Do you really need a shower in the MH every day? (1 Viewer)

[Barclaybasher]

The Unwashed Revolution?

There is a growing minority of people who are bucking the expectation of the daily shower. Some might even call it trendy to wash less often. I happen to be one of them.

I am concerned with washing off beneficial microbes with soap so I restrict using soap to my armpits (rather than use deodorant) and to wash my hands when dirty. Also, I am barefoot most of the day so I wash the soles of my feet every night before going to bed. All this only takes a few bars of soap a year.

Thankfully there is a greater awareness and understanding that beneficial Broken Link Removed are not the enemy the media has portrayed them to be. The reality is that they are important for our health.

Others cite environmental concerns as their reason for fewer showers, especially water usage. One seven-minute shower uses more water than a bath, and it’s expected that water usage for showers will grow five-fold by 2021.Broken Link Removed

Still others are looking to cut back on their use of Broken Link Removed, and note that their skin and hair has never looked better since they’ve cut back on so many showers.Broken Link Removed

Remember, it wasn’t long ago that a once-weekly bath was considered the norm. Daily (or more) washing is a relatively recent phenomenon.

Even dermatologists tend to frown on daily showers, especially in hot water and with harsh soap, because of the damage it can do to your skin. According to John Oxford, professor of virology at Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry:Broken Link Removed

“A vigorous daily shower would disturb the natural bug flora of the skin as well as skin oils… As long as people wash their hands often enough and pay attention to the area of the body below the belt, showering or bathing every other day would do no harm …Even twice a week would not be a problem if people used a bidet daily as most infectious bugs hang around our lower halves… We should wash to stop cross-infection, not for grooming reasons.”

.............or am I using the science to justify myself only showering twice a week!
but I do "wash my hands often enough and pay attention to the area of the body below the belt"


.........honest!

 

[TheBig1]

Have you noticed how some old single men have a certain aroma? they too only wash when they think themselves dirty

smelly old man syndrome

 

[Barclaybasher]

Have you noticed how some old single men have a certain aroma? they too only wash when they think themselves dirty

smelly old man syndrome

Oi !!

I resemble that remark

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[Tea Bag]

Hi.
Under NO! account,must you interfere with your "Natural Body Oils". Showering TWICE a week!!? NO! You miss read the paper,it should read. "Twice a year MAX"
Tea Bag

 

[Larrynwin]

Only dirty people wash !

 

[Mikeco]

I always wonder why people have a shower every morning, what have they been upto all night to get dirty.

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[Barclaybasher]

I always wonder why people have a shower every morning, what have they been upto all night to get dirty.

.......shower?.... I thought it was 'a drink before and a cigarette after'..........

 

[9526]

I couldn't start a day without a shower.

Not sure if I'm harming my skin or not (it's still all attached) but the day I smell "old" (what is that soap?) or "French" (where is that soap?) is the day my kids have permission to give me a swift tap at the back of my head with a baseball bat.

If you're washing your hands and face (and arse) daily, can't really see why you don't go the full hog.

A "motor home shower" using the trigger, uses bugger all water (certainly a lot less than a bath) and the old "remember bath night once a week" argument is like saying "remember cleaning your teeth with an old stick"

Years ago we all stank (we had baths once a week, our parents smoked, I remember wearing the same school clothes all week, and we ate fried food)

I can't imagine what our classroom smelt like on a wet day

 

[Barclaybasher]

I can't imagine what our classroom smelt like on a wet day

Nobody 'smelled' then anyway........... no such thing as shower gel or deoderant ............

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[TUCANO]

I NEVER use the shower in the van, just hate to think about the water getting somewhere it should'nt, in the van I mean
However, I shave and have a strip wash every night before bed, and every other day when I am running I also have a strip wash after my run, don't feel that I need a shower and the water lasts longer which is a benefit as I wild camp most of the time.
If you meet me and I smell bad please let me know

 

[Jim]

What is it with the older generation and their strip washes. Flannel around the arse, armpits and face (probably in that order) sink full of dirty water, slopping all over the floor. So much easier just to step in the shower. Still washing the same bits but with less hassle. You'll have us in a tin tub by the fire next

 

[barsteward]

You'll have us in a tin tub by the fire next

I have to make do with the radiator now, not quite the same as the old coal fire.

