How often to shower and launder? Also, optimized wardrobe.

[TopHatFox]

This might be a highly peering question, but I'm curious what you all think is the best frequency of showering, optimized for water use, time spent in shower, and not smelling bad.

Particularly:

1. Should humans shower daily? every other day? every 3 days? weekly?
2. How long should we stay in the shower to be clean? 5 minutes? 3 minutes? 30 seconds?
3. Does washing with only cold water clean just as well compared to using soap? (castille)

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I'm also curious what ya'll think is the best frequency of laundering, optimized for water use, washing machine space (if you use a washing machine), time spent doing the laundry, and your wardrobe not smelling bad.

Particularly, after how many uses do you put these items in the laundry bin:

1. Bed sheets & Comforter (or sleeping bag liner)
2. Towel
3. Kitchen cloth
4. Handkerchief
5. short slieve & long-slieve shirts
6. pants
7. shorts
8. socks & underwear
9. gloves & scarves
10. Winter Jacket
11. Winter Pants
12. Sandals, shoes, and winter boots
13. "Personal" cloth --you don't have to talk about this one if you don't want to! Just keeping the list comprehensive...

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Finally, I'd also like to know what you think is the ideal amount of clothing to own to minimize the frequency of laundry. I would like to own enough cloth items to only have to do laundry once a month, or at least every 2 weeks. So how many of these would I have to own to only have to do laundry once a month?

1. Bed sheets & Comforter
2. Towel
3. Kitchen cloth:
4. Handkerchief
5. short sleeve & long-sleeve shirts
6. pants
7. shorts
8. socks & underwear
9. gloves & scarves
10. Winter Jacket
11. Winter Pants
12. Sandals, shoes, and winter boots
13. "Personal" cloth --again, you don't have to talk about this one if you don't want to. Just trying my best to keep the list comprehensive...

[lilacorchid]

1. Humans should shower enough so that they don't stink. If you want to be dirty, go ahead, but please don't leave your dirt or stink in shared areas

2. You stay in long enough to be clean. A military shower can be minutes, not many of those with the water even running

3. No. Soap has ingredients to remove dirt and oils. If water was good enough, I doubt we would have invented soap.

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Laundry:

I wash things when they either look, feel, and/or smell dirty. I have about enough clothes to last a week, so that is how often I wash my clothes. I do towels weekly too. I have a front loading machine which uses a tiny amount of soap, small amounts of water, and spins the hell out of them. Makes drying a lot easier and uses less time.

[JamesR]

1. Should humans shower daily? every other day? every 3 days? weekly?

This question depends a lot on a person's metabolism & also the climate. Older people (60+) can reduce their shower to every other day because of their decreased metabolism. Also, in South East Asia, most people shower twice a day because of the high humidity & heat.

2. How long should we stay in the shower to be clean? 5 minutes? 3 minutes? 30 seconds?

30 seconds is enough, which I discovered when doing freezing cold showers.

3. Does washing with only cold water clean just as well compared to using soap?

There are people that wash their hair with just water, apparently after awhile the body stops overproducing oils and it works out fine. We probably don't really need soap, unless there's tough/stinky spots to clean. I personally prefer to soap my armpits and bits.

Regarding washing clothes, well that really depends as well. I personally prefer to wear socks, underwear, and tshirts only once. But I tend to sweat and my tshirts get stinky anyways. My mom who is 58 will wear shirts more than once because she doesn't sweat.

Pants I can wear for 7-10 days before throwing them in the wash. Jackets could go forever unless they stink or look dirty. I probably wash my towel every 2-3 weeks. No personal cloth here.

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By the way, I have gone on multi-day hikes with a hiking partner, 3-7 days. Sharing a tent. Neither of us showered (there's no showers in the bush!). Strangely I don't notice either of us stinking. I think the action of movement and the fresh air probably helps. We generally don't wear cotton clothing when hiking so that might be a factor.

