It seems since I turned fifty I have stopped showering daily. I’ve often wondered how old people can stand to bathe only once a week, and now I can see it as a natural progression. 50s: every other day, 60s: twice a week, 70s: once a week.
I don’t stink. I’ll take a whore’s bath, and I’ll wash my hair in the sink. Is it just me? Do we all do this as we age? Who thinks they bathe the least? It’s a competition!
20 responses to “Quick Question”
i have never ever showered daily, and i promise that i have never stunk. usually: mon/wed/fri
I only washed my hair every other day anyway and after dad’s funeral I’ve been only showering every other day. I figured it was just sadness crap and once I was back to my regular workout/life routine I’d have to go back to showering daily. My mom is in her 80s and she showers several times a week, but she used to have to remind my dad to take a weekly shower. And a person can smell and not realize it – Americans are usually too polite to mention it.
After Dad died I quit showering daily for the most part. Some weeks it’s daily, but some weeks it’s every other day. Now I’m back to showering almost daily, but, if it doesn’t happen it doesn’t upset at all whereas I used to FREAK OUT if I didn’t shower. I’m in my early 30s, so, I dunno.
I am 53 and still shower and wash hair daily. I have an active job and sweat plus I have nooks and crannies that itch and are irritated if they are not washed.
I have a co-worker who reeks. I am guessing he has scaled back on the showers….
Growing up, my entire family and I used to bathe once a week because we got our water from a natural spring and there wasn’t a lot of it (but it was free) or water pressure. It wasn’t until I graduated from high school and started college (I wanted to be clean for when I got laid) that I started showering on a daily basis (I am probably the only person who loved the showers in the dorm because I’d never had access to that much hot water or been able to shower for as long as I wanted to before. It was heaven!).
If I have to go to work, I shower daily. Now that I’m unemployed, I’ve gone to showering every other day.
I wouldn’t know, I’m not yet 45 and still can’t function effectively if I don’t shower and wash my hair.
My brother doesn’t shower daily and he stinks. I don’t think he’s fifty yet though. Maybe he’ll stop smelling bad when he’s fifty.
For awhile I stopped showering daily. I’m 58. How dirty can I get? I sit in an office all day long? Then my therapist yelled me and I’ve mostly started showering daily.
I also think it’s because showers can hurt. No, the water isn’t that hot and the pressure’s not too hard, but it just hurts.
A more important question is, how often do you change your sheets? A guy I worked with reeked but he looked clean. Then I read that people from the country he came from rarely changed their bed linens. Oof, what a pong!
I shower every day but I now wear my clothes for two or three days in a row. They just don’t seem to get dirty, or smell, and who am I to make work for myself? Besides, it saves thinking. I change my knickers daily, of course, but I repeat-wear bra and even socks.
Do we really want to go down that sheet-changing road? It’s a shocker.
Magpie – Do you clean the nooks between? Or let it go?Amy in StL – You have not met the Heartless Cows. They aren’t too polite. Or perhaps they are. Cows, putting you on the spot here.Autumn – Huh. This started before Mom died. After Mom died I started eating sundaes for dinner. Zayrina – I’m not at all active. You know, except for the sweating with fear. Faythe – I’m on an every-other-day schedule too. I’m goign to work, though. Hot Mom – I can’t imagine what you would look like if you weren’t perfectly coiffed and made up. If only I’d woken up earlier at the hotel.Becs – It’s just unpleasant to shower. I don’t think your therapist should have yelled at you.Big Dot – I change the sheets whenever the dog barfs on them or we get a new mattress. I was my towels when they stop being white.
I’m in my late 30’s and have never been more than a 2-3x a week bather. I used to big big into baths, but our new house has smallish tubs so I’ve gotten into showering. Honestly, I would bathe less if my hair didn’t make it obvious if it hasn’t been washed in more then two days. This does make shaving an issue, since I am neither limber of balanced enough to shave standing. I wouldn’t bother with it if hubby didn’t make cracks about me rubbing my legs together and making noises like a cricket…
I really shouldn’t be seen in public with unwashed hair. It gets very greasy overnight. I can’t even wash my hair at night for the next day.
I may shower twice today just to make up for you. I took a shower just before a more-difficult-than-I-expected project and am now feeling the need to shower again. Ew.
And I’m pretty sure we Cows would tell you if you smelled, Musty.
Note – the period got appended to the url above, so it doesn’t work as a link. Try
http://thesilkentouch.blogspot.com/2012/09/3627-baths-and-showers.html
I did a post on the topic – at http://thesilkentouch.blogspot.com/2012/09/3627-baths-and-showers.html.
My answer – whenever I’m going to be around people. Jasper and Nugget love me clean or dirty.
Elisabeth – Balance? I am resisting the shower seats. Do you have one?
Caroline – How did you re-attach the screen? Glue? Solder? And nice of you to remember I showed my torso in Marcias’s face whe she called me Musty.
~~Silk – I enjoyed your post. I recommend it for the few who might not have seen it.
Oh and I was thinking too that the daily and sometimes twice daily shower is necessitated by the fact that I enjoy a particularly active sex life. (The husband is 59 but appears to be sexually arrested in his mid 20’s, which is ok by me.) I like to keep my parts washed and ready to go.
*This post was brought to you by TMI incorporated.
Zayrina – by that token I should shower every 18 months.
All – it looks like Silk is the winner.
You don’t re-attach the screen. You buy a new one. It’s not perfect, but we can have the back door open without worrying about bugs. That’s all I really ask of a screen door.
Back door bugs are avoidable with regular bathing.
Caroline – Zayrina has ajoke for you.
Zayrina – Are we talking about Anal Sex now? Zayrina pushes the envelope.
Someone might be anal about bathing but I am not sure.
Bet you can imagine where I think you should
push that envelope.