Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

question for those that stripwash instead of shower

358 replies

eggyfart · 05/05/2019 19:27

our monthly water bills going up! so decided to stripwash instead of shower daily, but I use the shower for hair wash days (2- 3 times a week). Well just used the sink, feel lovely and clean. But I did seem to get a bit of water on the floor!

So tell me stripwashers how do ya do it!

OP posts:
GirlRaisedInTheSouth · 07/05/2019 07:12

Shower caps are mainly useless, never found a good one yet.

Are you serious Grin ? I used to have waist-length hair and always used a shower cap when I showered and didn’t want to get my hair wet. And guess what? I never got my hair wet.

I think these Strip Wash Apologists should just accept that these people are too tight to pay for water and would rather smell.

GreyhoundzRool · 07/05/2019 07:32

I save even more water by letting the dog lick the plates clean. A huge water saving there 🙄😉

isabellerossignol · 07/05/2019 07:46

there is a definite female odour when you have women who strip wash.

What I'm struggling with here is how anyone knows how someone else washes.

If someone smells bad, my assumption would be that they haven't washed, not that they have washed in a way that is different to how I do it. I just can't imagine asking someone how they wash and yet loads of people are saying that they know the person on the train strip washes, or the person on the hospital ward strip washes etc. How do you know?

lotusbell · 07/05/2019 07:47

@GirlRaisedInTheSouth, good for you, I'm happy it worked out for you. Where would I buy one of these shower caps as I've obviously been shopping in the wrong place. I dont strip wash to save money personally, just find it quicker once in a while when I am short on time. I don't use it as a whole body wash as I would indeed find a shower quicker for that. But it's great that you have come up with a clever name for us and that you get so riled up about it. We're obviously kicking up a stink, literally!!

longearedbat · 07/05/2019 07:47

@YouJustDoYou, this statement tickled me. So your mum is massaging and says to her client, "Oh, Mrs Smith, your fanny is a bit pongy today. Have you been strip washing again?" Because unless this conversation took place with every female client, how on earth would you mother know how people ablute? I can not think of a time when I have discussed my washing habits with someone I am paying for a service.

lotusbell · 07/05/2019 07:50

@isabellerossignol, good point and the answer is they don't. They've become aware of the notion of a strip wash, don't agree with it so are making assumptions Grin

isabellerossignol · 07/05/2019 07:53

All this 'women smell bad' stuff also has a whiff (see what I did there?) of misogyny about it. I'm not denying that unwashed bodies smell bad, of course they can, but women have been being told since forever that their bodies are dirty. If your fanny smells so bad that other people can smell it, I doubt if a shower will help. More likely a trip to the doctor is needed.

GirlRaisedInTheSouth · 07/05/2019 07:58

@lotusbell Honestly, no offence meant at all. I am actually rather enjoying this debate.

Schnitzelvonkrumb · 07/05/2019 08:30

Im also puzzled about how people can ascertain what method of washing someone uses from a sniff. Ive come across people who smell bad and thought they are either wearing v dirty clothes ir havent washed at all. I shower every day. I have never been asked about it by anyone. As a kid in the 80s we didnt have a shower. We didnt bath everyday. No one asked me then whether i washed/bathed/showered neuther did people avoid or stay away from me because they could tell i was a stinker who only bathed every other day

LoafofSellotape · 07/05/2019 08:32

Im also puzzled about how people can ascertain what method of washing someone uses from a sniff they can't, it's it bollox

RiversDisguise · 07/05/2019 08:44

I have known far more men with odour problems than women, it has to be said.

Some of my male friends play golf together and apparently one of them, his balls (as in testicles) sweat and STINK to the extent the windows have to be rollled down. They give him absolute hell over it.

CylindraceousNicholas · 07/05/2019 08:55

nd I presume all the "only showers will get you clean" brigade members, shoved their newborns under the shower every day, rather than top and tailing, and presumably this same kids have only ever had a bath to play in, then showered "clean" after.

Mine were never top and tailed, they sent in a seat in a baby tub from birth, switching to showers at about 18 months.

Honestly though I couldn't turn the shower water off while I soap myself up - out shower goes freezing cold and then boiling scalding hot before adjusting to the chosen temperature if you turn it off/on again!!

mydogisthebest · 07/05/2019 08:56

My mum strip washes most days and showers about 2 times a week. She definitely does not smell.

