While onions are a staple in kitchens, putting them in a personal bath is not a conventional or recommended practice.
Adding onions to your bathwater would likely result in a few drawbacks rather than benefits. You'd almost certainly encounter a strong, lingering onion odor filling your bathroom. Furthermore, the compounds in onions can be irritating to the skin, potentially causing discomfort, redness, or a stinging sensation, especially in sensitive areas. There is no scientific evidence or common wellness practice that suggests bathing with onions provides any therapeutic or skin-related advantages. You might also find that onion pieces make the bath messy and could potentially clog your drain.
It's important to distinguish this from other specific uses involving onions and water. For instance, the provided reference illustrates a culinary technique where onions are placed in an ice bath. As described, putting the onion into an ice bath helps pull out "all of that really intense astringent onion flavor," mellowing it out and making it more palatable for eating. This process is performed on the onions themselves as a food preparation step and is entirely different from adding onions to a bath intended for human soaking or hygiene.
| Aspect | Personal Bath with Onions | Culinary Ice Bath for Onions |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Not a recognized practice; potential issues | To mellow intense flavor for consumption |
| Target | The bathing person | The onion itself |
| Outcome | Odor, potential irritation, mess, no known benefits | Reduced pungency, improved texture/taste |
| Commonality | Uncommon, generally avoided | Common technique in cooking |
In summary, while onions are useful in the kitchen, including techniques like an ice bath for culinary purposes, adding them to a personal bath is not advisable due to potential odor, skin irritation, and lack of proven benefits.
