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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do you shower every day?

383 replies

chumrun · 26/08/2014 21:52

The thread about taking an hour made me wonder.

In the morning I:

Clean teeth and listerine (10 mins)

Shower including hair wash with conditioner and shave legs and armpits every other day (10 mins)

Dry and straighten hair (10 mins)

Makeup, dress, earrings and other accessories (10 mins)

I can cut this down but I dawdle and make cups of tea, watch tv in between so yeah about an hour. But some people seem to just wash?

So what is the average?

OP posts:
however · 27/08/2014 10:23

Yes. I'm ready inside 20 minutes. I have short hair and don't style or blow dry it. I rarely wear makeup.

jamdonut · 27/08/2014 10:38

At the risk of being called skanky...I shower once a week generally...if I'm going somewhere special, maybe then too. I wash everyday, wash my hair twice a week.

My DH is the same . It is how we were brought up . Our families are the same.

When the kids were little they had a bath most nights, but now they tend to shower twice maybe three times a week.

I don't think we smell!!...

I think , as a lot of homes have en- suites etc, it is easier to have a quick shower once or twice a day,but 5 of us,all grown-ups ( well,youngest 14) share one bathroom. We also have an immersion heater,which costs a fortune,but we cannot afford to replace.

I think I am not that different in my washing practice to most others of my generation.

Unless someone is visibly dirty,and smelling to high heaven, what is the problem?

Topaz25 · 27/08/2014 11:00

Reading this is making me wonder how it takes me so long to get ready in the morning! I shower about 3 times a week, in the evening. I don't see why someone would need to shower the morning after an evening shower unless their bed is dirty or they sweat a lot in their sleep. I wash in the morning and it only takes me about 2 minutes to do my teeth. I think it's probably finding things and picking clothes, so I'll start laying them out the night before.

Philoslothy · 27/08/2014 11:56

my post seems to have gone.

sugarskull I think that there is a difference between a medical professional scrubbing their hands repeatedly with a generic industrial product and someone having a wshower with well chosen gentle products.

I haveva shower or bath in the evening and again in the morning because my morning shower is mainly about waking up. I will also have had sex overnight and therefore will have got sweaty and probably have semen on/in me.

NoImSpartacus · 27/08/2014 12:07

Shower once in the morning and again after the gym in the day, I take about 10 mins in the shower (I get waxed so no shaving, etc). Rub body cream following shower and brush teeth, then moisturise and do make up. All in all morning routine takes 45 mins.

Wash hair twice a week always in the evening as it takes c 45 mins to dry and style (lots of hair).

I feel groggy if I don't shower. I think people who don't shower daily are soapy and using the 'daily showers will kill you' as an excuse for their laziness!

LividofLondon · 27/08/2014 13:10

If I'm going out or visiting clients (I normally work alone from home) I'll shower. Otherwise I'll have a daily undercarriage wash and teeth clean but shower ever other day, unless I'm doing something sweaty. Hair gets washed every 3-4 days depending in what I'm doing.

I'm pretty slow in the mornings so would struggle to get ready in 30 minutes. An hour is more realistic otherwise I feel rushed and consequently a bit frazzled.

OneLittleToddleTerror · 27/08/2014 14:00

philoslothy I'm more impressed with you having sex every night Hmm

itsbetterthanabox · 27/08/2014 14:03

Washing pits and undercarriage and face at the sink takes as long as a shower ime. So why not just quickly do it in there?

itsbetterthanabox · 27/08/2014 14:04

Philoslothy you have sex everyday!?

MehsMum · 27/08/2014 14:04

Fascinating thread for nosey types like me...

I was brought up to have a bath two or three times a week. Gradually switched to a shower a day by the time I was an adult, and now will shower twice sometimes - once in the morning if I've been for a run and also every evening. Do it bloody fast - none of this 20 mins lark. Even when I had very long hair (also v thick), I could undress, shower, hair wash, shave legs and pits, dry and dress in 10 mind flat.

Mornings are quick. I lie there reading till the last possible second. In 35mins I can get dressed, face washed, teeth brushed, bed made, kitchen tidied, DC rounded up, load in the washing machine and everyone plus dogs into the car. I have a leisurely breakfast later, which I make as the dogs are bolting theirs in that elegant way dogs have.

ThatBloodyWoman · 27/08/2014 14:10

No.Its unecessary.
I can be from bedhead to out in 15 minutes.
Wash, dress, clean teeth, brush hair.

Curlyweasel · 27/08/2014 14:12

Can take an hour, can take 20 minutes - depends on where I'm going and what I'm doing. Shower every day, wash hair every other.

