Parents don't shower often.

[pateandcheese]

Is this a generational thing?
My parents in their late 60's only shower once a week.
I wouldn't say they ever smell or look scruffy, but I find it odd.
I've obviously not lived at home in 15+ years so never really noticed before, but before lockdown we went away as a family for a week and they both showered once in that time.
Me, my DH and small kids shower or bath every day without fail.
They're both retired so it's not as if they're massively busy.
They're very house proud and everything is fresh and ironed and tidy.
I just don't get the showering thing.
But thinking about it when I lived at home I'd only shower a few times a week in my teens too. It's only since moving out I shower every day.

@Oodlesofnoodles20

It may be generational but for people in their 80s/90s. I wouldn’t class being in 60s the generation for weekly bathing. Many are still in full time work for most of that. My parents are in 70s and shower every day. I think 60s, if they don’t have disabilities or chronic illness, should wash/shower/bath every day.

I bet you are around loads of people who don't do that, and you've no idea...

My mum showers once a week on a Sunday morning. My dad showers once a month if that and smells fusty! They are both 79, and think it's not normal to shower several times a week!

@Lavenderfieldsofprovence

To the people saying they shower or bath two or three times a week, but don’t smell, the chances are you’ve got used to that musty smell and can’t even recognise it. I bet other people don’t share your view.

There’s no excuse for anyone in this day and age to not shower every day. As for the twice a week people, that’s disgusting and unhygienic.

Nonsense

My mum is 82 years old and has a shower about every three days.She has amazingly never ever washed her hair in the shower but washes it at the sink every time separately.She says she can't bear water in her face.

My Dad is 81 and showers once a week. It's a generation thing, and also a healthy fear of slipping in the shower/bath.

It's known that as we age, we develop a certain body odour which is due to how we break down certain chemicals. People often think it's poor hygiene in older people but that musty almost sweet smell is really common. I used to work in a care home and nearly every resident had that same odour - but I only ever noticed it when I first walked in the building.

I personally have a shower everyday. It's easier. My young dd (7) has a wash each morning and a weekly bath or shower.

But my parents would have a daily and thorough strip wash and shower maybe a few times a week. I don't see that as dirty at all.

Requinblanc
I can see why Brits have a reputation for not being that hygienic...

Some nationalities and generations have a reputation for being hopelessly ignorant about recent history. For instance, they have absolutely no clue about the universal severe social and economic hardships endured by Britain, and other European countries, within living memory during WW2 and for years after it ended.

So just because YOU had a weekly bath in the 80s, that’s what all people did?
Ha ha these threads always make me laugh.

Now I know what that stench is on the tube!

They probably have a wash of the main areas once a day. It can be a bit safer at that age too.

@june2007

If they appear to be looking after themselves and are fully incontrol of their minds then leave them be.

This.

It's personal choice OP.

I shower and wash my hair around 3 times per week - roughly every other day. I have a good wash and change my underwear daily. I don't smell.

My parents are late 70's both shower alternate days unless they're going out or have been doing heavier work, then they'll shower daily. I grew up bathing twice a week in the 70's and showering daily in the 80's. I think k it's probably too sweeping to say it's generational but certainly less unusual amongst their generation iyswim.

I am 57 and shower twice a day, my father has always showered daily and still does at the age of 86. My in laws who were always very house proud appeared to only bathe once a week which i found a bit odd.

@woodlandwalker

I'm in my 60s and shower daily. I don't think people in their 60s are usually old enough to be doddery getting in and out of a shower so that's not usually a reason not to. We did grow up in an era without showers and with a bath once or twice a week. Even in the 80s with small children we all bathed every other day mostly. We had bath taps with a shower attachment but it did not work very well.It was probably late 80s when daily bathing was usual and 90s before I had a proper shower.

I've been 'doddery' since I was 34. Autoimmune Diseases do that to you, as does EDS/POTS.

When I've had a flare, not only was getting in and out of the bath impossible or dangerous, managing to stand up under the shower in the wetroom was likely to cause me severe pain, dizziness and end up with me getting hurt slipping on the non slip flooring on the way to the garden chair underneath it. I'd then get so cold on the bots that the water wasn't actually touching that I'd be even less mobile afterwards.

