Mild, fragrance-free soap and plain water are all you need to clean your belly button. No special products required. The navel is one of the most overlooked spots during a shower, but it collects dead skin, oil, lint, and bacteria just like any other skin fold. A little routine attention keeps it clean and odor-free.
Why Your Belly Button Needs Cleaning
The average belly button hosts around 67 different types of bacteria. A study from North Carolina State University cataloged over 2,300 distinct bacterial species across participants’ navels, though only eight of those species showed up in the majority of people. This isn’t dangerous on its own. Your skin naturally carries bacteria everywhere. But the belly button’s warm, moist, enclosed shape makes it especially good at trapping sweat, dead skin cells, and lint, giving bacteria more to feed on and creating that familiar musty smell when cleaning gets skipped.
Over time, oil, hair, dead skin, and dirt can accumulate and harden into what’s called a navel stone. These are more common in people with deeper belly buttons, older adults, or anyone with limited mobility. They’re preventable with regular cleaning.
What to Use (and What to Skip)
Stick with a mild, fragrance-free soap and water. That combination handles everything, from daily grime to bacterial buildup. Dermatologists are clear on this point: soapy water works every time, and nothing else is necessary for a healthy, unpierced belly button.
A few things to avoid:
- Rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide. These are too harsh for the delicate skin inside the navel and can dry it out or cause irritation.
- Scented body lotion or moisturizer. The belly button is already a naturally moist environment. Adding lotion increases moisture further and can encourage bacterial overgrowth.
- Scented soaps or body washes. Fragrances can irritate the thin skin inside the navel, especially in deeper belly buttons where product sits longer.
How to Clean an Innie
If you have a deep belly button, the simplest method is to work it into your shower routine. Lather a small amount of mild soap on your fingertip and gently swirl it inside the navel. Rinse thoroughly, since leftover soap residue can cause its own irritation. After your shower, pat the inside dry with a clean towel or a piece of gauze. Leaving it damp invites the same bacterial growth you’re trying to prevent.
For a deeper clean, dip a cotton swab in warm, soapy water and gently wipe along the folds inside your belly button. This is especially useful if you notice lint buildup or haven’t cleaned the area in a while. Follow up with a dry cotton swab to absorb any remaining moisture. Once or twice a week is plenty for most people, though daily attention during your regular shower is ideal.
How to Clean an Outie
Outies are easier to maintain because there’s no deep pocket for debris to hide in. Treat it like any other skin surface: wash with mild soap and water during your shower, making sure to clean around the base and any folds. Rinse and dry thoroughly.
Cleaning a Belly Button Piercing
A pierced navel is an open wound during healing, so it needs a different approach than regular hygiene. The Association of Professional Piercers recommends using a sterile saline wound wash, the kind sold in spray cans at pharmacies. The label should list 0.9% sodium chloride as the only ingredient. Avoid contact lens saline, nasal sprays, or eye drops, which sound similar but contain additives that can interfere with healing.
Mixing your own salt solution at home is no longer recommended by piercing professionals. Homemade mixtures tend to be too concentrated, which dries out the piercing and slows healing. Stick with the pre-made sterile spray.
To clean the piercing, wash your hands first, then spray the saline directly on the area. You don’t need to rotate or move the jewelry during cleaning. Doing so can actually irritate the wound. Gently pat dry with clean gauze or a cotton swab, clearing away any crusty buildup around the jewelry. Avoid using alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, antibacterial soaps, iodine, or ointments on a healing piercing. These products either damage new tissue or block airflow that the wound needs.
If tight clothing or physical activity puts pressure on your healing navel piercing, you can protect it with a hard, vented eye patch (available at any pharmacy) secured with an elastic bandage around your midsection.
Cleaning a Newborn’s Belly Button
Newborns still have their umbilical cord stump for the first few weeks of life, and the guidelines here are simple: keep it clean and dry. The American Academy of Pediatrics no longer recommends applying rubbing alcohol to the stump. Just leave it alone, keep it exposed to air, and fold the diaper below it so urine doesn’t soak the area. The stump typically dries out and falls off within three weeks. If it’s still attached after that, check in with your pediatrician.
Once the stump falls off and the area heals, you can begin gently cleaning your baby’s belly button during bath time with plain water and, eventually, a mild baby soap.
Signs of a Belly Button Infection
A belly button that smells a little off probably just needs a good cleaning. But certain symptoms point to something more than buildup. A yeast infection in the navel typically causes a bright red rash in the skin folds, intense itching, possible burning, and sometimes a white discharge or visible scaling and swelling. A musty smell can accompany it, particularly if the infection develops from skin-on-skin friction in the area.
Bacterial infections can produce yellow or green discharge, increased redness spreading outward from the navel, warmth to the touch, or pain. These signs warrant a visit to your doctor, since infections in the belly button generally don’t resolve on their own and may need a prescription antifungal or antibiotic treatment.
Regular cleaning is the best prevention. A few seconds of attention in the shower goes a long way toward keeping this small, often-forgotten spot healthy.