Taking Showers...
Since I've come to the US and lived in the dorms here, I found out about people's showering habits: very frequent.
Every student I've asked takes at least a shower a day if not two. If I ask if it's really necessary they say ewwww, I want to be clean.
Now, lets face it, are you really that dirty if you don't shower every single day? In the end, it also depends on of course how much you sweat and stuff, but most of the time I don't think it's really necessary to shower every day, especially during the winter when you don't really sweat or get exposed to dirty outside environment (clothes). I think that this dirtiness feeling is just placebo.
The only reason why I'm posting this is because I am rather against daily showers because it really does waste a lot of water. If you think about it, most of the water used is not in cooking or anythnig, but in showering. I remember reading somewhere that the US uses like some large percentage of water something like 40% of the world. I can't remember the exact percentage but I remember being quite shocked.
Moreover, I have heard that showering too much is actually bad for your skin, since it takes off the natural oils or whatever.
AFAIK,(I'm pretty sure, I think) people in Italy and China do not shower as much. Another question is why do people in the US seem to be so conscious about showering? Could it even be social pressure?
So what do you guys think? Is it really neccessary to shower daily? Your thoughts please, I'm trying to make sense of the social behaviour.
Every student I've asked takes at least a shower a day if not two. If I ask if it's really necessary they say ewwww, I want to be clean.
Now, lets face it, are you really that dirty if you don't shower every single day? In the end, it also depends on of course how much you sweat and stuff, but most of the time I don't think it's really necessary to shower every day, especially during the winter when you don't really sweat or get exposed to dirty outside environment (clothes). I think that this dirtiness feeling is just placebo.
The only reason why I'm posting this is because I am rather against daily showers because it really does waste a lot of water. If you think about it, most of the water used is not in cooking or anythnig, but in showering. I remember reading somewhere that the US uses like some large percentage of water something like 40% of the world. I can't remember the exact percentage but I remember being quite shocked.
Moreover, I have heard that showering too much is actually bad for your skin, since it takes off the natural oils or whatever.
AFAIK,(I'm pretty sure, I think) people in Italy and China do not shower as much. Another question is why do people in the US seem to be so conscious about showering? Could it even be social pressure?
So what do you guys think? Is it really neccessary to shower daily? Your thoughts please, I'm trying to make sense of the social behaviour.
Comments
Originally posted by Jubelum
...we don't wanna be THAT guy.
That's kinda interesting actually. Now, about THAT guy, where do you see him and how infrequent are you guessing that he takes showers?
I'm guessing THAT guy must really smell becaus it seems to me the general talking distance of people in the US is about an arms length, which is quite far for smell to travel.
So isn't THAT guy an extreme? He musn't have showered for like a week. Now I'm not talking about the extreme, but rather something logically both saving water and enough to keep you not smelling like THAT guy
Water is more expensive in other countries, thus they don't shower as frequently.
Your bed is the dirtiest place in your house/room/dorm so I'd hope you'd shower after sleeping in it for eight hours.
I take anywhere from 1 - 3 showers a day: 1 in the morning (unless I'm going to workout 1st thing), 1 after each workout, 1 after any physical activity (sports, etc), and 1 after sex (if she wants to
Originally posted by Ra
... and 1 after sex (if she wants to
Originally posted by stevegongrui
That's kinda interesting actually. Now, about THAT guy, where do you see him and how infrequent are you guessing that he takes showers?
I'm guessing THAT guy must really smell becaus it seems to me the general talking distance of people in the US is about an arms length, which is quite far for smell to travel.
So isn't THAT guy an extreme? He musn't have showered for like a week. Now I'm not talking about the extreme, but rather something logically both saving water and enough to keep you not smelling like THAT guy
I used to work with a guy like that. (The 2 shower a week type) We could always tell in the office. We tried to slip him some Degree or Right Guard anonymously, but that did not work. I'm sorry, but no guy should have a dirty spot on the back of his office chair from when he leans back. Overall, I don't think is was as much him as it was his clothing that did not get a wash between multiple wears...
