MIL bathing habits

[Bitesize89]

My in laws come to stay with us pretty frequently and I've noticed over time that mil never bathes when she comes. She can be here 3-4 days without a shower or bath. It recently was revealed that she only ever uses baths and no soap in her bath. This came up after she bagged my DD and didn't use any soap on her and she said well there was bubble bath in the water, I was shocked as I don't think that's a proper way to bathe and she said when she bathes she doesn't use soap and only bubble bath. So not only does she not bathe for days on and but when she bathes she just has a bubble bath and no soap.im really grossed out.

You think your partners mother is gross despite staying in her house ? Washing her body is washing her body why are you so uptight that you think not showering is gross ?

I only use bubble bath when I have a bath And when I bathed my dc. When I was younger showers weren't a thing so people didn't have a bath every day.

People like you Op are pathetic and are mugs. Humans don't need to wash everyday, this concept was invented by capitalism to get you to consume more. More fool you for being hypnotized by the mass media. Enjoy your sheep life looking down on others who aren't part of the wasteful mass consumerist movement. I bet you are also the sort of person that uses loads of cleaning products, doesn't understand the concept of good bacteria or resilience either.

Baa baa.

Bubble Bath is enough, deodorants are 72 hour now and when a child I bathed once a week (wash daily in between). My adult kids shower twice a week. They don’t smell.

Has anyone reminded not to share personal washing details yet? No need to give hairy handed onlookers more fodder.

PS. Showering is not a virtue, it’s functional. If she doesn’t smell, she’s clean enough.

PPS. Soap and bubble bath will strip your baby’s natural skin protection. A little soap where it’s needed (creases) or bubble bath is enough. Most dirt comes off with water and towelling alone, along with the top layer of skin cells.

Yet another ridiculous post, why not just mind your own business OP.
There is absolutely no need to shower every day, believe it or not I survived my childhood and have lived to tell the tale and I only had one bath a week 😱
I now shower every 3/4 days and I am clean and I don’t smell and I don’t look like a dishevelled old tramp.
Leave your MIL alone, I’m sure she knows how to have wash without you interfering!

Me too!

I have been away for weekends with people who haven’t showered the entire time. It’s hard to understand.

You are being pretty harsh on your MIL. Does she smell or not? If she doesn't smell her hygiene is clearly fine.

I feel really uncomfortable with baths and showers outside of my own home too- everything from how the dials work to how to use their water heater to feeling awful if I accidently splosh a wave of water onto the floor- I think being on the spectrum doesn't help with this. I wash before we go and spot wash while we are there. Often I take the kids swimming mid visit and will shower at the pool but my IL's might not realise.

My MIL doesn’t shower every day. She showers probably every 3/4. But she washes in between and she always smells lovely and clean. She wears perfume too but that’s not to mask anything.

I don't see the issue.Bubble bath is the same as shower gel do you use soap as well as shower gel?
And probably she doesn't like bathing or showering at your house. I am not keen on showering in other people's homes.
It's none of your business . Not everyone does everything the same way.

Soap is unnecessary unless you are covered in grime, unusual in these days with manual.labour mostly a thing of the past. If she smells offensive, tell her. If not, mind your own business.

I rarely bathe when I'm visiting someone. I suppose if it was a fairly long stay I might, but I'd probably just clean hands face and what my mum would call "whiffy bits". I don't bathe/shower every day, I have eczema and it doesnt suit me. And I don't use soap all over, only on armpits or hands when needed, it's far too drying for my skin.

The only time I ever bathed daily was as a teenager. I would have been stinky if I hadnt. But now I don't need to unless it's hot/I've exercised.

No where in the OP does it say she dislikes her MIL

What exactly is gross about it?

Very much better for her skin (older people's skin is often very dry and soaps are extremely drying) and her biome. Young children also really do not need daily bathing either.

The degree of overwashing we insist on in the west is a cultural norm, OP, not a moral virtue.

Is this real???

Well coming onto the Internet to talk about her not using soap in the bath with an underpinned isn't that disgusting shows she isn't that keen on her.

Unless she's offending your nostrils, her hygiene routine is her business.

I ventured into the City last week. Went to choose F&B paint, there was one young woman doing the same. She reeked, not of anything in particular just smelt bad. Her boyfriend joined her and he smelt exactly the same.
Stopped off at Pets at Home and had to stand feet away from the man in front due to his smell.
None of them were over 40, so lack of body/clothes/bed clothes cleansing isn't solely of the older person.

Learn something new every day. I've always just used bubble bath in a bath as it is soap. We then use shampoo and conditioner as well (depending on family member and hair type - we don't all use conditioner).

Surely bubble bath is soap, just extra frothy for the bath. It would never occur to me to add extra soap for washing to a bubble bath. I definitely don’t ‘wash’ my dc with soap when they have a bubble bath either (though that’s like 3 times a year).

Unless she smells bad, I couldn’t get worked up about this. I’m not sure my MIL has ever showered at our house, though the guest room has an en suite. I think she perceives it as too much trouble for us to wash the towel and clean the bathroom after (though we wash towels and clean the bathroom after all guests anyway).

Have you been sending your DD up the chimneys and down the mines again? We have laws against child labour. Can't imagine what might need scrubbing clean with soap as well as bubble bath in a child young enough to be bathed by others. 🛁

Same - although I find it similar to people behaving as if the water out your tap isn't the same as the water out your shower.

I always have a shower after a bath so would use soap but I wouldn't think badly of someone who just uses bubble bath. In actual fact it's none of my business and not something I feel should know about anybody.

Usually the bubbles are SOAP bubbles

She probably washes everything in the sink. Lots of people do, especially older people.