Franklin had a habit of engaging in a daily “Air Bath.” When Ben would arise every morning, he would open every window in his room, remove all of his clothes and sit around in the room for an hour or so in the “altogether”. Not even cold winter weather would discourage him in this practice.

He often recommended this practice to his friends or fellow traveling companions. He once told John Adams that this was the reason he rarely suffered from a cold. John Adams, however, couldn’t quite convert to it!

In 1776, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin were sent together at the request of General Lord William Howe, of the British Army, to meet at Staten Island. They were to meet and discuss the position of the United Colonies for independence. The journey took two days. They stopped for the night at an inn in New Brunswick to spend the night. They learned from the innkeeper that they would have to share a room as the inn was full. Not only must they share a room, but they also had to sleep in the same bed! The room had only one small window. Before turning in, Adams started to close the window due to the cold night air. Franklin objected, complaining that they would both suffocate.

“Contrary to convention, Franklin believed in the benefits of fresh air at night and had published his theories on the question. People often catch cold from one another when shut up together in small close rooms, he had written, stressing Air is the frowzy corrupt air from animal substances, and the perspired matter from our bodies, which, being long confined in beds not lately used, and clothes not lately worn . . . obtains that kind of putridity which infects us, and occasions the cold observed upon sleeping in, wearing, or turning over, such beds [and] clothes. He wished to have the window remain open, Franklin informed Adams.
“I answered that I was afraid of the evening air, Adams would write, recounting the memorable scene. Dr. Franklin replied, ‘The air within this chamber will soon be, and indeed is now worse than that without doors. Come, open the window and come to bed, and I will convince you. I believe you are not acquainted with my theory of colds.’ Adams assured Franklin he had read his theories; they did not match his own experience, Adams said, but he would be glad to hear them again.

“So the two eminent bedfellows lay side-by-side in the dark, the window open, Franklin expounding, as Adams remembered, ‘upon cold air and respiration, and perspiration, with which I was so much amused that I soon fell asleep.’” (as quoted in “Founding Fathers–Uncommon Heroes” by Steven W. Allen).

Dr. Franklin’s proclivity for these air baths was one reason that Thomas Jefferson did not like to travel with or share a room with Benjamin Franklin!