Having said that I cannot understand how anyone who is capable of having a shower wouldn't have one. Yu don't want your hair to get wet or frizzy just wear a shower cap.

A shower can be really quick. I wash my hair in the shower every day but I am still in and out in minutes (my hair is very short).

Motheroffeminists · 07/05/2019 09:31

Surely it's false economy as you'd be washing flannels daily unless you have loads. Using a flannel on your genitals and bum and then reusing for other areas is grim.
One of my exes strip washed and showered once a week or if I was visiting. That didn't last long. Another preferred to use the shower in his motor home instead of the camp site showers. Tried to have sex that night and I could still smell sweaty arse crack 🤢 Ny dad was a strip washer. He'd soak the bathroom. Drove us nuts.

How much are your water bills?

FormerlyFrikadela01 · 07/05/2019 09:39

Surely it's false economy as you'd be washing flannels daily unless you have loads. Using a flannel on your genitals and bum and then reusing for other areas is grim.

Many people who shower daily also use flannels.
And you wash all the other areas first and finish with the genital and bum area exactly as you do in the shower.

LoafofSellotape · 07/05/2019 09:42

Using a flannel on your genitals and bum and then reusing for other areas is grim why would you do that ? Confused

7 flannels, 30p each in Wilkos ,bung it in the wash daily. You aren't washing them separately.

cherrryontop · 07/05/2019 09:55

If all you are hoping to do is save water, a quick 1 minute shower would probably not use much more water than a sink full of water for a strip wash.

It's a lot of unnecessary faffing about with several flannels and dripping water everywhere, then the additional water washing the flannels.

Just get in the shower, put soap all over yourself and then turn the shower on, rinse it off and get out?

LoafofSellotape · 07/05/2019 09:57

A flannel is so small even 7 at once can go in a towel wash you are doing already.

LilBoaty · 07/05/2019 10:10

We used to strip wash when visiting old relatives in a hot country.. there was no shower. It was fine we used a wide low bowl - about a metre across and 20cm tall. I sort of crouched over it and poured the water over me working from top to bottom.

Motheroffeminists · 07/05/2019 10:22

There is a very distinctive odour that is emitted from some obese women. And yes it is only the women. It might be due to a fungal infection in the folds of skin. These are not easy places to wash as I discovered as a nurse trying to give patients a bed bath or bedside wash. Running water is the only thing that will do a good job in this situation until the underlying cause is treated. As it is very difficult to access these folds then women are often unaware of the infection until a nurse lifts a fold and sees the red, wet areas. I've nursed hundreds of men and women but this was particular to women. Under breasts are particularly prone. It's very sad.

Delatron · 07/05/2019 11:18

Surely having a shower is just nicer than standing in the bathroom half naked and cold faffing around with two flannels and splashing water around.

You get that lovely refreshed feeling even after a short shower.. unless disabled or ill I juts don’t see the appeal or need.

DointItForTheKids · 07/05/2019 12:04

I use microfiber cloths as my flannels. Unlike cotton towelling ones they're quick to dry and I have loads so I can use a fresh one every single time. I never reuse, I never put into the laundry pile wet. They're washed on 80 degrees.

It's the quality and attention to detail of washing, rinsing off, drying that matters not the need to be immersed in bath/running water - I dare say a well executed strip wash produces a less smelly person than someone who has a shower but doesn't actually attend to properly cleaning the pertinent areas.

I have a bath most nights - in and out within 10 minutes but sometimes if I'm really tired I'll just have a strip wash instead so I can get myself into my bed, and I can assure you, I do NOT smell - immediately after or the next day.

To the PP who said a shower on non-hair washing days is not the way forward, they're right - if you have hair that goes frizzy at any hint of humidity it's just not doable - shower cap doesn't stop this effectively either. I hate showers! Don't enjoy them at all.

ReganSomerset · 07/05/2019 14:35

@Motheroffeminists
In the skin rolls of the morbidly obese, running water won't do a thing unless you lift the fold. They could be showering and still miss the bits that really need a good clean.

FiremanKing · 07/05/2019 15:00

@ReganSomerset

Vomit.

LoafofSellotape · 07/05/2019 15:17

So we've moved on on from the stench of women's vaginas to the smell of the morbidly obese in hospital beds. Nice.