Is it gross for an adult to only get a shower 3 times a week?

[AngryChair]

3 showers a week, AIBU to think this is a bit gross?

OMFG! Has it really got to this? When I was a nipper we were told not to bath more than once a week and to shrare where possible...now we have people berating those that don't showe every day?? Madness.! Install a water meter and see how you feel!!

maypole Nope, I don't make a point of showering after sex unless it's particularly hot (the temperature, not the sex ;-) ) - to be honest the idea of habitually showering after sex seems a little psychologically weird to me.

As for being on my period...I never use towels, only tampons. So I don't think its really an issue requiring extra washing. I guess maybe sometimes I do feel compelled to take an extra shower or two around this time of the month, but it depends.

people do reek if they don't wash every day

I just don't think this is true. Reek - really? It's a strong word.

Yeah, maybe if someone gets a bit sweaty at some point in the day, or you get really close to their armpit or something you catch a whiff of their bodily smell. But what's the big deal? It's not gonna kill you and it's not like its radiating off them in toxic waves 100% of the time.

TBH I have no idea whether most of my friends and colleagues shower every day. But I've definitely been in situations staying at people's houses, on holiday etc where I've noticed that certain people haven't showered and in no instance have any of them "reeked".

Have you been on the tube recently riverboat? Or are you lucky enough to cruise the Thames in the fresh air?

I went retro earlier and washed my hair in the kitchen sink as I'd had a shower yesterday and couldn't be arsed. Was great - I could keep an eye i=on dd2 in the garden and it reminded me of My Mum who always did her hair in the kitchen
Is that weird?
Oh, and I don't think people smell if they don't shower every day.

Obviously the tube amplifies bad smells since everyone's rammed in like cattle, it's boiling hot and there's no AC and armpits are exposed as everyone hangs on for dear life ;-) But thankfully the rest of the day you're usually afforded a far more normal amount of personal space, plus generally airier conditions. Hence the majority of the time you're not forced to become intimite with someone's bodily smell.

I shower once in the morning & after the gym (takes 2 mins) & wash at night. My fine hair looks greasy fast if not washed daily. I have a physically hard job in a warm environment. It's important for me to start work clean in a new uniform, freshen up quickly with wipes at break, then get clean after work! I change pants twice a day too. On days off I go out lots so I shower daily at least.

As a child we were quite poor but had a wash in the mornings & a bath at night (shared water & hair wash using a jug of fresh water to rinse off). Then we got a cheap shower attachment to use daily before school. At 9 I was given my first antiperspirant deodorant & would never not use one!

When I get very depressed I don't shower daily which shows my family I'm ill.

If you found out they only shower 3x per week because they have an odour, then it's clearly not enough, but if you have never noticed they smell unpleasant and have found out by chance then it's clearly plenty and none of your business.
I only shower 3 times a week, but do face pits and bits every day. I have asked my husband who confirms I do not whiff ever, and he is quite put out as he showers twice a day and still has stinky pits. Oh, and I don't use deodorant either except when riding the horse which is bloody hard work (and I always shower after that to avoid smelling of stables)

Yes, some people (those with more testosterone I think) need to shower more frequently otherwise they do stink, yes. My friend reeks to high heaven if he doesn't shower every day. I have very low levels of testosterone (too much oestrogen) and don't sweat, my body temp is quite low and I rarely smell.

I shower after sex, true, and also if I have a heavy period (rarely) or if I am doing something intimate. After all, it's only good manners.

But to say everyone needs to shower once a day as a matter of course otherwise they stink is just incorrect. You might, others don't.

Assuming no physical restrictions, I can't see why a quick bath is a faff either. I didn't have a shower either in our last place. You run the taps while boiling the kettle/ironing clothes/getting kids up/whatever. Then jump in and swish round for a couple of minutes, hop out. You don't need to fill the bath up, light candles, add bubbles etc. Just a few inches, some soap and a sponge. I really can't see what's so tricky.

Whether you want to or not is a different matter but not having a shower isn't an excuse.

I am having a bath today and will be washing my hair and DS.

I will have a strip wash in the morning (last school run!)

I just stand in the drive and my husband gives me a good hosing down with the Karcher 140bar Pressure Washer, followed by a buff-up with a chamois, bit of turtlewax and then he touches up any scratches with a pot of Hummel.

I gleam like new after that. A Magic Tree (Forest Fresh) hooked over my lughole - I smell super and ready for the day ahead.

Talc - heheehee! Ps you just reminded me of when I was small & my Dad would get in from work then have to spend ten mins scrubbing his hands & arms with Swarfega (sp?) to get the oil off (he'd been working on engines).

I shower every other day, and flannel wash my face, pits and undercarriage morning and night. If I've been gardening, had sex or it's TOTM then I shower daily.

Kids get bathed every other night unless they are covered in food or paint etc.

My mum bathes everyday yet still has BO.

Everyone differs!

Oh for the days when you had a bath on a Sunday night whether you needed one or not, and you had clean undies on a Monday morning.

Ahhhhhhhh memories!

Ooh Swarfega; love that smell! Beware the variety with the little abrasive balls, though - plays havoc with your buffed surfaces.

Talking of Magic Tree air fresheners, I always remember Tamsin Greig in Green Wing using one as an impromptu deodorant, by rubbing it on her shirt on the underarms. She is later described, by Joanna Clore, as smelling 'a bit toilety'.

I really didn't realise so many people were soap dodgers, I'll make even more of an effort to avoid public transport now!

There was a thread on here recently where the OP had been told very tactfully by a friend that she smelt a bit. The OP was mortified as she hadn't realised and was therefore going to up her showering etc.

I personally wouldn't feel clean if I didn't shower/have a bath every morning and I don't think people realise how smelly hair gets if not washed regularly.

And people did smell years ago - one bath a week is just not enough really - especially if you're having regular sex.

MrsCampbell - it's a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation there; how could you be having regular sex on one bath a week??

You really would be (to quote Tethersend) chiselling off your knickers...

Not everyone's hair smells MrsCB, my Dd's doesn't even after 3 weeks, but Ds's does and always has after 4 or 5 days.

Euw!!! Talc that's made me feel sick!!!

DS gets dunked in the bath every night but almost never has soap added. His hair is washed once every week to 10 days, depending on how hot it is and how much his head has sweated. He doesn't smell.

I have a bath once a week and wash other bits as necessary. I don't shower, I don't like it (except at the swimming pool). My hair can't stand being washed more than once a week or it descends into straw-like frizziness. I also don't use soap in the bath, just salt. I don't smell either - and believe me, if I did, my DH would have no compunction in telling me.

When I was pregnant, I didn't wash my hair for the last 8 weeks and it wasn't greasy at all - it was incredible! Didn't smell, wasn't greasy, didn't look straggly or anything - no one knew. Hormones have a lot to answer for but so does "conditioning" - as in your body gets used to how often you wash it and needs you to continue doing so.

Soap and lotions all mess with the natural balance of the skin as well. Mine is lovely and soft, not dry at all, because I don't use the chemicals.

I do use soap on my hands when they're dirty from gardening or oily or whatever - and it dries the skin out something terrible.

Hair is very porous though and yes small children's hair certainly doesn't smell in the same way as adults.

But I've been on the train or whatever and got a whiff of unwashed hair and it is horrid.

But I like showers and bath and don't find them a chore.

And loving that image Talc and Tethers.

No surprises here. Other nations make jokes about what shower dodgers the Brits are.

Q/How do you stop a Pom from pinching your wallet?
A/Hide it under the soap.

And it appears from this thread that a lot of Brits still think a bidet is for washing your feet in.