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?

It changed in the mid 80's to 90's, partly due to showers being installed. I do occasionally skip a morning shower if I'm in a rush, but it's certainly the norm

a lot of people who do not wash daily think that they do not smell. You do. We smell you. We are just too polite to tell you.

You do. We smell you. We are just too polite to tell you

You haven’t got the faintest idea. How ridiculous.

Deodorant companies have been strongly influential in making people paranoid that others smell them when they cant smell themselves.

Obviously they have a reason for sowing this doubt. Don’t fall for the bullshit.

Everyone who says they know people have skipped a day washing...you don't though, do you? Sure, someone may well stink so it's clear they haven't washed recently, but you don't actually know if they've skipped 1 day, 2, 3 4 or more, do you? Some people may be able to skip 3 days and not smell, whereas another might smell awful by the end of the day, after showering that morning.

My husband has terrible dry skin and eczema patches all over his body. We've tried everything topically over the years because he was very resistant to the idea of washing less but the one thing that has helped him in the last few months has been strip washing rather than getting under a hot ( or warm) shower. So pits and bits and feet are done daily, along with a hair wash over the sink. A full shower or bath every four days or so. Deodorant and clean clothes every day and he smells fine.

I grew up in the early 70s in a house with an outside toilet and it was strip washes at the sink every day and a bath in a few inches of water once a week.

These days I shower or bath every other day and strip wash pits and bits on the others. I have very early starts and anything that speeds up the morning routine is fine by me. Clean clothes and deodorant every day.