To ask how often you need to wash yourself to be clean?

[Goldencurtain]

I have a shower every other day but wouldn't admit that publicly because fear I would be shamed for being dirty. When my mum was growing up it was standard to have a bath once a week, no shame attached at all to that. Indeed it's probably only been fairly recently there has been an expectation of a daily/twice daily shower.

When did social attitudes start to change on what 'dirty' meant and what do you do?

I didn't look be anywhere with a shower until I was about 30.
At home as a little children baths were weekly and we were all in together after my mum.
As we got older we could have more baths but with 5 in the house and an emersion heater that gave you a shallow bath in an unheated bathroom, it wasn't possible for everyone to have a daily bath.As a teen I washed my hair more often and got used to cold water.
Shared flats as a student only had a bath but lots of hot water,no one bathed daily.
In my 30 I had a shower,used it daily.
Now menopausal I wash less as I sweat less and my skin is dryer.
People don't smell musty,their clothes do.
Some people shower daily but I don't think a couple of minutes with shower gel is getting anyone clean.

I was only bathed once or twice a week as a child. It wasn't for lack of facilities, this was the '70s/'80s and we had a shower, heating and plenty hot water. I didn't smell - my parents were extremely houseproud/washed clothing etc. far more than was necessary, so no way would they allow me to smell! But once I reached puberty I showered every day, because I definitely would smell bad and have greasy hair if I didn't. My parents showered daily.

I'll happily admit to only bathing/showering my own kids twice a week when they were little. Still do this with my seven year old, as he hates showers, it takes ages every evening and his skin gets very dry if bathed daily. He smells fine! My teenager has been made to shower daily since age 10, as he smells pungently and had very greasy hair if he doesn't. Help, he smells and looks greasy ten minutes after showering, poor boy! It was noticeable very quickly when he needed to start washing more often and using antiperspirant.

Yes people have strip washes now either because of cost, or it is a habit from younger, or they are disabled and struggle with a shower. When I had a broken foot I had sit down strip washes and only showers when my DP could physically help me. Showers can be difficult for a lot of people with mobility issues, unless it has been adapted.

Showering daily is not good for some people's skin. Some people are fine with it, but with some people it does dry out their skin and cause skin irritations. Dermatologists will often recommend not showering daily for this reason. So it is not rubbish.

To be honest, I get in the bath or have a shower every morning, however I am a very sweaty person and I would stink if I didn't! I know people who don't shower every day, instead they have a strip wash at the sink using a flannel. If you don't smell and you are ok with it, then I don't see what the problem is 😊.

This is a fascinating experiment, and one 300 or so of us have undertaken as part of a living history re-enactment. We have showers there (now) but most of us don't use them as regularly as modern sensibilities dictate. In fact we mostly smell of woodsmoke at the end of two weeks of Tudor hygiene. And there's nothing to equal the joy of a long hot bath when you return to the 21st century.

I'm still a bath once a week, with extensive daily flannel was-downs and scrupulously clean laundry person.

We are wasting far, far too much water as a civilisation and it's perfectly possible to be hygienic and inoffensive (especially now clean clothes are so easily achievable) .

I wonder how long it will be before green issues begin to outweigh the modern compulsion for daily conspicuous water consumption?

I shower twice a week and bathe once. My hair gets washed once a week or it becomes dry and frizzy. I can absolutely assure you that I don't smell. My skin is in great condition. If I did smell, my adult kids or bf would definitely tell me. Clean clothes every day, apart from jeans or a hoodie, where I'll get 2-3 wears out of them.

Every Christmas. Whether I need to, or not.

Urgh this post makes me feel awful. I have chronic illnesses and no way I could manage a shower daily :(

@IcedPurple My mom still strip washes in the morning, but she will have a shower when she comes home 🤷🏾‍♀️.

I shower twice each day when well and somewhere between 1 and 3 times when unwell (once if too ill to shower twice, 3x if I feel grose!).

Anyway I think that showering at least once a day, now that it's relatively cheap and easy to do so, is a good idea because you get rid of sweat, dead skin cells, bacteria, virus particles (e.g. that you pick up from surfaces through the day at work or on public transport).

I think once every other day is the minimum for reasonable hygiene but only if accompanied by decent handwashing (i.e. after using the toilet, after handling rubbish, before preparing food etc).

I was born in the late 1940’s.I had a bath once a week,was taught to never go to bed without washing my feet,used to wash them in a bowl of water in front of the fire.