[lilacorchid]

By the way, I have gone on multi-day hikes with a hiking partner, 3-7 days. Sharing a tent. Neither of us showered (there's no showers in the bush!). Strangely I don't notice either of us stinking. I think the action of movement and the fresh air probably helps. We generally don't wear cotton clothing when hiking so that might be a factor.

Oh, you guys probably smelled. It's just both of you smelled, so you didn't notice each other. Sort of like how you go into a barn and it stops smelling after a few minutes, even though you can still see the cowpies!

[theanimal]

By the way, I have gone on multi-day hikes with a hiking partner, 3-7 days. Sharing a tent. Neither of us showered (there's no showers in the bush!). Strangely I don't notice either of us stinking. I think the action of movement and the fresh air probably helps. We generally don't wear cotton clothing when hiking so that might be a factor.

Oh, you guys probably smelled. It's just both of you smelled, so you didn't notice each other. Sort of like how you go into a barn and it stops smelling after a few minutes, even though you can still see the cowpies!

You definitely smelled. On my NOLS course in Alaska we didn't shower or bathe for two separate long stretches, 25 and 48 days. Your nose and others adjust to the smell. We stopped at a gas station to grab some snacks on the way back, we got some pretty funny looks!

[IlliniDave]

I guess it all depends. I shower daily if I'm going to be out around other people. When I'm home by myself for a time I might skip a day.

You can shower effectively while running the water for only ~30 sec to 1 minute. The entire shower will last longer, but I get myself wet, then turn off the water, lather up, then turn the water back on to rinse off.

For me, personal hygiene is not the a place I want to cut corners. I like to be/feel clean.

Laundry: I generally use cold water except for towels and rags/washcloths (I hate the smell of mildew). Socks, underwear, and t-shirts are worn once then washed. Work shirts are worn once. Pants I'll wear a couple times before washing (I never go commando) as long as I don't spill food on them or something. Jackets and such, only as events warrant. Sometimes only once per season.

I let my towels dry out in the sun (more insurance against mildew). Most of my other laundry I hang up in the garage in the warm season (gets pretty hot in there). I'm not sure how I'll avoid the dryer in the winter. But, I have a filter system I cobbled together to vent the warm air into the house (adds some needed moisture to the air too). So I might just go back to the dryer.

[5to9]

The material is a big factor in laundry frequency. I recently got my first wool shirt as a birthday present, and it seems I can wear it 3-4 days without it starting to smell. Cotton shirts are a 1 day maximum with me.

I also shower every day, but I haven't really tried to optimize that.

[slsdly]

There are people that wash their hair with just water, apparently after awhile the body stops overproducing oils and it works out fine. We probably don't really need soap, unless there's tough/stinky spots to clean. I personally prefer to soap my armpits and bits.

This year I stopped using shampoo as an experiment; once or twice a week I do an apple cider vinegar rinse. I had a 1 month transition period where my hair was pretty disgusting, very oily. But I stuck it out and now 6 months later I am quite pleased with the results. I would say dandruff has been slightly reduced, despite the fact I used an anti-dandruff shampoo before.

I still use soap of course, with a cloth to increase the lifespan of the bars. I would say I still shower most days, probably ends up being 4-6 days a week, although I don't track this.

I hang my laundry after using on a clothes rack with a moderate amount of sun and fresh air blowing on it from a window. It keeps things smelling fresh for much longer, so I rewear and reuse everything a lot (save underwear and socks!). Laundry is more of a monthly routine now when it used to be 2 loads every 2 weeks (apartment building, so I do it in batches rather than on a 1 load available basis). I also only use the dryer for bed sheets, everything else gets hung to dry.

[EdithKeeler]

I think a person should shower daily if you're going to be around people; hanging out and sleeping by yourself, I think it's OK to skip a day. Personally I FEEL grungy if I don't shower, even if I know I look and smell OK. I had a day a few weeks ago where I got up super late and just took a "whore bath" (pits, under breasts and crotch...), rolled on some deodorant and was out the door. Around noon, I just FELT grubby and it was funny, because I went to the restroom and was sort of surprised I still looked ok.... It doesn't bother me when I'm at home, but the office.. not optimal.

