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AIBU?

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Original poster

To wonder if anyone else will admit to being a soap dodger?

703 replies

blueberrycoconut · 18/08/2018 13:20

I often can’t be arsed. Dh has to prompt me. Anyone else?

OP posts:
StorminaTCut · 19/08/2018 23:57

Wash & brush teeth before work.
Wash & brush teeth after work.

That is normal.

Anything less is grimy.

Sakura7 · 20/08/2018 00:08

To be fair twice a day isn't 'normal'. Not saying there's anything wrong with it if that's what you like, but one shower a day is about average and more than adequate.

TitsalinaBumSquash · 20/08/2018 00:12

I look after someone who up until recently o know for a fact hadn't bathed/showered or washed her body in over a year.
She's elderly, with dementia and she will not wash, we can't force her. She has her hair washed by the hairdresser once a month and she brushes her teeth 3-4 times a week (still has all her own, strong and healthy) she doesn't smell at all. She has awful dry skin all over her but I've never noticed a smell coming from her and we do up close and personal care. She changes her clothes 2-3 times a week and lives in a bed all day and night with several thick layers of covers.

adayatthebeach · 20/08/2018 00:17

I had a friend from the southwest coastal area of your country. I was told her husband and her took turns using the bath water and bathed once a week! She was older though she went first and they weren’t in a sexual relationship. Surely water isn’t that costly there!

Aeroflotgirl · 20/08/2018 00:19

I don't have a shower everyday, I have eczema, so a full shower everyday can really dry my skin out, though I do wash my intimate areas everyday. Unless i am working out, than yes I do have a shower, or hot days. I wash my hands regularly. In the winter I can get away with infrequent showers.

healzam · 20/08/2018 05:15

I think it's time to grow up

Teacher22 · 20/08/2018 06:23

Whole family showers or baths every day - twice in the recent hot weather. Wash my hands every loo visit ( as does everyone else) and before I handle food. Can’t be grubby. Horrible thought.

Zoflorabore · 20/08/2018 07:23

I have MH problems and OCD but always have a shower every day, it is part of my routine and I feel much better when I'm clean and fresh.

For those who don't wash daily at all- I do hope that you change your underwear, I know someone who is like that and once admitted she had the same knickers on for 3 days Shock there is no excuse for that.

My dd is a total scruff. She's 7 and has
to be forced to shower every day.
Ds is 15 and absolutely spotless, he showers at least once a day.

I was born in 1978 and was bathed every single day as a child but know that lots weren't. It wasn't as normal to then.

I used to wash my hair constantly and it never looked or felt any different, apart from loads of hair falling out when drying it.
That's one thing I've cut down but use dry shampoo on the days I don't wash it.

My ndn calls having a wash at the sink "a slut wash" which sounds horrible.

StorminaTCut · 20/08/2018 07:32

Sakura7 I think its normal to have a 3 minute shower before work after sleeping in a 22 degree room all night & put on deodrant & clean work clothes on, brush teeth, and go to work.

Then come home & have a 3 minute shower after being on your feet all day for 14 hours, in a physical job & get into clean clothes.

Some people think its normal to wash twice a week on here. Although Im sure they must wash their feet, face & nether regions more frequently in this heat?

Im not sure they would be reapplying deodrant, perfume & face cream over stale make up & unwashed skin every day, I presume they stand at a sink twice a day to brush teeth, so probably have a quick wash.

adayatthebeach Its £31 a month fo2 2 of us, we are on a water meter & use a dishwasher, washing machine, bath & shower etc.

Although there are some on the beach too, which are handy.

Grin
nicebitofquiche · 20/08/2018 07:59

When I was a child up until I was 7 we didn't have a bath or a shower in the house. We went to public baths but I don't know how often. I was bathed standing up in the big kitchen sink and presume my parents just washed themselves at the sink. Just imagine that all you shower twice a day people.

PollyFlinderz · 20/08/2018 08:40

Just imagine that all you shower twice a day people

I can remember that as well.

Sakura7 · 20/08/2018 08:41

StorminaTCut - That's your preference and there's nothing wrong with it, but it's not fair to say that anything less (i.e. a daily shower) is grimy. The majority of people don't shower twice a day, and don't need to. Once a day is the norm.

purplepansyem · 20/08/2018 09:41

I'm going to be completely honest and say yes - I suffer from depression and anxiety and take medication. I find when I'm struggling that bathing, washing my hair and getting dressed are the last things I feel like doing and I need prompting by my husband.

