap that cleans well, doesn't strip your skin and smells properly clean after training. That's a good enough reason to choose one. It's just not a reason to skip the routine above.

What to look for in a soap

  • It doesn't dry you out. Tight, squeaky skin after a shower isn't clean, it's stripped. Dry, cracked skin is easier to damage on the mat.
  • A full ingredient list you can read. Real soap lists saponified oils: sodium olivate (olive oil), sodium cocoate (coconut oil). Essential oils should be listed by name, not hidden behind parfum, which can cover dozens of undisclosed ingredients.
  • No medical claims. Be wary of a soap that promises to prevent ringworm or kill staph. It's either overclaiming or it's a medicine, and if it's a medicine the label should say so.
  • A bar that lasts. A dense, cold-process bar of 150g or more lasts about a month of daily use if you let it dry between showers.
  • One you'll actually use. If you like the smell, you'll use it every time. Consistency beats chemistry.

If you'd rather not spend much, a plain, unperfumed, gentle bar from the supermarket is fine. Really.

Where we fit

Jiu jitsu is the reason Smelly Men exists. Keeping clean matters when you train, and men's personal care was terrible: shower gel in plastic bottles, ingredient lists hiding behind parfum, and a lot of shouting about ice storms and 48-hour protection. I couldn't find what I wanted, so I went looking for UK makers who did it properly and started Smelly Men.

Our Sports Day soap is a 160g cold-process bar with eucalyptus, tea tree and lavender essential oils, and a full ingredient list on the page and the box. It smells herbal and slightly antiseptic, which is what you want after a session. We don't claim it prevents infection, because it doesn't. Nothing you rinse off in thirty seconds does.

It comes with a matching Sports Day deodorant: aluminium-free, with lime, lavender and eucalyptus, in a plastic-free push-up cardboard tube. The Sports Day Essentials Kit (two soaps, one deodorant, about two months' supply, £34) is what I keep in my gym bag.

Shop the Sports Day Essentials Kit · Or try the Sports Day Duo first, £22

Quick answers

Do I need a special soap for BJJ?
No. Shower straight after training and wash properly with any gentle soap. Timing and habits matter more than the product.

What if my gym doesn't have showers?
Get out of your sweaty kit straight away, bag your rash guard separately, put on a clean top and shower as soon as you get home. Wash your kit promptly and don't leave it damp in the machine.

Does BJJ soap prevent ringworm?
No soap can promise that. Showering promptly, washing your kit, not sharing towels and not training with a suspect patch are what reduce the risk. If you think you have ringworm, see a pharmacist or GP.

Is tea tree soap antibacterial?
Tea tree oil is antimicrobial in lab studies, but soap is on your skin too briefly to rely on that. Choose it because it cleans well and smells clean, not as protection.

Should I use antibacterial soap after training?
There's no need. The FDA found common antibacterial soap ingredients were no better than plain soap and water, and harsh soaps can dry your skin out.

How long does a 160g soap bar last?
About four weeks of daily use, longer if it dries out between showers. Keep it out of standing water.

What's the best natural soap for grapplers in the UK?
Look for a cold-process bar with a full ingredient list, named essential oils, no parfum, no medical claims and plastic-free packaging. Our Sports Day soap is one option. Any bar that meets that list is a good choice.

Is your soap safety-assessed?
Yes. Every product has a Cosmetic Product Safety Report and is registered on the UK's SCPN database by our makers, who are the legal Responsible Person. That's the legal minimum for any cosmetic sold in the UK, not a badge.

Sources

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