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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be shocked that SIL and her kids only bath / shower once a week?

238 replies

emilytankengine · 08/06/2011 16:15

I have a shower every day, before work, sometimes twice if I've been to the gym or if we're on holiday / going out. I probably make sure the younger kids get a bath about 5 times a week and my teenage daughter has a shower every day.

SIL was outraged at this and says that she only typically has a bath or a shower once a week! She says that she has a wash every day with a face cloth (including her bottom :O - with a face cloth!!).

Maybe it's me who's odd but I was staggered at this

OP posts:
passiveaggresive · 09/06/2011 15:31

I dont think showering uses less water than the baths though, because for some mad reason, i dont know why this is, i tend to shower in the bath - so have the shower on and leave the plug in, then when ive enough water i sit down and have my bath - impatient maybe, but it always fills the bath to the level i need before ive finished washing and hair washing, so if it were going downthe plug, id reckon id use more

valiumredhead · 09/06/2011 15:31

I have an Eco shower - it uses loads less! Grin

eurochick · 09/06/2011 15:31

I am genuinely surprised and the number of people who don't shower or bathe daily. I thought almost everyone did in this day and age. This explains much about the stench on the Tube in summer. Eugh.

I shower every morning but only wash my hair every other day cos it's long and my scalp is very dry. On the second day I can smell it. I wouldn't want to smell the rest of me as well!

d0gFace · 09/06/2011 15:32

Its easier to avoid certain area's with a flannel?

I dont think there's anything wrong with having a bath/shower everyday, but also dont see whats wrong with not having a bath/shower everyday. Everyones different, calling people skanky/dirty ect because they dont think or do like you seems abit off to me.

jeckadeck · 09/06/2011 15:39

Yep, I think its gross. Eco friendly maybe, but gross. In this day and age its pretty weird as well, its not like there are people who can't afford to bathe or shower. If you're really worried about the environment have a very quick shower if you must, but going a week without is just, yuck. Also there's something rather pointed and self-indulgent about it, like people who make a point of not shaving their armpits and then wave them in people's faces on the tube.

PrincessFiorimonde · 09/06/2011 15:47

jeck: 'people who make a point of not shaving their armpits'. That would be men, then? Wink

not1not2 · 09/06/2011 15:47

I'm not sure my pelvic dloor is up to this thread and that's only at page 1

scarlettsmummy2 · 09/06/2011 15:47

i think that is yuck. everyone in my house as a bath or shower everyday and sometimes I shower twice, especially if I have just changed the bed sheets as I like to go to bed feeling fresh into fresh sheets.

LeQueen · 09/06/2011 15:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

supadupapupascupa · 09/06/2011 15:50

i shower once per week. this is because my skin hates soap and dries out really badly. i am not unclean. i do not smell. you would never know.

scarlettsmummy2 · 09/06/2011 15:58

Surely people who smell must not realise they smell otherwise they would sort it out. My foster sons birth family all absolutely stink and I have decided that it is because they either don't realise or don't care because it is normal to them. Why would you bother to wash??

LadyWellian · 09/06/2011 16:14

In the words of I, Ludicrous: "I like to shower twice a day: once before work and once after sex."

Not really, but this thread made me think of it. Personally I had a shower this morning that was my first since Sunday. I would have done it sooner but I haven't done very well at getting up on time this week and when it's a choice between me getting a shower and DD getting a packed lunch, I'm afraid she wins.

I've not read the whole thread but the OP doesn't actually say they smell - so I'm not sure why there's a problem.

QuickLookBusy · 09/06/2011 16:31

Some people on this thread sound like they are still at Infant School.... "They smell ner ner ner ner ner"

Why is anyone bothered about others washing habits? It's got nothing to do with anyone else.

You might think they smell and that may annoy you. But I bet you annoy them in some way or another. We all have to put up with each others' habits. Just accept and move on.

usualsuspect · 09/06/2011 16:48

Is this thread still going Grin

Nothing like a competitive showering thread to get MN going

Fifis25StottieCakes · 09/06/2011 16:49

How do people have time to shower themselves and their kids everyday. I have 3 dd's with waist length hair. It would take me well over and hour everynight to bath the 3 of them then i dont think i could muster the strength drag myself in.

thursday · 09/06/2011 16:56

this is saddeningly tame :( i've seen all out fisticuffs over whether or not washing your hair in the bath was minging before.

i am always surprised when people favour the strip wash, it jsut seems like a ballache to me and i'm left feeling coated in dried soap or with a soaking floor. i lack the skillz. my husband does this though and only has a proper bath or shower a couple of times a week. it has changed my opinion of it, he never stinks despite having a seriously sweaty job so can only conclude its perfectly adequate. the kids are bathed about 3 times a week as and when they are filthy.

Riveninside · 09/06/2011 17:55

Does a shower really cost 5p?

Laquitar · 09/06/2011 18:07

Not in total Riveninside. I think thats the water cost only?
Energy wise electric shower cost around 25p for 15min and gas boiler one around 15p per 15 min i was told.

keepingupwiththejoneses · 09/06/2011 18:08

YABU. Medically it is actually not recommended to shower everyday, especially down below as it washes away the essential bacteria needed to keep thing healthy down there. Also washing your hair everyday removes the natural oils, it is recommended to wash your hair every 4-5 days.
I shower twice a week and strip wash every day and I smell fine.

grovel · 09/06/2011 18:10

When my Dad took my brother up to Oxford, the College porter observed to him that "in your day, sir, gentlemen bathed weekly and changed their shirts twice a day. Nowadays the gentlemen bathe twice a day and change their shirts once a week".

Jenstar21 · 09/06/2011 18:22

I might be a clean freak, but shower every morning, and wash hair most days. Shower in evening too on days I've been to gym/pool. OH showers every night too. DD showered/bathed every second day, unless she gets totally mucky. A good friend of mine only showers every second day, and you can tell. She has a bit of a musty smell, and hair never looks very clean on the second day. I've dropped hints, but they are apparently ignored.....

expatinscotland · 09/06/2011 18:43

'If I ruled the world, rancid-smelling people would get ASBOs.'

I'd be your deputy. We're clean up Britain.

Riveninside · 09/06/2011 18:50

I sjower for 5 mi s. Quick as possible to save energy. Boyz are ordered to do the same

expatinscotland · 09/06/2011 18:51

People who puke on the pavements, or urinate or worse, or let their dog foul, would be ordered to clean it up or pay a fine.

OldMacEIEIO · 09/06/2011 18:54

showering twice a day ? ewwwww. stinky person

I shower constantly 24 hours a day. I am actually typing this in the shower. Its never a problem unless I get water on the plu