To wash everyday?

[Brodiebirdy]

I currently wash my hair every other day and on the days in between I just have a quick wash in the shower (I’m only in there for about 2 mins). I’m staying with my sister for the week and she says it’s a lot of water to use and that you don’t really need to wash every day- she says that every other day is fine. I just wondered if other people thought that washing everyday is too much? Thanks

I applause SerenDippitty commitment to the cause in washing their feet in the sink. Thank you for not adding to the 'I can smell and tell you’ve not washed your feet for days' people out there. Honestly that’s quite an achievement. I’d be arse over tit just attempting that feat/feet.

If not I'm inclined to believe you don't take that much an interest in yourself.

ODFOD.

Anyone who believe that humans need to exfoliate have been well and truly sucked in by the marketing companies!

And most (most) humans don't need to moisturise either, funnily enough, human skin has evolved to provide itself with the perfect amount of moisture to function and has been doing this for millenia. In fact it's all the washing and detergents that are messing with our skin.

I need to shower every day in the summer. In the winter I shower every other day or after exercise (which can be every day if I am being good). That is mainly because I appreciate a bit of extra time in bed in the winter on dark mornings and find I don't really sweat and my skin and hair gets too dry if I shower daily in the winter (I have eczema), and I have never had an issue with body odour. But I would never say that daily showering is excessive if that's what someone wants to do. If I could afford the water bill I would have a hot bath every day in the winter because I enjoy them. Perhaps offer to contribute more to the water bill if that's what you like doing?

Haha! I reckon most people i know shower every day but me & DH don’t unless we are on holiday (probably coz more sweaty and sand and stuff) i would say he probably showers more than me 😂

I have a good wash every day but i only usually shower if i need to wash my hair or if i’ve exercised. I don’t think i smell and DH would be sure to tell me if i did! 🤣

I shower once a fortnight whether I need to or not.

If only other people had your motto

I perspire at night. I have to wash everyday.

Its not nessercary to shower every day, in fact from a scientific perspective it may be healthier not to because then you have more natural microbiome on your skin that protects you from illnesses and etc .

However washing every day isn't strictly bad either so really its down to individual preference, nothing wrong with either choice, just do what makes you feel confident n happy innit

I'm inclined to believe you don't take that much an interest in yourself

Or maybe our interest in ourselves goes a bit deeper? I don't wear make up very often, never wax, only shave my legs and then only in the summer when I get round to it, never exfoliate. Brush my teeth twice a day and try to remember to brush my hair.

I am interested in myself though, whether I am doing a worthwhile job, motivating my team, supporting my children, loving my husband, learning new things, doing things that make feel good like singing, running, dancing and living a long and healthy life.

Whether I adhere to somebody else's standards of how women should look and smell (sunshine and flowers!) while I'm doing these things really doesn't interest me, no.

I take it none of these posters who don't understand how strip washing works were born in the 70's?

Early 70s born.

It's not that I don't understand how it works, I just find it grim.

And way more faff - not to mention nowhere near as enjoyable as - a hot shower.

Turn the shower on, step in, get warm, clean and washed, step out, dry.

Compared with faffing about with a face cloth.

I had never even heard of a 'strip wash' until I came on MN. I never saw my 30s-born DM have one, nor advocate for one. I guess because we had a functioning bathroom growing up. And, just, why would you?

Honestly, what is grim about a wash with a flannel? If you don’t like it personally you don’t have to do it.

I guess because we had a functioning bathroom growing up

Lucky you. Like i said earlier the house i grew up in didn’t have a shower, and the boiler took an hour to heat enough water for a bath. Plus heating two-four baths worth of water every night cost money. No water saving tubs either.

So while we did have a “functioning bathroom” it wasn’t the straightforward jump in the shower quickly while the combi delivers unlimited hot water we have today.

My nan had an outside toilet and tin bath arrangement in front of the fire for many years as a child.

So strip washes were the solution.

what is grim about a wash with a flannel? If you don’t like it personally you don’t have to do it.

The idea of smearing what you're trying to wash off, all over you - given you focus on the dirtiest/sweatiest bits. Doing it inside pyjamas/clothes, without even taking them off. 😬 And if you do get full naked, then just step in the shower, surely.