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[Tootles]

Under NO! account,must you interfere with your "Natural Body Oils".

Whilst serving in Northern Ireland, we only had the opportunity to shower once every five weeks. The consensus was that, (in South Armagh), lives were saved because we smelt like sheep. The pong of fresh soap and clean bodies travels a long way with the breeze.
On saying that, nothing more refreshing then a nice shower at the start, or end even, of a warm day. But, as TB rightly says, washing the body's natural oils away too often is a mistake.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

I'm still showering every day.............

 

[GJH]

I'm still showering every day.............

That's cos you is a Mucky Duck

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[scotjimland]

What is it with the older generation and their strip washes. Flannel around the arse, armpits and face (probably in that order) sink full of dirty water, slopping all over the floor.

no need for all that palaver Jim

a couple of baby wipes is so much easier.. and uses no water (so I have read)

 

[carolyn]

As a recently retired GP my experience regarding body odour is that the people with it don't think they've got it and those without it shower regularly. A daily shower with a simple shower gel or plain perfume free soap won't have any significant bad effect on most peoples' skin.
My children were horrified not that long ago when I found some old flannels and told them what they were for! I do have some in the van for emergency use only but "face , armpits, groins and then feet", the emergency has not happened yet thank goodness.

 

[mjltigger]

What is it with the older generation and their strip washes. Flannel around the arse, armpits and face (probably in that order) sink full of dirty water, slopping all over the floor. So much easier just to step in the shower. Still washing the same bits but with less hassle. You'll have us in a tin tub by the fire next

I'm not the older generation but right now we don't have a shower in our van..

I'm hoping the other folds at the meet we just got back from would agree that we don't smell and a strip wash every day is good enough for a weekend..

Mind you we don't go out for longer than 4 days at a time and we are getting a shower fitted because there is a limit..

Anyway, I'm off for a shower.

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[eddie]

I've just come back from the Shepton Mallet show. I would be pretty certain that I could detect which motorhomers, fell into which group lol

Our campsite is rated by the AA at 84% 4 Pennant, and we have been told that we cannot get a higher score as we didn't build and private wash basins in when we built the shower block

We generally didn't realise that some campers still prefer a stand up flannel wash in the sink, opposed to a lovely hot shower.

Didn't put anywhere outside to tie a horse up either lol

 

[Allanm]

We generally shower daily at home, but sometimes once every two days in the van, unless the temperature is in the upper 30's, or longer if water is in short supply. If you use the French way of showering ( not because they like to pong, but it saves water and the electricity to heat it up) it saves so much water. So, it's water on, get wet, water off. Soap up, water on to rinse. If you are careful, you shouldn't use more than 4 or 5 litres of water per shower and if you have a decent shower, once the water temp is set, you won't need to mess about with it and waste water.

 

[GJH]

The first time we used the shower in our first van we didn't realise how much water was used and the tank ran dry during Jill's shower. Never made that mistake again Now we use a similar method to that described by Allan for daily showers in the van. Water on, get wet, water off. Shower gel, water on to rinse, water off. Hair shampoo, water on to rinse, water off.
One of the essentials on our list when buying our current van was that it had a decent shower you could actually fit in without bouncing off the walls every time you move. It's so good that we still normally use it even on the rare occasions that we are on a site or rally where showers are available.

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[carolyn]

It's called a Navy shower as well I think, I can confirm that the showers at Eddie's campsite are lovely, much better than mine at home.

 

[buttons]

I think it is peoples clothes that smell more than their bodies. No point in washing your body if you don't also change and wash your clothes each day. Those who just take 2 pairs of under garments for a week away in the van is not a myth for many.

