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?

@BlindUser, I think you will find Mumsnet a frustrating place to be if you don’t want to read completely inane threads. It’s bread and butter here.

Goatinthegarden

DH has a friend who proudly showers 2-3 times a week. He never smells fresh and once took his shoes off in our house (unasked might I add!) and the smell was obscene. DH ushered him out to the pub pretty quickly. How he could be unaware of the smell, I don’t know.

This made me giggle

Those who say daily showering is a result of modern consumerism are wrong. It’s the result of the need to be clean and having hot running water from the tap. I shower daily not because some big company brainwashed me with adverts that I need to buy more soap, but because I don’t want to be grim and smelly.
Think about it...do you honestly believe people in olden days were less smelly and sweaty and now we are more grim because some sudden genetic mutation occurred in our bodies in the last 30-40 years? No. People used to be grimy and sweaty with greasy hair but their hygiene standards were generally lower and were used to each others bad smell. If everyone smells around you it becomes your norm and you more readily accept your own bad smell too as normal.

I shower every other day. I don’t think I’m dirty!!

It's also the result of thinking that a clean human is one that smells of shower gel and deodorant

I shower every evening and sometimes again in the morning. I will add the caveat that I have horses and so if I don't shower, I know I stink of horse/sweat from riding (and horse piss in the winter when mucking out) so showering daily is an absolute must!

The only time I ever skip a shower is if I am ill and can't move but even then I feel really gross and can't wait to get into the shower. I think the longest I went was 3 days when suffering with HG at the beginning of my pregnancy as I literally couldn't leave my bed and the feeling of warm water on me made me feel really queasy for some strange reason but in the end I decided that even throwing up while in the shower was better than festering in bed.

I can't bear being around smelly people. There really is no need to not shower/bath or at least wash your pits and bits on a daily basis and apply a bit of deodorant.

it becomes your norm and you more readily accept your own bad smell too as normal.

To tell you the truth I would much prefer the smell of human beings - you know that species we belong to with all it's subtle methods of communication - to the overpowering, noxious, bodysprays and perfumes that people cover themselves with. Especially Lynnx. Smells like some form of chemical disaster area. Why anyone wants to smell of industrial solvents is baffling.

TheSandman SoupDragon there’s a difference between people who douse themselves in overpowering deodorant, perfume and aftershave on a daily basis and simple folk who have a daily shower with a scented soap or shower gel.
Most soaps are scented. There’s nothing wrong with a subtle soap scent.
Humans are stinky creatures. An unwashed human doesn’t smell inviting.

I shower every other day, and occasionally on the 3rd day, but every morning I will strip and have a good wash at the sink. And no I don't smell because of this, I still use soap/body wash as I would in a shower so I actually don't see a difference between it apart from not being able to do your hair when washing at the sink. I do it this way as I have a skin condition and at the moment my scalp is really bad and washing my hair daily actually irritates it more

A "subtle soap scent" is the smell of soap. It is not the smell of clean human.

I normally shower everyday, as my hair is quite greasy. But on days i don't shower I wash pits, underboob, undercarriage and feet with flannel and soap at the bathroom sink.
I also wash face and teeth twice a day.
It depends on your lifestyle : mine isn't very active so if it wasn't for my greasy hair, I'd probably shower less. After all your arms, legs and stomach probably don't need daily washing.

thanks hun

When I was growing up, 70s-80s , baths were twice a week and we had a bowl of water to wash in on other days. As I got to older teenage years I started to have a bath every day , mainly due to greasy hair and skin but also as a way to unwind and relax at the end of the day and being in bathroom was only privacy I got. when I had DC I used to bath them every night as part of their bedtime routine. I generally have a bath or shower once a day but if I'm rushing in the morning and late home I may skip a day . I think it's the growing popularity of showers that has contributed to daily washing.

Judging by the commuters on the train I get many people either don’t shower every day or they don’t wash or air their clothes enough. Some are unpleasantly smelling even first thing. It’s revolting.

