Asklemmy

Well, just in case this is serious, and/or someone rolls through hoping for useful info, here goes.

First, the cred. Twenty years in personal care as a nurse's assistant. Washing PP was part of the job. Washing PP in the healthiest way possible in any given setting was part of the training.

Assumption: the person looking for info here is continent of bowel and bladder. Incontinence changes things a little.

So, you wanna wash your dick the healthy way. First rule of dick washing is not to use chemicals other than H2O. No soap is necessary at all. Yes, you read that right, no I'm not making it up or out of date, I had those arguments a while back here on lemmy with this same subject, and went through researching best practices again.

No bullshit, don't use soap or shooting anything other than nice, warm water to wash your dick unless directed to by a doctor for specific needs.

Your dick, everyone's dick wil be dried out by soaps. This is the case regardless of circumcision status. Same with your balls, though the effects of being dried out aren't as problematic. Don't use soap.

If you absolutely refuse to believe someone that could be held responsible for the skin health of their patients, at least be smart and use cleansers specifically designed for genitals. You can get the stuff cheap at medical supply places, it's the same stuff used to clean perineal areas for incontinent patients. Won't dry you out, won't irritate the skin.

That "dettol" thing you're doing, OP? Stop that. Our skin is covered with a an entire ecosystem of microorganisms. Yeasts, other fungi, bacteria, and they live in balance. You start using that kind of thing on them, and your throw your system out of balance. All that happens is that you develop strains that are resistant to what you're using, and the microorganisms from areas surrounding the dick move in.

Seriously, antibacterial/antimicrobial products on skin is the worst possible way to bathe. Using them on your little mini-me is just cruel. Little homie didn't do anything to deserve that.

As far as how wash, be gentle. Use your hands or a soft cloth only. Seriously, no bullshit, you don't need to exfoliate your dick. Doing so just causes problems. That's extra true for circumcised penises. There's this thing called keritanization that happens to penises that are circumcised. Think of it as being similar to a callus. The skin of the head (glans) thickens and toughens. This can (and often does) happen no matter how gentle you treat your one eyed friend. Scrubbing the damn thing like it's some kind of rusted tool is a great way to end up losing sensation in your dick. That is not good for most.

If you're uncut, just gently pull back the foreskin and use your hand with warm water (running water is ideal, but this can be done in a tub, or using a basin) to gently wash away any buildup of dead skin. There won't be much if you're bathing regularly. You can use a washcloth if you insist, but it isn't necessary at all. If you do use one be extra gentle. Remember three glans and foreskin are a self-cleaning apparatus. You don't need to do much of anything other than rinse well.

Also, unless you're doing some really intense workouts, washing your dick twice a day is pointless. At most, grab a washcloth and some warm water and wipe gently if you're in hot, humid conditions. But dry that thing well.

Now, OP, your described regime is perfect in one other regard than the simple rinsing. Air drying. Best option possible. It'll get exactly as dry as it needs to be unless there's a specific reason for it to not work. The vast majority of ambulatory humans will be exactly as dry as needed in ten minutes. If speed is needed, a blow dryer on cool helps. This is after gently patting things dry.

"But, oh groin guru, what about..."

No. If you have a medical situation that makes any of the above impossible, holla at me, I'll try and guide you. But if you're a healthy, ambulatory human, you do not need anything else. You can do what you want, folks, it's your dick, not mine. But best practices haven't changed in the last twenty years, and the chances of them doing so in the next twenty are absurdly low.

If you wash your dick the way I described, you will not need lotions, moisturizers, or any other products. Most of those are just going to give a place for potential pathogens to go crazy instead of being out-competed by the stuff that's already there.

Your dick is your best friend. It's your homie. You take care of homie, and it'll take care of you.

Also, labia should be handled the same, just without the dick jokes. No need for soap, just warm water and hands or a washcloth. You'll deal with way fewer problems over time, and still smell wonderful, I promise.