I started nursing in 1966,in London.We had a communal wash area,separated by curtains and big cold bathrooms,I stared to have a bath more often then.

I now live in a house with a bathroom and two shower rooms.I shower every morning and every time I go swimming,which is six evenings a week.

I showered about 9pm last night,having a lazy day,so only just going for a shower,I feel dirty!

I shower every other day, or some days I just go in the bath with DS. I have never had any comments on my smell (and my mother does not hold back about this stuff). I sometimes wear a top a second time before washing it if it smells fine & isn't stained. I don't sweat much, obviously on a hot day I might need to shower. I do wash my arm pits etc each morning if i haven't showered.

People are too obsessive about this now. I find that there are sensible things you can do to prevent bad smells - disregard fashion in favour of practical clothing on hot days, for one. Natural fibres over synthetic. I don't wear much make up, so don't get that aroumd the neck of a top.

I have friends who shower twice daily. One now complains of dry skin (no wonder, she's stripping all the natural oils), the other I find her constant heavily fragranced odour to be overwhelming and actually not all that pleasant.

Smelling of BO doesn't equate to not having showered. Some people can come out of a hot shower and start sweating immediately (has happened to my DH), when he smelled fine before the shower, having just come in from sport.

When some people feel the need to state how many times they wash /scrub/ bleach themselves, I do think, are you pissing your pants, collect sweat and dirt in creases or generally scuzzy to have to be such a way. I'm sure with the amount of showering, washing that no one is going to develop sores. I worry about the levels of anxiety people are developing over 'clean'. Just wash and go.

It's been lovely to read about people's personal history with cleaning and how things have changed over time. I find it fascinating to see how views can change within a generation. It's also interesting to see how almost angry some people get at the thought of not washing every day, I think it reveals some almost primordial feeling of disgust. But disgust is socially conditioned - what is clean to us is filthy in other cultures and vice versa, you just need to think about cleanliness requirements if you are a Muslim for example.

But anyway back to the more superficial point of how regularly you clean yourself. I think some are assuming the very stinky people that exist appear like that after not having a shower within a 24 hour period, which is just quite frankly quite silly. More likely it's about not washing hands frequently enough, dirty clothes, dirty bedsheets, maybe naturally being a sweaty person, as well as not showering frequently. I wash my hands properly, wash my clothes and sheets when they need it, and don't really sweat at all, so am perfectly happy that I don't stink as some of the more over the top posters have claimed.

@Goldencurtain Yes I am always fascinated by the expressions of disgust. Disgust is a very strong emotion and I always wonder what is behind it.

Medication can make you smell as well. There is a certain faint smell some elderly people get from this. No amount of washing tackles it.

But I also wonder about the impact of trying to erase smells totally. I am not talking about the smell of someone who is seriously filthy. But we all give off natural human smells. And smells are part of sexual attraction.

Drs also used to use smell to help diagnose certain illnesses. That has also gone.

@ZaZathecat It's because of the hot water. If he used cool more on the cold side he would be fine. The hot water works up the bacteria or something.

I think people who are saying that they bathe once every 2 days need to check in with people they work with before declaring that they are fine. You are not the best person to make that call. There are lots of people on here saying that they can tell when people haven't washed. It is not fine. We can tell.

karencantobe even if your skin can't tolerate daily washing, no one should skip washing their bits and pits and faces. It is obvious when people haven't. We can tell.

I grew up in the 80s and as a child had one bath a week but was expected to strip wash at the shower every day. As soon as I hit puberty it changed to once a day or every other day as i sweated then and needed a daily bath or shower. Now i shower daily. My hair is really greasy and nothing helps (have tried reducing washing etc) and dry shampoo upsets my scalp.

I will honestly say though that my friend only showers every few days and claims it is fine, but she does smell even if she can't smell it. Whereas my husband occasionally showers every other day in the winter due to getting up at 4am and never smells.

Strip wash at the sink even

Twice a day usually, in the morning as I have usually sweated in my sleep and in the evening because I’ve usually trained and again, sweat.

Some info in this about impact of daily showering:

www.health.harvard.edu/blog/showering-daily-is-it-necessary-2019062617193

I am very conscious that every partner I have had has smelt sooo good. Clearly I am attracted to men whose smell I find attractive. I can’t stand perfumes or after shave, smelly deodorant etc. is a no-no for me. It is all part of sexual attraction. 😁