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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To shower twice a week

103 replies

minimisemyshowers · 27/01/2015 16:12

This post is perhaps more about hair washing than anything else.

I used to be a staunch shower-every-morning sort of person, including hair wash and blow dry. However, recent events meant I left it two days and my hair was so glossy and gleaming after I washed it that I'm keen to try again!

I'm not a particularly active person and don't get very sweaty but will freshen up particularly "smelly" areas Grin

Is this where madness lies ... Or does anybody else shower fairly infrequently? Both my parents were of the once a week persuasion!

OP posts:
FightOrFlight · 27/01/2015 20:32

Those who don't shower daily stink of BO and don't realise it as they are used to their own smell or they think copious amounts of perfume/deoderant will hide it.

Oh shut up. If you wash your armpits etc. on the days you don't shower then you get rid of the stale bacteria that causes BO.

Tinks42 · 27/01/2015 20:36

Yeah shut up. I don't stink. I also don't wash my armpits every day. Not everyone works up a sweat in between you know Grin

IHaveBrilloHair · 27/01/2015 20:39

I don't understand how it is quicker to mess around with arse/fanny/pits washes, rather than getting in the shower.
Shower daily unless not well enough.

WowserBowser · 27/01/2015 20:42

I don't understand how it is quicker to mess around with arse/fanny/pits washes, rather than getting in the shower

Yeah I never get this. I am a lazy fucker and that just seems like such a faff - for erm, washing your faff. shower seems so much easier.

minimisemyshowers · 27/01/2015 20:50

If you have a shower it possibly is I daresay.

OP posts:
ExpectTheVeryUnexpected · 27/01/2015 21:08

I think I must be the worst on the thread. In winter I shower twice a week and hair wash every ten days ish. This is because I have super dry skin and hair. I flake and get red raw otheraise. I use deodorant obviously and give bits a wash more often. Summer I suffer the dry skin for the relief of a cold shower more often...nobody has ever commented on it or told me I smell. And I live with a partner who washes twice daily and would tell me. I have a friend however, who smells of body odour not an hour after showering no mafter how often.

FightOrFlight · 27/01/2015 21:17

Expect I used to share a flat with a woman I worked with. She showered morning and evening but by lunchtime you could smell her armpits halfway down the office. It very much depends on the person, how much they sweat etc.

www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/fashionandbeauty/beautywatch/why-not-avoid-the-showers-and-have-a-dry-day-235952.html

"There are other concerns about daily showering, which might encourage us to do it less. Dermatologists fear that regular washing is stripping the skin of essential oils that keep it supple and moisturised. Every time you take a shower, you’re sloughing away at your skin’s structure. Soap and hot water dissolve the lipids in the skin, and scrubbing with a flannel or loofah only hastens the process. The more showers you take, the more frequent this damage and the less time your skin has to repair itself through natural-oil reproduction.

Dermatologists say that daily dousing with hot water, combined with harsh soaps, can strip the skin of its oils, resulting in dryness, cracking and even infection.

The same is true of hair, which becomes dry, brittle and lank when repeatedly washed. Too much soap strips hair of sebum, the oily substance secreted by our scalps to ward off bacteria. As a consequence, we produce more sebum, resulting in a lank and greasy look. We shampoo and condition again to rectify it, unwittingly compounding the problem.

There is also evidence that over-diligent personal hygiene destroys beneficial bacteria on the skin that help the body to ward off infection. Studies at the University of California have shown that, like the gut, our skin harbours ‘good’ bacteria that help skin cells to produce their own antibiotics. By repeatedly washing and scrubbing ourselves, we are flushing these down the plughole.

“A vigorous, daily shower would definitely disturb the natural bug flora of the skin, as well as skin oils,” says John Oxford, professor of virology at Queen Mary’s school of medicine and dentistry, in London.

While Professor Oxford recommends frequent hand-washing to minimise the spread of harmful bacteria, he is more lenient about showering.

“As long as people wash their hands often enough and pay attention to the area of the body below the belt, I do feel showering or bathing every other day would do no harm,” Professor Oxford says."

Dem stinky Scientists eh ...

woodhill · 27/01/2015 21:22

I shower every day, I do get sweaty and use body cream, surely it is not as drying on skin as a bath. I don't wash my hair everytime

ThatBloodyWoman · 27/01/2015 21:27

If you shower every day,how do you ever have adventures?

Some of my finest memories have involved much muck and little washing,and I survived along with those around me.

wendycraigsmini · 27/01/2015 21:28

Oh for ffs. Wash as much as your own bod requires to prevent you stinking/sticking.