I went to boarding school in the 70s and on arrival age 11 I was given a rota for my bathtime which was three times a week. We did PE/sports every day of the week but the only showers available were after swimming. I don't remember thinking any of that was odd.

We did object to the rota because we wanted to choose our bathtimes, so that soon went out of the window - but I've no idea how often we bathed. We strip-washed every day and would have been scathing of people who didn't wash enough - but I don't remember what would have been 'enough'. I remember washing my hair with those rubber hoses over the basin in the washing cubicles, and we did that a LOT, so presumably more than we bathed. (Teenage girls, greasy hair etc....)!

I bought a house in the mid eighties which only had a bath, and bought my second in the late 90s when I got my first ever shower! I probably washed more then because it was so much quicker and easier. Plus I had quite a professional demanding job so I was up early, in the shower and washing hair every morning. Don't know what I would have done if I still lived in a bath-only house.

Nowadays I work part time, and have been through the change so am much less sweaty/smelly - have to admit it's not always daily in winter any more.......! Plus I've never washed my babies as much / made my pre-teens wash as much as any of our/their friends - though that will probably have to change as puberty approaches......

I try to bathe and wash my hair every other day as it's supposed to be bad for your natural flora to bathe every day but I find it hard as I have a good soak to relax.

In terms of being "dirty" that's subjective, some have stronger body odour than others.

I bath everyday, unless I'm ill or just having a lazy day, and I wash everything twice just to be sure because I'm paranoid about being smelly - I have to use Dove Extra Sensitive because normal soap gives me thrush/irritation. Hair is washed every other day. As a child my mum used to bath us every other day I think, as that's what her routine is even now, she does a pits and bits wash in the sink with a flannel but imo it's not thorough enough, particularly "down there". I always shower/bath before sex too. Clean undies and a full clean outfit everyday too. If I'm going out for the evening I'll have another bath and hair wash beforehand.

I cant understand people who dont wash/shower every day, thinking they dont smell.... sorry, but it's not true.... and nobody's said anything/complained about it? Maybe they're too polite?

If i don't shower every day i generally stink. I blame my electric blanket and fleecy pajama habit.

I've also bathed my son daily since he was a baby, he has eczema and a high turnover of skin cells so needed it before daily moisturisation. Since he started school I've kept that routine, and now hes 10 I've trained my him to shower every day before school to try to reduce the likelihood of the overpowering musty testosterone smell that boys get around puberty. It smells greasy and dirty, and I want him to keep that routine for when he grows up. I also wash his duvet every 2 weeks to avoid smelling. Thank god for tumble dryers!

I grew up with 1 Bath a week. Now I shower every other day & have a monkey wash on the days I don’t - unless the weather is warm or I’ve being doing mucky, sweaty house or garden work then it’s every day.

I grew up in the '60s and '70s, my Mum made us get bathed every night, even though we were a poor family. It probably cost quite a bit to heat the water, she was a little bit obsessed with cleanliness though.
One over all wash per day is essential, IMO, be it bath , shower or strip wash at the sink as a last resort. In hot sweaty weather a second wash is needed, at the very least, face, armpits, under boobs etc. If you've got a shower it's just as easy to jump in there and get washed all over.

@Bee1989 you might find if you cleaned less often and especially if you stopped with all the products that your sweatiness and oily hair sorted themselves out a bit better. I'm sure the more one washes, the more one needs to.

@DjMomo

Probably why hats and headscarves were popular as they hid grotty hair.

Mil said som people used to smell.

Also no washing machines and people probably had to wear their clothes for longer

I have a bath or shower sometimes every 2nd day, sometime every day, depends how I feel. I always make sure my clothes are clean and I'm not particularly sweaty person. I also sleep with a fan on so I dony really get hot and sweaty at night either. I dont thinking dirty. My skin gets awful dry if I shower too much. I only wash ny hair twice a week max as well

I don't get this strip wash thing. If you have a shower, and most people do, why mess around with flannels and sinks?