How often should one shower or bathe?

Question

One of my old teachers used to say that it wasn't healthy to shower everyday. She said that it stripped away natural oils from the skin and body, and that it was a waste of time and resources. Recently, some in government have suggested a campaign to get people to use less hot water by showering less or quicker, which always got mega laughs because people thought they were promoting poor hygiene. I realize that in earlier times, people maybe bathed once a week. Assuming a person doesn't get all hot and sweaty daily, what would be considered the best amount to shower? I suspect daily just to be sure you are clean and fresh, but I wonder what others think.

Answer 1

As you suggest, a large part of it has to do with how often you get sweaty, dirty, etc. I am not ashamed to say that I bathe MWF only.

IT DOES SAVE WATER PEOPLE......AND I DON'T STINK OR HAVE GREASY HAIR

Answer 2

Depends on the climate where you are and the activities you do. For tropical countries where you sweat even when you're sitting down doing nothing, i think the minimum is twice a day for both hygiene and to cool down the body.
For temperate countries, i guess once a day should do it but then again it depends on the season too. In some places, summer is worse than in tropical countries.

Under normal conditions, people with long hair should wash & condition it twice a week. If you're very active e.g. workout at the gym everyday, then it should be washed daily but use a mild/frequent wash shampoo so as not to dry out the scalp.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Cmon, water heaters were invented to be used, not to conserve. It's like that Doritos commercial Jay Leno used to be a spokesman for, except in this case use all ya want it'll rain soon and make more. The water is here, might as well use it. I take the hottest showers I can stand in the winter and in the summer obviously cooler ones.

I take 20 minutes to take a shower, it makes me feel better than a rush shower. I mean it's bad enough we have to pay for water, in a water bill unless you live in an apt so you might as well use it for all it's worth. For me, I take a shower a day and that's good enough for me.

Answer 4

Ideally daily is the way to go... In the Army, when we didn't have access to showers daily because of being in the field, we would do our best to stay relatively clean with a bucket of water and soap daily.. a b....tch bath... But they would take us in for showers on the fourth day if we had been out for a while... I think for usual hygeine daily is the way to go. For health reasons, I wouldn't go more than four or five days without if I could help it.

Answer 5

I have to shower daily or I feel horrible. No, I don't get all sweaty but I like to feel clean and have shaven legs on a daily basis. I use lotion daily too to prevent my body from becoming dry. Could you imagine the stench we'd have if we resorted to cleaning ourselves weekly instead? Gross!

Answer 6

ugh, how can you people put up with no more than 2 showers a day? I try to shower once a minute, at least. Twice a minute if I'm feeling adventurous.

Answer 7

Daily; with warm (instead of hot) water, & 5 minutes to help conserve.

Answer 8

i think we should bathe atleast once a day. Instead of thinking abt hygiene and campaign for using less hot water, let us think abt the guys who stand next to us in a bus or train. surely he should get a comfortable ride worth the money he spent on the ticket, right?

Answer 9

Many dermatologist s would agree with your old teacher. Too many harsh soaps cause more problems than they solve However, here in the deep South, many people shower twice a day during the summer months.

Answer 10

At least once a day. Any less than that is gross. You are constantly shedding dead skin cells and you need to wash them off.