Some of you lot are so precious. We are on a water meter don't you know.

Casperthefriendlyspook · 27/01/2015 21:47

One oh my good friends doesn't wash every day and you can tell. She smells stale and a bit vinegary. Sad
I've tried to encourage her to shower, or at least wash, daily. She only does her face on the days in between (I know because we've talked about it.) She claims she doesn't smell, but she does. Without me being rude, I don't know how to tell her. I've said 'Oh you'll be much fresher', and 'Hmmm. Aren't you feeling a bit grotty?', or 'why don't you go for a shower?'

I think I'm going to have to be straighter with her.

ourglass · 27/01/2015 21:52

I don't understand how it is quicker to mess around with arse/fanny/pits washes, rather than getting in the shower.

100%

Blue2014 · 27/01/2015 22:02

I shower 2-3 x a week, I don't smell and I know this because my husband is a shower every day man, it's a big debate for us and he would take great pleasure in telling me if I did! He's actually quite upset that I don't smell! Grin

ThatBloodyWoman · 27/01/2015 22:13

I think there's a difference in what people find acceptable or normal or clean smells.
Is a clean person smelling of perfume? Or smelling of nothing? Or carrying the slight natural smell of the human body?

And why are so many people so disgusted by a slight natural smell of the human body?

Kim82 · 27/01/2015 22:18

I shower every day bit only wash my hair every other day, I just tie it back on the day it isn't being washed.

Mintyy · 27/01/2015 22:25

I shower every day not just for cleanliness (wash hair every two or three days).

But my 10-15 minutes in a hot shower every morning is my time to relax, time for my tensed up muscles and sometimes painful joints to ease up, time completely on my own to think about day ahead surrounded by hot steam and lovely scents, its a bit of luxury in a life which mainly consists of treadmilly/routiney stuff where I can't often be on my own.

Would never willingly give up my long hot daily shower.

ApocalypseThen · 27/01/2015 22:32

I also shower every day but wash my hair only twice a week - naturally curly and dyed blonde it's unbelievably dry, it just can't get greasy. Hard to know whether I'd smell if I showered less frequently. At this stage it's a comfort thing. If I haven't showered I just feel manky.

Loletta · 27/01/2015 22:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Loletta · 27/01/2015 22:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Momagain1 · 27/01/2015 22:43

YANBU. I wash bits and pits daily, use anti-perspirant deodorant, change my underclothes and don't usually do manual labor. I used to live in hot and humid climate, where a daily wash or two really was needed. An average day here, temperature and effort wise, doesnt seem to dictate that much washing. 2 times a week generally, more if conditions dictate.

Skin issues with my scalp mean my hair washing and styling schedule is as instructed by my doctor and lots of trial and error to determine least skin irritation. Way less often than the hair product industry says though. Skin on my head does best when left alone and treated very gently.

FarFromAnyRoad · 27/01/2015 22:44

There's a very great deal to be said for not showering/hair washing every day. Your skin will benefit from being allowed to build up it's natural defences and your hair will improve too. I shower 3 times a week - more in summer if needs be - and my previously terrible dry, flaky horrid skin is so much improved. Hair too - doesn't get as greasy and limp as it used to.
And very much what Loletta said. The body is not meant to be remorselessly washed with chemicals every single day - it just isn't.

CrabbyTheCrabster · 27/01/2015 22:54

My main exercise is walking sedately, the only thing that would make me run would be a sale on at the local off licence.

FightorFlight I think I love you. Grin

I hate showers. Hate getting cold and undressed, hate the fact that it takes ages to get properly warm, by which time it's time to get out and feel cold all over again. Much easier to wash than shower. I like nice deep hot baths. And not every day either.

littlepeas · 27/01/2015 23:08

I shower daily, but only wash my hair every 2 or 3 days - I just stick it in a top knot and lower the shower head so my head is above it. I have weaned myself down from daily hair washing (sometimes twice a day) and it has improved the condition of my hair, which is long and dyed blonde.

IceBeing · 28/01/2015 00:47

The smell that is socially unacceptable is usually the result of bacteria on the skin, and not intrinsic 'human' smell. Because people have different skin chemistries including pH etc. they are very differently susceptible to the build up of the stinky bacteria.

Some people really don't need to wash often to smell fresh, and others need to wash multiple times a day to smell fresh. Life just ain't fair!

IceBeing · 28/01/2015 00:49

Oh an I agree with far, the body can repel the stink causing bacteria most efficiently when you don't strip it of it's defensive moisture wicking hair or cover it in aggressive chemicals on a regular basis.