 

[Mags52]

I'm not sure if I should share this but here goes. We do shower regularly but decided to take two flannels in the van for the occasions when the water is low and we can't risk a shower. I bought two nice ones but realised too late that it was a mistake to get them the same colour as one was for face and the other one was for the 'other end'. The occasion finally came when we were running low on water and wanted a good wash (or a 'personal wash' as Ruth Jones so eloquently called it in Gavin and Stacey). Shirl pointed out that we wouldn't know which was which so I painstakingly embroidered the letter F on one of them. Fast forward several months to the next time water was a bit low and out came the aforesaid flannels. That's when we couldn't remember whether F stood for Face of Fanny.

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[mariner]

I learned how not to wash in the Army too! If one had shaved and ones hair was short, that was sufficient. No matter how dirty everything else got, clean boots, short hair and shaving were the priorities.
If you all smell the same, you get used to it.
Mind you, I'd never heard of a shower, never mind used one, until I got into my first Barracks, back in the mid sixties.
I do like a shower in the morning these days though!

 

[scotjimland]

I'm not sure if I should share this but here goes. We do shower regularly but decided to take two flannels in the van for the occasions when the water is low and we can't risk a shower. I bought two nice ones but realised too late that it was a mistake to get them the same colour as one was for face and the other one was for the 'other end'. The occasion finally came when we were running low on water and wanted a good wash (or a 'personal wash' as Ruth Jones so eloquently called it in Gavin and Stacey). Shirl pointed out that we wouldn't know which was which so I painstakingly embroidered the letter F on one of them. Fast forward several months to the next time water was a bit low and out came the aforesaid flannels. That's when we couldn't remember whether F stood for Face of Fanny.

A 'like' wasn't enough.. so thanks .. best laugh in ages

 

[thehutchies]

The strict rule in our van is shower for as long as you like, as often as you like

Any parent of teenagers would be very brave (or olfactorily dead) not to agree.
It takes 30 minutes just to wash off all the Lynx deodorant.
And then they put it back on again.

All hail the RV shower

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[The Wino]

I'm not sure if I should share this but here goes. We do shower regularly but decided to take two flannels in the van for the occasions when the water is low and we can't risk a shower. I bought two nice ones but realised too late that it was a mistake to get them the same colour as one was for face and the other one was for the 'other end'. The occasion finally came when we were running low on water and wanted a good wash (or a 'personal wash' as Ruth Jones so eloquently called it in Gavin and Stacey). Shirl pointed out that we wouldn't know which was which so I painstakingly embroidered the letter F on one of them. Fast forward several months to the next time water was a bit low and out came the aforesaid flannels. That's when we couldn't remember whether F stood for Face of Fanny.

I think C&A are still in business in the rest of europe if you want to avoid confusion and save the hassle of embroidery

 

[GeebeeJaybee]

I think the person who is the retired GP has it right. It is always those who say you "don't need to shower" or even worse "deodorant is just a marketing fad to make us spend money" are the people who stink, yes I actually know someone who says this and he absolutely stinks. I would rather wash away oils etc and be fresh and clean than grubby, sticky and oiley any day!
Plus I have quite bad ezcema which is worse if I dont shower as I get itchy. Non perfumed shower gel at least once a day (in MH or at home) is the only way for me.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

As a recently retired GP my experience regarding body odour is that the people with it don't think they've got it and those without it shower regularly. A daily shower with a simple shower gel or plain perfume free soap won't have any significant bad effect on most peoples' skin.
My children were horrified not that long ago when I found some old flannels and told them what they were for! I do have some in the van for emergency use only but "face , armpits, groins and then feet", the emergency has not happened yet thank goodness.

Similar to @GJH the type and usability of the shower was a prime consideration with our van purchase even though I'm a duck and spend a lot of time on or under the water. At the moment and as a result of some very childish behaviour at Romney, my shower is now inhabited by my whole collection of bath ducks......... they like it as well

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