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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

How often should I shower?

999 replies

grosstonotshower · 12/01/2022 10:36

Ok so I'm having a few drinks with friends last night. We are all female a mix of parents and non parents. One friend mentions she is struggling to find time for o shower every day since she had her baby. I said "well I don't shower every day without a young baby," All of my friends looked at me in horror. Apparently even the ones with kids shower daily. Full disclosure I have two dd one under five and I work part time. I shower on work days plus one extra day so usually three times a week my days off usually consist of playing at home, walking dog, school run and maybe park. I would shower extra if exercising/having sex/on period etc. I bath my dc three times a week. My oh works out every week day so he does shower more than me. AIBD? (Disgusting 😂)

OP posts:
OhPatti · 18/01/2022 17:33

@Theoldwoman

Surely this has to be some kind of joke!

In this day and age, daily showering is just basic hygiene.
Also, who in their right mind would need to ask a bunch of strangers on the net?

Yawn.
topcat2014 · 18/01/2022 17:35

I prefer evenings as I like to go to bed squeaky clean..

Daily, obviously..

PinkSyCo · 18/01/2022 21:22

When I’ve spoken to people about this they say they either don’t moisturise or do so very infrequently. Ergh

Oh so now it’s disgusting not to moisturise? Confused I personally very rarely moisturise because my body simple doesn’t need it. Maybe I’m just lucky or maybe it’s because I don’t spend half my life washing away my natural body oils. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Lifeisnteasy · 18/01/2022 21:25

Surely even those of you that shower twice a week up it to daily when you’re on your period?!

Lifeisnteasy · 18/01/2022 21:27

@JS87

I’m guessing everyone washes all their clothes after a single wear too?
Anything that directly touches the armpits, underwear & socks, yes.

Jeans/jumpers etc get a second wear.

gamerchick · 18/01/2022 21:39

36 pages for 1 hand grenade post. Bravo man. Grin

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 18/01/2022 21:40

@Lifeisnteasy

Surely even those of you that shower twice a week up it to daily when you’re on your period?!
I shower every other day. But I don't have periods. And you can wash without a shower.
Lifeisnteasy · 18/01/2022 21:43

@AllThingsServeTheBeam why answer then if you don’t have periods Confused

Yes you can wash but it won’t be the same as a proper shower/bath

I’ll strip wash under my arms if I’m in a tearing rush or seeing nobody that day, but it isn’t the same.

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 18/01/2022 21:45

[quote Lifeisnteasy]@AllThingsServeTheBeam why answer then if you don’t have periods Confused

Yes you can wash but it won’t be the same as a proper shower/bath

I’ll strip wash under my arms if I’m in a tearing rush or seeing nobody that day, but it isn’t the same.[/quote]
When I did have periods I didn't shower every day. Every other day. And I washed on between. I have a shower attached to my bath that reaches the toilet when I sit on it. So it is the same

FusionChefGeoff · 18/01/2022 22:01

I shower every other day and it's fine OP. I think showers every day are wasteful and unnecessary (unless you work a manual / stinky job / exercise / sex etc).

Your average, healthy, desk based woman shouldn't stink so much after 24 hrs that they're only safe in public after a shower!

FusionChefGeoff · 18/01/2022 22:09

And to all of you 'it's only a 5 minute shower it's not that wasteful'

5 x 365 days x 70 years x millions of people is a gargantuan amount of water and heating energy that's just not needed (for a lot of people - if you work in a cesspit / run a marathon every day then of course that's different)

Lifeisnteasy · 18/01/2022 22:10

@AllThingsServeTheBeam

Why not just get in the shower rather than turning it on, spraying everything, sitting on the toilet, trying not to soak the bathroom while washing your foof, then racing back to the shower to switch it off again?!

As for not showering every day after having sex 🤢

Proper soap dodgers on here

Lifeisnteasy · 18/01/2022 22:12

@FusionChefGeoff

And to all of you 'it's only a 5 minute shower it's not that wasteful'

5 x 365 days x 70 years x millions of people is a gargantuan amount of water and heating energy that's just not needed (for a lot of people - if you work in a cesspit / run a marathon every day then of course that's different)

But the course of normal life makes even the most sedentary person smelly.

