Well, the only time I give my girls a bath is when I can smell them  Dawn soap is said to be best, especially for buck grease, but kitten or ferret shampoo will do.  Also, try to not get water anywhere near the ears or face!    NONE! of my girls like baths, but they look so cute afterwards. 

I only bathe rats when they're too old to do their own grooming. Keeping a clean cage helps them keep themselves clean better than a bath does, in my opinion. But there are all sorts of thoughts on how to give a rat a bath. My favorite is Suebee's instructions:

http://www.ratsrule.com/bath.html

I go by how clean their tails are, I have multiple PEW's so it's easier for me to tell when they need a bath.  I use a cat/kitten shampoo, and have never had the problem with buck grease for some reason.  Mine do hate baths, but I just get them in the tub, run the water while they decide if they want to jump or not, then get them wet.  I run the shampoo down the length of their back, pick them up with one hand, use the other to get the soap lathered then cup them in both hands to massage the soap around them.  Then it's back in the water for a rinse.  I also sort of squeegee the water off of them and wrap them up in the towel.  That's just me, I don't know how anyone else does it.  Nobody comes out the worse for wear, and all I get are some damp rats who don't complain when it's over.  The furthest I've had to chase a rat is to my elbow, or the side of the tub, lol.

Sounds cool. I think my girls are fine. I don't notice a smell to them up close that's offensive and they clean themselves ALL the time. I just wanted to know if I should and then, if something does happen, what to use. Thanks for the insight guys! Sounds like I should leave them unless they really need it.

One question, though. What's buck grease? Is that a male only thing?

I gave my first rat bath today, to my littlest girl, Pip.

I think she handled it like a champ. She only escaped twice, didn't even fear poop! She squeaked once when I got her under the tap, and once again when I turned it back on cause I realized she still had some soap on her.

Be prepared to get wet. I had a wet rat down my shirt twice. It's where she feels safest, so both times she scurried up my arm and dived down my shirt before I even noticed she'd slipped out of my grip.

I used kitten shampoo for her, worked well. She doesn't smell anymore at least.

I would also really suggest diluting the shampoo with water so that its easier to rinse off and you don't accidentally put too much shampoo on.  I've also found that it helps to get my guys used to water by letting them run around on the counter of my bathroom with the sink filled a little bit with water.  They'll run in and out of the sink, and are getting to where they don't seem to mind being wet.

Deb