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AIBU?

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Original poster

To ask if DH's shower routine is as mad as I think?

208 replies

Everyoneafter3 · 02/02/2017 17:43

My dh is slightly obsessive about being 'green'. We recycle, compost, walk short journeys etc.

However, his greatest obsession concerns the wasting of water. To that end, when he showers, he will turn off the water while he's lathering up. He says it saves water. I say any savings are negated by the fact the shower will have to warm up again and the boiler will have to do this twice.

WIBU to suggest this is bonkers?

OP posts:
TinklyLittleLaugh · 02/02/2017 20:00

I do this. We have good showers ; they come back on at the same temperature they were turned off at. I've taught my kids to shower this way. Not sure that they still do, although ten year old definitely does. DH doesn't but he is super quick in the shower anyway.

There are six of us and we are on a water meter. Anyone hogging all the hot water would get short shrift.

HappySeven · 02/02/2017 20:02

I don't get how you don't do this - how do you lather up if you're already rinsing it off?!?

TinklyLittleLaugh · 02/02/2017 20:07

If you have a big shower cubicle you can easily step out of the water stream to lather up; that's what my DH does.

ErnesttheBavarian · 02/02/2017 20:08

Seems to be pretty standard behavior in Germany. Not that I share showers with that many Germans.

ChippyDucks · 02/02/2017 20:12

I used to do it when I showered in Australia. Here I can happily spend 15 minutes with the water running continuously.

schokolade · 02/02/2017 20:18

wtf is "lathering up" anyway? i just stick some shower gel on my hand and wash my arm pits etc. takes about ten seconds. i don't put it everywhere so i look like a giant snowball?!

SaucyDough · 02/02/2017 20:30

is he not showering with water from the hot water tank

Does anyone still use hot water tanks? Pretty much everyone I know has a boiler which heats on demand.

Liara · 02/02/2017 20:32

Thefirstmrsdv I do waste a lot of water though. Mainly waiting for water to heat up enough to use it. This worries me and I have tried to sort it out but the plumber said there isn't anything I can do.

There is something you can do. You can have a small pump that constantly circulates the water from where it is produced to somewhere near the point of use and back, so that you don't have cold water sitting in the pipes. We have this (we run it on a timer) and when it is on the hot water is practically instant, when it is off it takes so long that it's faster to go turn it on than to wait for the hot water to arrive.

Olympiathequeen · 02/02/2017 20:36

Change to an electric shower. It doesn't get cold when stopped and restarted. If he doesn't want to and is happy to be cold that's up to him.

TheFirstMrsDV · 02/02/2017 20:37

Thanks Chronically I will look into that.

Thanks to you liara too. Really helpful

AnUtterIdiot · 02/02/2017 20:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AnUtterIdiot · 02/02/2017 20:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

yousignup · 02/02/2017 20:43

I live in a country where water is often scarce, and I do this. I've heard it called a sailor's shower.

Mistoffelees · 02/02/2017 20:43

I've never heard of anyone doing this, commendable if you want to save water but our electric shower gives a cold blast if you turn it off and on. Lather is all a ploy anyway, the lather of soap/shower gel/detergent bears no significance to it's cleaning abilities, people just think it does so companies make their products more bubbly.

HermioneJeanGranger · 02/02/2017 20:54

I don't do this - we have an electric shower and it takes at least a minute to heat up every time - it's quicker and better for the environment to just leave the water on than it is to wait outside the shower for a several minutes per shower while it heats up!

MikeUniformMike · 02/02/2017 20:58

OP, I get in the shower, wash my face and neck with soap, rinse it off and rinse the rest of me. I switch the water off, put shampoo in my hair, soap the smelly body bits. Switch water back on and rinse myself thoroughly then switch the water off. Conditioner in hair, body puff and shower gel over the rest of me, quick wipe round the shower with shower cleaner then rinse it all off. Dry myself then dry the shower.

That's normal for me.

melj1213 · 02/02/2017 21:00

My showers are never more than 5 minutes - I have a little 5 min eggtimer on the wall in my shower that I flip over when I start the water and I try to be out before it finishes, it's a helpful reminder as I try to be quick but can lose track of time without a watch or clock visible. I don't bother turning the water on and off, my shower is over the bath with seperate taps and mixer spout, so by the time I've turned both taps on/off and adjusted them to the right temperature it wastes more water than just leaving it on and stepping out of the stream when needed.

I get into the shower pretty much as soon as it is turned on - so whilst it warms up I usually use the cool water to wash my face/brush my teeth then get under the not quite hot but warm enough water to wet my hair (I have thick wavy hair so it takes a while to get properly wet), then I lean my head out of the stream to lather up with shampoo, back under the water to rinse off, then step out of the stream to comb conditioner through my hair, whilst that's soaking in I lather up shower gel/shave pits etc then back under the water to rinse it all off and then out.

Chinnygirl · 02/02/2017 21:02

Next time he talks about this tell him that having a cold shower saves energy.

GreatScot8 · 02/02/2017 21:08

It does save water.

I think it might be difficult to understand if you don't live in a country that experiences drought. I do, and it makes me cringe when I see people leaving the tap running while they brush their teeth/giving their children deep baths every night/having 30 minute long showers daily etc.

LittleMissUpset · 02/02/2017 21:13

Our shower runs off mixer taps and takes forever to get the right temperature so once it's on it's on, as it's such a faff in the first place! Though in winter I shower every other day due to very dry and itchy skin, so I save a bit there! (I shower a lot more in summer due to sweat making my prickly heat unbearable though)

Gwenhwyfar · 02/02/2017 21:15

I think everyone in Spain does this.

I won't do it because it takes ages for my shower to get to the right temperature, but I would if it was easier.

WayfaringStranger · 02/02/2017 21:16

Our shower takes ages to heat up. Well, not ages but long enough that I'd get chilly. That said, I'm super quick in the shower anyway.

katseyes7 · 02/02/2017 21:17

l'm with stickygotstuck on this one. l do exactly what she says.

Gabilan · 02/02/2017 21:17

Does anyone still use hot water tanks? Pretty much everyone I know has a boiler which heats on demand.

I don't have mains gas. Hot water is via a tank heated with electricity which I have on a timer.

AcrossthePond55 · 02/02/2017 21:26

GI shower. We've been doing this due to the drought here in Calif. We also do this in our caravan to keep from filling the grey tanks and using up all the fresh water.

Conservation is everyone's business. You may think "Oh my usage is a drop in the bucket". But a million people drops will usually overflow that bucket.