Perhaps the most important good health habit that people with acne can practice is keeping their skin clean. Having clean skin keeps bacteria from spreading, reduces excess oil, and helps the skin shed dead cells. For acne patients this involves maintaining a delicate balance between cleansing the skin without irritating acne lesions, drying the skin, or spreading bacteria. This is accomplished through a carefully prescribed regimen that begins with gently washing the face no more than two to three times a day.

Although many people think that frequently scrubbing acne-infected areas stops acne outbreaks, this is not true. In fact, washing too often or using ordinary soaps can make the skin dry and sore, which worsens acne symptoms. Instead, acne patients use mild facial cleansers, which are specially formulated not to irritate the skin. Ordinary soaps, on the other hand, contain harsh ingredients that can irritate inflamed acne lesions and dry out the skin. If the skin becomes too dry, the sebum glands overcompensate by producing even more oil, which exacerbates acne outbreaks.

Not only do acne patients use gentle soaps, they also use disposable washing pads or their fingers rather than a washcloth or loofah to cleanse acne-prone areas. The reason for this is that when a washcloth or loofah is used more than one time, it can trap and spread bacteria. In addition, washcloths and loofahs made from scratchy fabrics can irritate acne lesions and worsen inflammation. For the same reasons, acne patients use a fresh, clean, soft towel to gently pat, rather than rub, their skin dry once they are finished cleansing. Then, once acne patients have cleaned and dried their face, they can apply topical treatment. An acne patient recalls:

When I first started breaking out, I scrubbed my face all the time with the same washcloth that hung in my bathroom for weeks, and the same soap that I scrubbed my hands with after I worked on my truck. Then I rubbed my face dry with the same towel I used on my hands. The only thing all that cleaning did was turn my blackheads into pusy red zits. Once the dermatologist straightened me out, I stopped using all that stuff, and my skin started to improve right away.