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How often should you bathe/shower?

123468

Replies

  • LunaTheFatCat
    LunaTheFatCat Posts: 237 Member
    I shower daily, but they would be very quick 3 minute showers in the morning with a showercap on, as I only wash my hair every5-6 days or so. I find those quick showers quicker and easier than washing at the sink.
  • sakurablossoms82
    sakurablossoms82 Posts: 62 Member
    Every other day unless I have been sweaty or done something that made me dirty again like a Jeep Safari in Crete. I have dry and quite sensitive skin so every day is a no go for me unless it's really needed.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    Thought this discussion was over, but I see it's restarted a month later. I keep it bookmarked so I know when there are new posts.

    So, I've been trying to shower less since reading all this. Last Sunday night was very late, so I thought I'd still be clean enough on Monday morning. Didn't work. I felt horrible that day.

    That leaves me still in the twice a day camp.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,926 Member
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    Thought this discussion was over, but I see it's restarted a month later. I keep it bookmarked so I know when there are new posts.

    So, I've been trying to shower less since reading all this. Last Sunday night was very late, so I thought I'd still be clean enough on Monday morning. Didn't work. I felt horrible that day.

    That leaves me still in the twice a day camp.

    Why did you try to shower less Tony?
    If what you were doing was working for you, why would you change it?
    Water conservation maybe?

    I still shower same as when thread started - almost always once daily, occasionally again if going out in evening and been hot day or playing sport or something, occasionally not at all if lazy weekend pyjama day

    That works for me and am not planning to change it.

    Other routines might work for other people - no problems there.


  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    tmantwo wrote: »

    And as far as why I don’t swing by there much... some of you come off as pretentious, condescending, pompous dickheads to anyone who you don’t agree with. You turn what should be a civil debate into personal attacks.

    Yup, I’m looking at you people in the previous post.

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  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    Thought this discussion was over, but I see it's restarted a month later. I keep it bookmarked so I know when there are new posts.

    So, I've been trying to shower less since reading all this. Last Sunday night was very late, so I thought I'd still be clean enough on Monday morning. Didn't work. I felt horrible that day.

    That leaves me still in the twice a day camp.

    Why did you try to shower less Tony?
    If what you were doing was working for you, why would you change it?
    Water conservation maybe?

    I still shower same as when thread started - almost always once daily, occasionally again if going out in evening and been hot day or playing sport or something, occasionally not at all if lazy weekend pyjama day

    That works for me and am not planning to change it.

    Other routines might work for other people - no problems there.


    Yes you're right. Somebody was implying that twice a day was OCD. I guess we all need to realize that when we're on the internet, we're playing to an international audience, and there can't be a "one size fits all" prescription.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,581 Member
    I shower or have a bath every other day, unless I have a reason to do it more frequently. My skin would literally fall apart if I showered multiple times a day.

    Never once has anyone told me I stink.

    Well, there was that one time when I mucked out an entire horse barn in the heat because the owner was ill. Then even I couldn't stand to be downwind of myself. :D
  • Slacker16
    Slacker16 Posts: 1,184 Member
    Of all the threads to result in drama... lol.

    One thing I've noticed is that taking a shower seems to put me in "serious" mode, so I'll sometimes take a shower even if not planning to go out that day when I have work to do and have been goofing off (more than usual).

    Two showers, though... only if I have a date, pretty much.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    Deviette wrote: »
    I shower maybe twice a week. Less if I can get away with it. And normally mostly because my hair needs washing (although I have noticed since going sulphate/silicone free my hair needs washing less often). Even then I'll only use shower gel maybe once a month or so, with the run off shampoo I just don't need it.

    But I'm just not a smelly person. Never really have been. In summer or when doing sports I do wear deodorant, but not really because I need it per say, just because I want to be sure I don't smell.

    On the side note of skincare, I've never understood body moisturisers. I never needed them. I've always half put that down to the fact that I don't wash too much with soaps/wash that often.

    I'm active year round, but only sweaty when it's hot out. I've showered several times a day in the summer (more rinsing off than complete showers) but this time of year more just when my hair needs to be washed or I've been in the woods and am hoping to get rid of any ticks.

    Like yours, my shampoo is silicone free. Also "Paraben free, Sulfate free, Mineral oil free, Petrolatum free, Formaldehyde free, Cruelty free." It seems the less I wash my hair, the less I need to wash it. I use my shampoo as body wash and conditioner as shaving cream.

    Now that I'm in control of the thermostat I don't need moisturizer.

    When I worked in an office I washed my hair every morning. I've been working from home since 2011 and keep decreasing the frequency.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    JessBbody wrote: »
    I'm a little bit shocked, and somewhat dismayed, at seeing that so many people shower daily or even 2-3 times daily. Maybe it's because in California we are bombarded with messages about water waste.
    I just can't help thinking, the water! The water!

    I don't leave the sink running when I'm brushing my teeth or washing my face.

    I shower every 2-3 days. I learned a while back just from researching beauty-related things that washing your skin with soap too frequently tends to dry it out. This was before people started talking about microbiomes. Same thing with shampooing your hair too frequently - it can make your scalp and ends dry and can cause fallout.

    As far as sweat goes, I only tend to sweat on my face and neck and only when I work out. I usually wash those afterward.

    I don't start to feel icky until it's been 4 days since I've had a shower, sooner if I've had a particularly sweaty workout.
    Maybe some people feel icky if they don't shower every day.

    I've never had a problem with body odor that deodorant couldn't solve.

    Thanks for posting the article, OP.

    When my OH wastes water I remind him that almond trees are parched in California ;)

    This was a major plot point in Goliath Season 3.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    I wash up at the sink when I wake up, the "main utilities" as my mom calls it. I use a bidet, and usually shower fully every other day. I can assure you I don't smell in the slightest. My husband wouldn't be as enthusiastic to be all over me constantly if I did.

    Glad you mentioned this. Every time I hear or read discussions like these, I wonder how people could indulge in husband and wife activities without being clean.


    and yet most people in most of time in most of the world have managed to do so without showering twice a day - or without having running water or anything like our modern first world experience

    Natural instinct I suppose, but the trained modern mind rejects uncleanness.


    well I have a trained modern mind - and it can understand how my normal is not superior to other people's normal and everyone doesn't have to do it like I do.


    Yes I accept they're differences. I live in a warm country, but have traveled to cold places where I don't even wish to remove my clothes to go anywhere near water!!

    Yes, I definitely showered more when I lived in Okinawa and Costa Rico and had no air conditioning.