Daily showering/not showering discussion (Loose Women)

[Mothership4two]

That MN perennial favourite 'showering' was under discussion on today's show and it made me smile because it seems to come up all the time on here. They said a daily shower is not necessary contraversial and two to three times a week is fine: their point was that daily showering is expensive, not great for the environment, might not be good for you as dries out skin and hair. They all were in agreement but Nadia said she likes a daily shower "not to do with being dirty" but as she likes water. I assume a well done to one of their researchers may be in order?

After all the 'heated debates' I have witnessed it just tickled me. A bit like someone you know appearing on TV 😆

Have also made a duplicate post (in Telly Addicts) which I know irritates some posters. Wasn't sure where to put it. The do you/don't you shower generally gets plonked in AIBU but I don't have a question so that would be pointless.

@Paninaro94

People who pretend they don’t shower or bathe daily for the sake of the environment? I’m sure there are more effective ways of saving the planet than that. Up to you if you don’t want to shower daily of course, no need to justify it.

Of course people don't pretend for the sake of the environment. There's a lot of people very passionate about it who are prepared to do their bit or some who'll go more above and beyond in lots of ways. Not sure if you have noticed but tackling climate change is quite the thing atm? It's a very feasible reason to give.

Read back some of these 'shower' threads or just RTWT and you'll find plenty of posters who quite happily honestly say they don't it because they don't feel it's necessary or give other reasons. I don't feel anyone needs to be accused of lying on here.

Obviously there are other ways of "saving the planet" but doing this to reduce water and power consumption is just one of them for some.

People who pretend they don’t shower or bathe daily for the sake of the environment?

Pretending? Im not pretending anything at all. I'm not showering daily for the sake of my dry skin. The water saving is a nice benefit for the environment though.

I have a jumper I've not washed in two years. Next time I'm on the tube I will make sure to wear it and hopefully carriages will clear and I can get a seat.

I’d never come across people not showering or bathing daily until I came to the UK.

You've absolutely nailed it, I'm in total agreement!

I like a daily shower sometimes two. I tend to have a 2 minute quick rinse in the morning and then after work it feels quite good to wash the day off, wash hair and get redressed into normal clothes if not working then I’m often at the gym and have a shower after. I’d quite happily not wash if just hanging at home though.

I’d never come across people not showering or bathing daily until I came to the UK.

Then you’re not very widely travelled. I’m not from the UK, I get the tube a lot. There are definitely smellier places.

Yes, people in absolute poverty who don’t have access to hot running water. They have reasons to not wash daily. I have lived on 3 continents, it’s only here where it’s such a debate.

My daughter did some overseas travel which was a charity project and there were places where it was difficult to access running water so needed to use wet wipes

I’d never come across people not showering or bathing daily until I came to the UK.

Many Europans do not shower or bathe daily.

People absolutely did honk back in the 70s and 80s, and you can definitely smell the people who haven't washed when you're on public transport, or working alongside them.

Just wash quickly if you're worried about water use.

I can’t work out if I’m just an extra sweaty or smelly person or most people are dirty?

The English have a reputation for being dirty!

I would reek if I didn’t shower daily but I’m active with two young kids. I’m always covered in food, breast milk and sweat from running around.

Maybe we could do away with toilets, too, because they're a relatively recent addition to the list of household amenities we have taken to using...

Humans have had soap in various forms for thousands of years, fyi.

So you have at least a week's worth of clothes, all manufactured in goodness knows what conditions, perhaps using water in the growing of the crops that are processed into fabric (cotton, linen), or the industrial weaving or knitting of the fabric, or perhaps petroleum products were processed into fabric. Then there are the working conditions of the garment workers to take into account, and the electricity use in the factories, likely generated from sources that include coal or petroleum. Then the clothing is transported to you, possibly as far as half way around the world. But you don't waste water washing yourself.

I've showered my body AND hair (yes, get me 😄) almost every day for the last 30 years and have noticed no ill effects with dryness or skin problems.

It really does sound awful.

For the time these people spend washing "their bits" at a sink, I would have thought they could just jump in the shower and wash everywhere in half the time and faff!

Agreed. Sounds a bit grim. 🤢 Please god I hope they change the flannel.
I find it relaxing to wash away the day.

@pinkmags your post is hilarious!

I second the salux cloth, a Japanese scrubby long piece of fabric that is easy to rinse and dries quickly. Brushes get manky in my opinion and don't last long

I'm of the opinion that it's OK to skip a day, of course depends on circumstances etc, but think it's laundry that's a more contentious issue. Often read on here that many wash every single item of clothing after one wear, which seems completely bonkers, except of course for underwear and socks. Even more baffling if they are showering 2 or 3 times a day as well. Such an unnecessary waste of resources.

Someone mentioned, on the same Loose Women programme, freezing jeans instead of washing them. Is that now a thing? Not sure if it's for the environment or to stop the jeans fading. I understand that would kill germs but the jeans would still be dirty?

Yes, I have a friend who freezes their jeans and DH jeans. She doesn’t freeze kids jeans as they are cheapies so she doesn’t care about the denim going through the wash, apparently it’s really bad for it? If for some reason they get visible dirt on them she just spot cleans by hand. Their jeans never look dirty.

I guess everyone has a different tolerance and what they feel is smelly. Some people sweat more than others too. Depending on employment, physical work outs etc.

I cannot stand bo smells and also cannot stand really strong perfumes or food smells on people. Smoke is also awful.

Which one?