ElspethFlashman · 20/08/2018 10:51

I don't get these "3 minute showers".

That's barely enough time to do anything, yet the water rushing down the plughole is considerable. I mean, in 3 minutes you're not washing your hair. You're giving a quick slosh around your bits and pits.

You'd get exactly the same effect having a wash at the sink, and you could put a stopper in!

Whats the point of wasting all that water? Imo, a 3 minute shower is just an excuse to say "I showered".

Kaybush · 20/08/2018 11:18

I shower every morning and wash my hair every other day.

At my DCs school it's pretty obvious which parents shower daily and which don't. It's nothing to do with smelling, it's just the ones that don't tend to get out of bed half an hour before walking the children to school, and it shows! Hmm

meadowmeow · 20/08/2018 11:23

I don't quite get the 'wasting water' element of peoples reasoning. Surely you are not wasting but simply using water? You know, because that's what it's for!

IamPeas · 20/08/2018 11:26

Cheval, one of my first memories is having a bath with my mum in a bath house - I loved it because we had loads of lovely hot water (this would be in the early '70's). I am quite fascinated by this thread, and will admit to not always showering every day. I get depression and have done for many years and one of the signs that it is creeping up on me is not being bothered about showering, doing my hair or putting on make-up. It is a very common sign of depression. I last washed my hair on Saturday and it is lovely and shiny and soft and smells lovely - I have also showered today with my new Jo Malone soap Smile. I hate baths with a passion, but like showers. I also really hate getting dry after a shower, but that might be due to memories of being wet and cold after a bath in a freezing damp house as a child.
Also laughing a bit at the 60's and 70's kids who bathed or showered everyday, I would have thought you very posh/rich? Where I came from kids were bathed once a week (we were bathed less and were the stinky, nitty kids, but that's for a different thread Grin)

cmlover · 20/08/2018 11:26

I don't get people who have only 3 minutes in a shower.

I love a hot steaming shower and could stay in one for ever.

I don't have a shower at home so I may get excited when i can use one

MeyMary · 20/08/2018 11:31

I wouldn't want to shower in the morning, tbh... In the evening/when I get home works better for me. it's just the ones that don't tend to get out of bed half an hour before walking the children to school, and it shows! hmm some of these parents might be like me/shower in the evening...Wink

But I still do my hair, brush my teeth (apparently not everyone does, according to this threadConfused), put on a bit of makeup...

I'm also surprised that so few people seem to clean their hands before going to the toilet. It just seems like a bad idea from a health/safety point of view (to me personally)...

Fowles94 · 20/08/2018 11:36

I don't shower every day and I certainly don't smell, I shower every other day. Some of you are really nasty to OP, you can be clean without showering 2x daily as some of you said. It's not good for your skin, my dermatologist for my eczema does not recommended daily showereing as it make my skin worsen.

ineedwine99 · 20/08/2018 11:37

Not a fan of the minimal hand washing, i've no idea how many times i must wash mine, after each toilet visit, after feeding the cats, after i've eaten a bag of crisps/sweets/after changing a nappy, before eating and sometimes after if my toddler has been messy and had to be cleaned up. I HATE the feeling of dirty hands, can't wear handcream because of it

thatmustbenigelwiththebrie · 20/08/2018 12:15

These people who don't shower every day - do you just not move? Even walking to work makes me sweat, never mind doing exercise. I would really smell if I didn't shower every day.

Squidgee · 20/08/2018 12:16

". It's nothing to do with smelling, it's just the ones that don't tend to get out of bed half an hour before walking the children to school, and it shows! "

When i'm not feeling so low, and i'm doing the school run, I will never shower before.. I wait til I've got home and can actually have a shower in peace.

Zoflorabore · 20/08/2018 12:18

People who shower less than every other day must smell.

If your husband has to tell you to have a bath then you must stink. Mine wouldn't ever have to tell me to but if he did then it would be days worth of dirt to smell so bad.

I honestly couldn't imagine not having a shower every day during my period, that is horrible.

Lisabel · 20/08/2018 12:22

No because by doing so you're spreading infections to vulnerable people and risking catching viruses and bacterial infections yourself.

To maintain good health for you and those around you, you should shower or bathe twice a day for perfect hygiene, daily for good hygiene or every other day at a bare minimum.

To prevent the spread of viruses (such as Norovirus/stomach bugs, flu, rotavirus) and bacterial infections (salmonella, campylobacter) you need to wash your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds after using the toilet, before preparing food (and after touching raw meat) and after handling rubbish and laundry.