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.

Levi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh once said that he completely keeps his jeans out of the washing machine. He recently told CNBC that if his jeans get "really gross" he washes them on his body in the shower.

Well he probably has a pair for every day of the year so only wears each pair a few hours a year…

Otherwise that is an vomit inducing claim 🤮

If there’s actual soiling on it then it needs washing/wiping off. It’s like washing dirt off your hands but then sanitizer to kill germs you can’t see. I guess freezing is similar.

But I sweat a lot and old sweat stinks so if rather just wash them. I’m no fashionista.

I have a Christmas jumper I can’t wash as it has all those stupid electric lights in it. I don’t know what to do with it!

Exactly. There’s a reason the uk has a rep for being gross.

the tube STINKS and now I know why.

Twice per day?!?!?! That's absolutely insane and I'd be quite concerned what is at the root of this

I was born in 1973 in Australia and we most definitely had showers every single day. More in summer. It was an idea there that the UK generally does not wash as often and we used the term 'pommie wash' to describe a quick wash using a flannel only so I think this is most definitely a cultural thing. (And possibly based on climate).

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pommie_wash

Also showers were fairly uncommon in the UK in the early 70s @FairyBreadQueen. I grew up with baths not showers. The first house that my parents moved to that had showers was in 1985 and we had one plumbed in over the bath in our home 3 or 4 years later. My current NDN's moved here and had to put in their bathroom around 1973 - no indoor plumbing and an outside loo! That was pretty unusual then though.

Aaah yes, that makes sense. When we were househunting we saw alot of houses that had not had bathrooms installed and sometimes a sort of outhouse with baths only. (Small cottages). I think DH';s previous house that he bought in 1997 just had a bath and he converted a tiny box room into a shower room.

I think I'd take UK older housing though any day... my parents had our house built a few years after I was born and the quality of it's construction is nowhere as solid and long lasting as here in the UK.

Child of the 70s/80s here when weekly baths were the norm and people didn't honk any more then that they do now and TBH don't notice smelly ppl that much now but no longer wedge myself on public transport

Tbf the BO stink would have been covered by the thick fug of cigarette smoke everythere.

I'm not sure you can always say that it's the person who stinks and not their clothes.

I have an uncle who showers daily (sometimes twice) but then because he showers frequently, he thinks he can wear the same shirt 7 days in a row (even at the height of summer!) By day 3 the shirt stinks. But he would argue that he's clean. He's an extreme example but I know a few others who think because they shower a lot, their clothes will last longer. Fact is, they don't.

I personally can't stand being clean and then putting on "dirty" clothes. So I tend to have a bath every other day (can't stand showers) and put on clean clothes. On the day I don't have a bath, I'll wear the clothes from the day before (clean underwear obviously!). I wfh so it's fine. If I am going out then obviously I'll make that a day I have a bath.

When I did work out of home, then yes I did shower daily for speed and necessity. But was then doing a lot more clothes washing!

Twice per day?!?!?! That's absolutely insane and I'd be quite concerned what is at the root of this

That can't be true! Your poor skin and its microbiome will not thank you...

I genuinely don't think I could tell whether someone has washed that day or washes two or three times per week. Or whether it's their body or their clothes they have washed.

It's rare I've encountered someone that genuinely smells (but I don't use public transport very often!)

I do wash almost every day. I only wash my hair two or three times a week when I'll either have a bath or a longer shower and shave etc. But on other days I tend to get home from work and get straight into a very quick shower where I wash my pits and bits and then get into my comfy clothes/PJs. I would say I'm genuinely in the shower for less than 2 minutes but it's just part of my routine. If I miss it for any reason and don't shower that day I don't feel any dirtier or smellier though.

I don't properly feel ready to start my day until I have had a shower. I sometimes also have a soak in the bath in the evening (in the winter). My skin and hair aren't dry. Each to their own but I just hope that the ppl who only wash twice a week are still putting on clean underwear every day 😂

Have you been to a zoo? They stink.

Amen to this
It's BASIC hygiene to shower/ bathe daily
You pee/ poo/ shag, get the bus, exposed to bacteria, viruses and environmental pollutants.

I shower in the morning after gym ( quickly) then bathe at night.
How people go to bed dirty is beyond me

And no to the it's good for you to be exposed to bacteria etc people and my skin will fall off people.
You are exposed, that's enough
Use a mild shower gel and moisturiser
It's utterly vile to be exposed to stinky people on public transport and at work.
You smell!

Donate it!

Haven't read the whole thread, but to be really blunt, as a woman who sleeps with women, please do shower daily if you're expecting oral sex.

Exactly...you don't need to stand under the shower and wash your shoulder blades which clearly do not smell, but ones "bits" do need a daily wash !

Personally I can't abide Loose Women. It's on a par with the old Jeremy Kyle show. To say 'showering daily is expensive and bad for the environment' is ridiculous! Obviously it costs more to have a shower than to not bother but surely we're talking about pennies? (Cost of water, heating the water, and soap / shower gel / shampoo). It's like saying only wash your hands every 3rd time you use the toilet, or only wash your underwear after 3 days wear, because 'it saves money and is better for the environment'. Maybe only brush your teeth once a week. You would save a fortune on toothpaste and your toothbrush would last for years!

It's not. "detrimental for your skin". What nonsense. Millions of us shower daily and have healthy, clean skin. Eczema is a whole other issue.

Exactly. Why is showering fixated on? Get rid of diesel and petrol cars and stop flying if you're really concerned about the environment.

And ban Primark!

How revolting. Imagine wearing clothes until they're really "gross" when you're so rich and privileged.

Exactly 💯