Routine is generally up, coffee, fag, shower, coffee, fag, put on make up, dry hair, straighten hair, get dressed, leave.

heartshapedflux · 27/08/2014 14:40

I need at least 2 cups of tea first thing in the morning and a good breakfast otherwise I'm incredibly narky and can't function properly.
Then my routine is:
Shower, wash hair, shave legs, etc 15 mins
Dry myself, apply face & body creams 5mins
Clean teeth 5 mins
Apply makeup 10 mins
Dry and straighten hair 10 mins
Choose clothes, accessories and dress 10 mins
Total 55 mins
I'm in awe of people who can get ready in less time than this and still look half decent.

SocialMediaAddict · 27/08/2014 14:48

Shower or bath everyday. Wash hair every other day.

Lweji · 27/08/2014 14:53

Yes, during the week. Twice on Saturday as I do a sport that involves very close contact and usually with very sweaty men. Then usually not on Sunday.
I can go two days without showering, but still wash main bits. Or if I am staying at home or ill.

Lweji · 27/08/2014 14:55

I was brought up with a shower per week, but using a bidet for intimate washing. We were not supposed to have baths during our periods. Hmm
I changed that half way through my teenage years and ended up simply showering every day, as it is actually faster and more convenient than by separate bits.

Also, regular in the morning.

Philoslothy · 27/08/2014 14:56

lol you don't get five children without having regular sex.

blueshoes · 27/08/2014 15:14

When I lived in the tropics, it was not unusual for me to shower twice a day.

But in the UK's temperate climate, I only shower and wash my hair every other day. However, I have a bidet and wash my undercarriage after every time I use the toilet if I am at home. I am scrupulous about my bits, but otherwise, I don't really sweat, am virtually hairless and slender i.e. no folds in my skin where perspiration could accumulate.

Dh confirmed I don't smell (of anything). So I think the frequency is sufficient.

Claybury · 27/08/2014 15:35

Someone up thread claims ' showering daily is bad for your health' Whatever next !!
I don't get, if you have a well functioning shower, how any sort of flannel washing, use of wipes, bidet etc is quicker than a shower. It takes a matter of minutes to shower - I probably have about 10 showers a week ( admittedly I do Alot of of sport )
I hope you non showering types don't swim in the same pools as I do.

PistolWhipped · 27/08/2014 15:44

I don't shower every day - or every other day - because I can't be arsed and I don't smell or ever get BO. I have short pixie hair which doesn't require washing and looks better, as a matter of fact, if it is unwashed.

KoalaDownUnder · 27/08/2014 15:58

I'm astonished that adults can shower once or twice a week and not feel totally foul! Shock I don't mean to be rude - I believe you when you say you don't smell, and more power to you if you don't mind the feel of it, but I would hate it!

Ultracrepidarian · 27/08/2014 16:26

I shower twice a day, 3 if I've worked out or been for a swim at the beach.
5 minute shower and hair wash, I don't shave no point. Clean teeth 2 minutes, deodorant and lip gloss on 1 minute, hair dry, brushed and dressed 10 minutes. All in all I guess I'm ready to go in about 20 minutes.
I also have sex every night, it's fun and important. I have a cuppa liquorice tea in the morning and I occasionally have breakfast, if I've woken up hungry otherwise I'm fine until I get hungry whenever that may be. I can't eat unless I'm hungry!

Missunreasonable · 27/08/2014 16:27

Time taken to wash pits and undercarriage at the sink = probably same time as it takes to have a shower. I find the shower far easier and less risk of splashes all over the place. Washing at the sink was understandable when I lived in a house with 2 adults and six children, a bath but no shower and an immersion heater. It isn't understandable now that I live in a house with a combi boiler and shower cubicle.

alsmutko · 27/08/2014 17:02

I sweat a lot and have huge boobs which end up with pressure sores underneath if I don't shower regularly & use medicated talc (surely someone's going to say talc us carcinogenic?)
On the odd day when DP is away overnight & I'm on early morning dog walk duty I have to get up, throw on dog walking clothes & take him out without showering. I can't wait to get home & shower to feel comfortable. 5 mins max (I have short hair & don't need to shave much). On the odd occasion I've had a flannel pits & bits wash because the shower's broken or the water's off, I've found it's no quicker, there's water splashed everywhere & it's far from satisfactory. Each to their own.

miceinthemouseorgan · 27/08/2014 17:27

Every day. Just feel all ucky and self conscious if I don't. In the days where my mam used to have to put the immersion on in advance to get hot water, a shower was a well planned event, but these days with lovely instant hot water, yes, every day. Sometimes twice if it's hot or i feel grubby after being on the tube when i get home. routine goes thus:

10 mins after the alarm goes off for gnashing teeth and bewailing unfairness of having to work for a living

another 10 mins trying to persuade dp it's his turn to make the tea

20 mins where dp is in the bathroom showering / doing his hair, which I use to drink my tea, iron my clothes for the day and sort some washing out / make beds etc

20 mins for me to do shower, hair (incl drying of) and teeth

5-10 mins to do make up / throw clothes on

5 mins to locate items needed for day / curse at missing items etc

leave house

So about 1h 15 on work mornings from alarm to leavign the house