What did one man learn during his education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology?

Not to shower... ever.

That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it is no joke that chemical engineer and MIT grad Dave Whitlock has not showered in a dozen years because he wants to preserve bacteria on his skin.

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Chemical engineer and MIT grad Dave Whitlock has not showered in a dozen years to save his good bacteria

The Mother Dirt mist is odorless and feels like water. The company also sells a shampoo and cleanser

AOBiome (staff pictured with Whitlock in center) believes hygiene has depleted 'the natural balance of the skin'

Instead Whitlock sprays a mist containing live bacteria on his skin twice a day, Mother Dirt, which is sold by the Cambridge-based company he helped found, AOBiome, according to CBS Boston.

Whitlock said: 'I have not taken a shower in over 12 years.

'No one did clinical trials on people taking showers every day.

'So what's the basis for assuming that that is a healthy practice.

Whitlock wants 'a billion people' to use the spray

'I would like a billion people a day to use this.'

Although he doesn't shower, Whitlock does take an occasional sponge bath to clean the grime off of his skin.

The scientist got the idea about 'good bacteria' when a woman he was dating asked him why her horse liked to roll on the ground and the dirt during the summertime, the New York Times reported.

Whitlock said: 'The only way that horses could evolve this behavior was if they had substantial evolutionary benefits from it.'

According to the company: 'Modern hygiene has selectively depleted the natural balance of the skin microbiome particularly affecting AOB.

'By restoring the appropriate AOB levels, we believe a range of human health conditions could be impacted.

'AOBiome is interested in exploring potential physiologic effects such as preventing infection, improving skin architecture and improving vascularization.'

The Mother Dirt spray is odorless and feels like water.

AOBiome's consumer products general manager Jasmina Aganovic said: 'We've confused clean with sterile.