to think it wrong not to wash everyday?

[happyclappy]

I went to see my GP yesterday, I have some eczema on my legs and the usual creams are not doing the trick. he asked if I wash/ take a shower everyday, I said of corse, and he advised me to keep it to once a week! AIBU? instead of prescribing me some steroid cream which will ease the itching enough, so i can control it with moisturiser, he gives me useless advise which I'm not going to follow.
but seriously who would only wash their body onlt once a week?

LeQueen Maybe it is a class thing- but if your intention is to be bitchy about the lower classes your comments miss the mark.
Upper class people tend not to be neurotic about hygiene. One of the poshest gals I ever knew would poo in a field and wipe her bottom with a dockleaf.

Haven't read the entire thread but thought I'd add my tuppence... when DD1 (now 11) was a toddler, she got impetigo (sp?) a few times in a row - I used to bath her every night, just thought it was a normal part of the bedtime routine! The GP told me I was keeping her too clean as her body never got the chance to build up its own resistance to normal every day dirt. Much as it was hard, I reduced it to bathing her every 2-3 nights and she never got it again. When she was 9 or 10, I was lucky to get her to bath/shower once a week, didn't do her any harm. Now she's 11, she showers most days and is very aware of her own cleanliness, probably her age. So from one extreme to the other, it hasn't done her any harm...

There are as people on here have said lots of practical reasons for not showering everyday.

Lequeen - could we deduce then that the middleclasses are there through luck and not intelligence based on your statement?

Actually rather than whether someone washes each day I would be more worried about how clean the bathroom is.

I have eczema that can flare up in patches pretty much anywhere on my body, and I also have psoriasis on my fanjo - which is nice

After years of faffing about with cutting out foods, different creams, washing powders, fabrics, trips to the Drs and all that, I have found over the past 5 years or so that the one thing that controls my skin is washing less.

Sometimes I do give into the urge and I'll have a phase of showering every day - but after a few days I resemble a reptile.

So I generally bath/shower 2-3 times a week.

When I was camping in the summer I didn't bath/shower for 8 days and my skin was wonderful.

I'd rather be disgusting and smelly than itchy and covered in sore, broken skin.

It's not a class thing, or a generational thing and I'm not a minger - it's to do with my general well being. And if expat and lequeen had suffered the pain and physical discomfort of a very visible skin condition then they might have a slightly more mature and informed opinion on the subject.

Erm has anyone here got a or seen a BIDET!!!
They're brill cos of course you can wash all yr. smelly bits, not with strong soap, I find that tea tree oil is fabulous.

I have a gorgeous bath with softened water once a week and bidet every day, my clothes do not stink of strong detergent and i do not smell!!

the planet needs taking into consideration doesn't it? twice daily showers are OTT. What happens when there's a drought?

Power showers use more water than baths, they are not energy efficient at all.

I think the 'fresh' smell isn't the smell of cleanliness, it's the smell of perfume. I have a friend who works for a soap & washing powder company and she says the stuff they sell in britain has extra perfume added as we want that mmn lenor (or whatever) smell to convince us that we or our clothes are clean.

This thread is so similar to the one about washing towels and bedlinen. Tis horses for courses (although some horses are more eco-friendly than others.)

Well, my boilers gone and snuffed it! I've got no hot water or heating so I'm down to a couple of baths a week at my MIL house. And do you know what? I don't smell and neither does DP or my little DS whose eczema is looking better for not having as many baths. I really can't be arsed with the sink and kettle faff, it's doing my head in having to wash the dishes this way.

So a few days without a wash is fine and I'm living the extra time I'm saving in the mornings nit to mention the cost of gas and water, faff with shampoo/shower gel/soap and even more faff blow drying and straightening my hair. It's just a shame the savings won't amount to the cost of a new boiler!