Hot weather, sex, periods, cooking smells, tummy upsets…

BringYourOwnBoris · 18/01/2022 22:17

Twice a day.
Early morning before work and then again when I get home. (Work on a hospital ward)

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 18/01/2022 22:25

[quote Lifeisnteasy]@AllThingsServeTheBeam

Why not just get in the shower rather than turning it on, spraying everything, sitting on the toilet, trying not to soak the bathroom while washing your foof, then racing back to the shower to switch it off again?!

As for not showering every day after having sex 🤢

Proper soap dodgers on here[/quote]
I'm disabled. And I don't spray everything on the toilet. I can turn it on and off from sitting where I am. And again you can wash properly, even after sex without getting your whole body wet.

ravenmum · 19/01/2022 08:38

I love the logic:

A: You don't shower because you are lazy! Showering is too much effort for you! I make the effort to shower!
B: No, I wash at the sink.
A: Washing at the sink is too much effort for me! That's why I shower!

autienotnaughty · 19/01/2022 09:04

Can not believe this is still going 😂😂

VanGoghsDog · 19/01/2022 09:04

But the course of normal life makes even the most sedentary person smelly.

Hot weather, sex, periods, cooking smells, tummy upsets…

I do shower more frequently in hot weather, BOTH days we have hot weather in the UK in fact.

I don't have periods, not sure why a tummy upset would make someone smell assuming they washed their bum properly which I do, sadly I don't have sex, and cooking doesn't make me smell (what a ridiculous suggestion).

So, shower 4x ish a week remains for me. I'm off for a long walk this lunchtime, I'll shower when I get back before I restart work, but I didn't shower yesterday. I did Monday, but not until the evening after I went swimming, and I did Sat after swimming and Sunday after my walking club.

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 19/01/2022 09:09

@autienotnaughty

Can not believe this is still going 😂😂
Just over another hundred posts and then someone will start a new thread all about showers in a week or two.
user1471538283 · 19/01/2022 09:18

Unless I'm really sick I shower every day and always have done. I bathed my DS every evening when he was small as I was raised like it.

Gwenhwyfar · 19/01/2022 11:27

" cooking doesn't make me smell (what a ridiculous suggestion)."

Yes, quite strange. It can make clothes smell, but not my skin. I suppose it might do if people use very strong spices or something, but in that case the smell comes from inside and out through your skin anyway and can't be washed off.

As for periods and diarrhoea, you wash the relevant areas.
And hot weather, what a joke in December.

Gwenhwyfar · 19/01/2022 11:29

"Anything that directly touches the armpits, underwear & socks, yes."

Underwear, tights and socks, yes. Just give your tops a sniff test. If you're clean, use deodorant and it's cold, you probably don't need to wash them after one wear.

DillonPanthersTexas · 19/01/2022 11:53

cooking doesn't make me smell (what a ridiculous suggestion).

Depends on what you are cooking I guess. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and my hair can pick up kitchen smells, my hands definitely pick up residual smells if I have been chopping strong flavoured produce.

Gwenhwyfar · 19/01/2022 11:54

@DillonPanthersTexas

cooking doesn't make me smell (what a ridiculous suggestion).

Depends on what you are cooking I guess. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and my hair can pick up kitchen smells, my hands definitely pick up residual smells if I have been chopping strong flavoured produce.

My hair does pick up some very strong smells like smoke. Never noticed it with cooking, but then I don't cook very strong smelled things. As for hands, you wash them regularly anyway don't you.
Lifeisnteasy · 19/01/2022 12:08

Hair picks up cooking/smoke smells.

Like I said as an emergency measure or if I’m seeing nobody I’ll do an armpit wash in the sink, but I absolutely refuse to believe mucking about with multiple flannels and jugs of water, washing your bumhole in the sink etc as a regular thing is either efficient or hygienic.