Again, clothes washing--depends if you're around people or not. I take the dogs to the park, I usually wear what I wore the day before (I take the dogs to the park before I shower). I know that clothes can worn more than once, but I think it depends on the clothes, if it's summer or winter, how sweaty a person you are, etc.

I wash my sheets once a week. Always in HOT water with some bleach. I'm a little fanatical about a clean bed, and my dog sleeps with me usually.

I think the money to be saved by washing your body and clothes less frequently is pretty minimal. I am happy to do without a dishwasher or a garbage disposal, I try to conserve toilet-flushing water ("if it's yellow, let it mellow"--don't judge--I live alone), I make sure the washing machine is full before I do a load. I don't take long showers, and I don't let the water run while I brush my teeth--all more from a conservation angle than a cost angle, though it certainly has some small impact on cost. Fortunately, I live in an area where water is very cheap.

But a nice, hot daily shower is one of the great pleasures of modern civilization. I'll only give that up when the apocalypse is upon us....

As to optimal clothes, I think that if I didn't work, I'd probably own 2 pairs of jeans, a couple of sweaters, a couple of sweatshirts, a couple pairs of sweatpants, 4 pairs of shorts, 6-8 T-shirts, maybe 10 pairs of underwear and 2-3 bras, 5 pairs of socks, one or two nice dress up/funeral outfits, a robe, flip flops, sneakers, and a pair of dress shoes, a winter jacket, mittens... and that's probably about it. A couple of bathing suits. 2 sets of towels. I don't much like to dress up. Most of my current wardrobe is work slacks and blouses.

[slsdly]

I feel like I need to amend my statements now. I work from home, don't sweat much even when exercising, own many sets of bed sheets and towels, have a small frame so a lot of clothes fit in one load, have no pets, and accept that I will probably become a lonely crazy cat gentlemen (lord?) one day .

[JL13]

I had bad acne as a teen/early 20's. I stopped using face wash as a random accident and it cleared up. I don't use soap, just water on my face and it works fine.

Daily hit showers in the winter can give me exzema. I think the soaps and frequency of showers in our society are too harsh.

I shower on average every 2 days, I never smell, I've confirmed with multiple people. Here's the wash schedule:

Cotton socks: 12 hours
Wool socks: longer, depends on activity level
Cotton underwear: 24 hours
Wool underwear: 48 hours
Cotton t shirts: 24-48 hours or once per athletic activity
Wool t shirts: multiple athletic activities
Towels: weekly
Pants: bi-week
Sheets: monthly
Sweaters/jackets: rarely

[JL13]

The more of those items you replace with wool, the longer you can stretch the laundry cycle. You're wardrobe will cost 10x more though. Cotton shirts and socks are like $1 ea but wool shirt is minimum $35 on sale and socks are at least $10.

[Noedig]

This has inspired me to go and throw away a half dozen pairs of socks I don't like (actually, just thrown into the polishing rag pile).

Wool socks are the best. I keep buying them but keep ending up nonetheless with a basket of polycotton ones. This because my wool socks get continually filched and worn as slippers by my wife and teenage daughters. This behaviour is not confined to socks, BTW. It is good however, that my clothes are comfort clothing. Wool, it has to be wool for the long term.

[Dayu]

Currently, I am taking a cold bucket bath once a week, come summer or winter whatever the weather. Clothes are hand-washed in the same pool where the water is collected with a little soap and detergent.

I do this straight after a rinse down so that I can gradually warm and dry myself at the same time as I give my arms (mostly forearms and grip) a little workout. You have to be gentler once your arms have been conditioned because you can do more damage to some material than any washing machine or tumbler.

The soapy water is then use to clean the bath, sink and toilet before flushing down the loo. I return the clothes for rinsing (more human labor) with a little warm water.

Underwear are wash more frequently than shorts which are washed more than trousers/pants.

The cost is negligible compared to using a washing machine but this isn't why I do this.