Oh, and of course the result of one of my slips meant I buggered up one hip/SI joint so much that I couldn't lift my leg enough to get dressed/undressed for a couple of years. But I could sit on the toilet and wash - had to get DP to help with hair, feet and my back, though.

My parents grew up in rural settings where they didn’t even have piped water. This was between 1912 - 1925. They both had baths/showers daily until their final illnesses left them bedridden. My mother in particular loved a shower. If someone has access to a bath/shower and chooses not to use it, it’s personal preference rather than age.

However it’s shameful, and an indictment of our society, that some people still don’t have access to a bath or shower daily.

It's a generational thing.

I remember being a child in the early 80s and having a bath maybe 3 times a week and sink washing every morning and evening. I'm pretty sure that was normal? It's only really been since showers were more common that the sink washes have gone out, but I suppose for some older people, it's habit.

I was born in 1978, we were bathed every single day as children. My mum was, and still is, spotless.

I can remember being at school with kids who smelt and whose clothes were dirty. I grew up on a council estate on the edge of Liverpool and our house wasn’t posh, we didn’t even have a shower until my parents bought a brand new house that had both an en suite and a shower in the main bathroom.

My mum and dad are both 63, divorced and both re-married. I know that all of them shower daily. As do me and my kids.

There are people around me that I know who still only bath/shower their kids and themselves maybe once a week. A couple of dd’s friends have even said that. No excuse to be scruffy in this day and age.

@Zoflorabore not bathing/showering every day doesn't make you 'scruffy'.

In the 60s at school we had a couple of really poor kids who smelled and had tattered clothing and cardboard in their shoes. They probably had houses with no hot water at all. We were lucky as we had hot water taps in the kitchen and the bathroom but conserved it

Born in late 60s. Until I was 4 we had outside wc. Bath in front of fire. Even when bathroom built it was so cold. I bathed twice a week unless I was dirty.

I used to shower every day but pregnancy put me off as the water smell made me vomit. I now only shower every other day and strip wash in between. I don't smell as far as I am aware. No one has mentioned it to me anyhow.

I was born in 1978, we were bathed every single day as children. My mum was, and still is, spotless.

As was my family.

You grew up in a family which could afford frequent hot water I presume.
I was born in the early 60s. We often had to choose between fuel and food.
Most of the families around, my extended family were in a similar situation.
No central heating, our "back boiler" of water was heated via a coal fire.
My mother would save extra fuel for a Sunday to back up the fire and open the flue to heat up water for baths on a Sunday night. This is what we could afford.

My mother and family were super clean, fastidious, spotless. We washed every day in a sink, with flannels and soap, often in cold water.
Having to bathe weekly is not always a choice.

They wash instead, probably far more thoroughly than you imagine. I don't know why but as long as they are not neglecting their hygiene it's not an issue?

@Gwenhwyfar

"being in a flat panic because the staff were showering her only once a week "

Being in a panic? That's a really extreme reaction.

Totally off topic here but it made me laugh as it reminded me why I so rarely post on MN. The ability of some (many?) posters on here to find something to be unkind about is staggering. Yes I was in a panic as my mum could not move or advocate for herself or make her own choices. But hey feel free to miss the point of my post entirely and make yourself feel good by being critical.

My mum didn't have a shower growing up and I think she's a bit scared of them actually. I've never known her have one, but she does wash and use the bath regularly.

I grew up in the 70s ..bath every day. Parents shower daily. Far easier than a sink wash!

My parents are early 60s.

Dad has always showered every morning and then after sports/gym.

He's disabled now but still showed daily with help from my mum.

My mum every day has a shower in the morning and bath at night.

I've been known to have a baby wipe shower if camping but otherwise it's a daily shower. What I can't cope with is flannels hanging over the sink or even worse folded up wet in a square and left on the sink generally by older people who have a daily strip wash. OMG it makes me feel physically sick when I think about the festering bacteria on the folded up flannel and my god it would stink too.