Ok, I can understand being forced to do it a generation ago, because there was no alternative - but don't most homes have a functioning shower these days? Wiping yourself with a cloth, while standing next to a lovely shower that's going to sluice the dirt and sweat right down the drain seems so incongruous and unsatisfying.

The idea of smearing what you're trying to wash off, all over you - given you focus on the dirtiest/sweatiest bits.

Go educate yourself on how soap works before further commentary down this line.

doing it inside pyjamas/clothes, without even taking them off

That’s not a strip wash

And if you do get full naked, then just step in the shower, surely.

A strip wash takes less time and water.

Its a pretty brainless position to try and shame people out of behaviour that’s more environmentally friendly than the alternative.

Having competed with two sisters for the bathroom on a daily basis in the 1970s, I shower every day and still count it as a real luxury.

We have recently had a new bathroom with a walk in shower and rain shower installed.

I shower every single day, sometimes twice a day in the summer/time of the month. I wash my hair every day too, bar the times I accidentally run out of shampoo/conditioner. Some days I just cba..but I end up having one!

I'm peri-, possibly (hopefully) almost fully menopausal. When I sweat, it's more than pits and bits. I'm a recent convert to daily showers, whatever the weather.

Even 15-20 years ago, not being able to wash at least every other day led to an horribly itchy back.

We have a rain shower. I've never used it because, apart from the fact that there are stains underneath, where it appears to leak, it doesn't wash the bits I want to wash most frequently and thoroughly, at all.

Strip wash just reminds me of my uncle standing at the kitchen sink in his vest.... why the kitchen sink Uncle Paul, why!! And the bar of soap that was just a sliver. Yuk.

People who don't get a bath or shower everyday and say they don't smell I think are are kidding themselves. In the morning when I have my bath I can smell my armpits. I have a bath everyday and put on the best Sure deodorant for sports.

My Mum has a strip wash everyday because she cant get in the bath because she is disabled. She uses brushes and sponges on handles etc. I cant believe a younger able bodied person would have a strip wash this day and age? I think its totally grim.

I had a friend who used to get one shower per week, I felt like gagging when I was out with her.It wasn't that she could afford the water, it was because she didn't care about herself.

I can't believe how many posters took @Oakenbeach's post seriously! They were being ironic - trying to get folks to realise how extreme and obsessive their behaviour is. All water off duck's back, it seems.

No-one has offered any negative consequences of not showering daily/hourly and laundering clothes/towels after every human touch, other than allegedly offending some delicate flowers' noses. Whereas the negative impacts of obsessive hygiene are clear to see and have been researched & published.

And the idea of doing a "3rd world country GAP thing" and clogging up that country with wet wipes is just horrific...

Not at all. Growing up in a Caribbean house it was twice a day. Sometimes it still is for the kids, morning and night. It’s not unreasonable once a day minimum. Hummmm, if you think of it this way, you get up from sleeping and want to feel fresh and clean for the day ahead, or if you sweat at night /TOTM etc. Then you go out to work or to see friends or shop etc and you are exposed to traffic fumes, pathogens, viruses, public surfaces such as handles etc that have been touched by hundreds throughout the day. You are exposed to faecal or waste matter if people don’t clean up theirs dog poop, or if the toilet is flushed without the lid on it ( everything you flush still travels upwards in particles if the lid isn’t shut) then touch your face, hair arm etc. I’m thinking definitely a quick shower after a day like that, which we all take for granted. Hope that helps.

People who don't get a bath or shower everyday and say they don't smell I think are are kidding themselves. In the morning when I have my bath I can smell my armpits. I have a bath everyday and put on the best Sure deodorant for sports.

Maybe you're just smellier than other people

People who don't get a bath or shower everyday and say they don't smell I think are are kidding themselves

It varies person to person. I don’t sweat unless exercising v strenuously or v hot day. It also takes a while for my personal skin flora to start producing smells.

I have lived in many shared houses. I have known people who smell after a day at work. I have known others who can go a week and not smell at all (student house no shower!)