Originally posted by Ra
Your bed is the dirtiest place in your house/room/dorm so I'd hope you'd shower after sleeping in it for eight hours.
I've actually seen some pretty dirty beds here in the dorm, but why not wash the sheets regularly?
(god, my roommate has not washed his sheets since we moved in, in fact, he doesn't even use a covercase for his cover (blanket))
To me that's a further huge waste of water cause face it, do your clothes really require washing after just a single wear?
Originally posted by stevegongrui
On a side note, do you all wear your clothes only once before you wash them? To me that's a further huge waste of water cause face it, do your clothes really require washing after just a single wear?
Depends on activity and length of wear. My dry cleaning bill is through the roof already... so I try to let my undershirts take the regular daily trip to the hopper. Professionally dry cleaned and pressed shirts are a valuable commodity I try to preserve, if possible.
Lately I've been taking showers, but not using shampoo, I find that my hair gets just as clean looking and feeling, and by not using shampoo it actually prevents my hair from getting oily. Since the shampoo kills all the natural oils your hair counteracts by producing more oils, this is true for your skin too, if you use a lot of soap, you skin will dry out, and then produce more oils to counteract that, thus you end up oilier than when you started.
I'd use shampoo if I had like...mud in my hair, but for daily cleansing, it's really not that necessary.
I didn't shower today, but I'll shower tomorrow after I work out and/or play soccer.
interesting sidenote, I was backpacking once, and when you go backpacking, you get really dirty and you don't shower. Well, I was sitting by a lake, and my hands were filthy, so I took the sand from the shore and washed my hands by rubbing the sand all over them. It got my hands amazingly clean and soft, no soap necessary. Sure, maybe I didn't kill 99.8% of the bacteria in my hands
Originally posted by stevegongrui
On a side note, do you all wear your clothes only once before you wash them?
To me that's a further huge waste of water cause face it, do your clothes really require washing after just a single wear?
I have no problems wearing a shirt 2-3 days in a row. Heck, I've been wearing the same pair of nylon pants for a week now.
I'm generally very conservative with my clothing, I have a minimal amount, I do laundry the minimal amount I'll need to do laundry, and I maximize the use of each article of clothing.
However, I love taking a shower. It's very relaxing, and it wakes me up in the morning. If I worked hard / it was really hot, i'll take one before I go to bed as well.
also, a 10 minute shower is roughly the equivalent of drinking 8 glasses of water...or so I hear. that's good for your overall well-being.
I wash shirts more often than pants. Pants can be worn 3 or 4 times before needing to be washed (unless I spill something on them). Shirts, once, maybe twice before being washed.
Showers...
Everyday, at least once. I don't wana smell!
It's good hygiene. And I work in a hospital as well as doing some ride alongs with fire departments for medical calls. You want to wash up good after a day of dealing with sick/injured people. Nothing will make you feel more gross than a dude puking on your shoes. Yes, it happens. In that case, you ditch your shoes, get a pair of scrubs from the hospital and go back to the firehouse, shower up and put on a new uniform. Your old uniform is taken and destroyed by the hospital.
I think though, too many people are overly paranoid about germs, bacteria, cleanliness, dirt..etc.
But then again, you can shower everyday, but only CLEAN yourself every few days. I mean, a shower doesn't need to be a thorough cleansing rite, it can just be a quick rinse to wake up and focus and feel good.
I have also worked on fishing boats where fresh water is scarce and showers are few and far between. I think my record is 3 weeks without a shower while working hard everyday at least 14-18 hours. You don't want to know what that is like! I appreciate showers way to much as a result of that experience to give them up for long.
For the clothes, i change them when they smell : i can't support clothes that smell. I change polo each day during summer of nearly every 2 days during winter.
As a surgeon i wash my hands too many times, and i have some dermatologic problems to deal with (irritation, dryness ...)