# Do you wash your back every time you shower? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 7, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530 "2017-01-07T15:27:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/1 "2017-01-07T15:27:55Z")
A bit TMI perhaps, but I will admit I don’t wash my back (with soap and scrub brush) every time I shower. Am I alone in this? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/2 "2017-01-07T16:24:12Z")
I wash my back every time but I don’t often use the brush. A lot of people complain about the part of their back they can’t reach with their hands. I may be a freak of nature but there is no part of my back I can’t reach with my hands. I do use the brush when I want to do an especially thorough job. Fun fact: there is a word for the part of your skin you can’t reach: [acnestis](https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/acnestis) ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/3 "2017-01-07T16:29:13Z")
Come to think of it, I never wash my back. It never even occurred to me. How am I still alive? ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/4 "2017-01-07T16:31:29Z")
I’m in the camp of “Eh…the water’ll get it.” ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/5 "2017-01-07T16:39:47Z")
Soap - all the time. Shower brush - never, mainly because I don’t own one. Like **bibliophage** , I can reach my back to wash it. I can more than touch my fingertips behind my back. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/6 "2017-01-07T16:52:20Z")
Soap and washcloth on the back every time I’m in the shower. Up until a couple years ago I, too, could reach everywhere on my own back without a problem but I’m getting stiffer. So I stretch the washcloth across my back and “saw” it back and forth. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/7 "2017-01-07T17:01:10Z")
Soap and a shower brush every time. It’s like getting my back scratched and it’s less likely to be itchy later in the day. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/8 "2017-01-07T17:16:40Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I’m in the camp of “Eh…the water’ll get it.” Same here. Maybe if I was wrestling with pigs. . . ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/9 "2017-01-07T17:53:25Z")
No … if by “wash” you mean use a scrub brush or similar scrubber on it while under the water. The routine is shampoo gets used as a general hair and body wash for everything reachable by hand then to dry off there’s a vigorous 2 handed towel scrubbing across the back as the finish. While showering my back is getting directly hit with hot water for several minutes while I face away from the water stream to brush my teeth and floss and shave. Unless you have acne on your back or work a super dirty job that somehow gets your back dirty the hot water pounding and the vigorous toweling should be sufficient for 99 percent of people to have a squeaky clean back. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/10 "2017-01-07T17:55:15Z")
The neglected back. It is the downside of showering alone. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/11 "2017-01-07T18:07:48Z")
Wait . . . You’re _supposed_ to wash your back? Then again, I get my _front_ very, very clean. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/12 "2017-01-07T18:11:48Z")
Yep. Every month, need it or not. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/13 "2017-01-07T18:21:46Z")
I don’t usually wash anything except my head, armpits, and naughty bits. My wife likes me to wash her back with that plastic mesh poofy thing, pretty hard. Apparently it itches under the bra line - go figure. We don’t own a shower brush. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/14 "2017-01-07T19:34:42Z")
Head, face, pits, crotch and that’s it outside of extraordinary circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/15 "2017-01-07T23:31:44Z")
Wow. This is why guys get a bad reputation. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/16 "2017-01-08T01:32:42Z")
Head, chest, arms, dangly bits, and legs. The feet get special attention, as do the pits and the crotchial area. Hair only gets washed every other day. My hands get washed in the course of washing everything else. As for my back, I usually wash as much as I can reach and, _pace_ **astro** , figure that hot water and soap runoff will take care of the rest. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/17 "2017-01-08T02:19:24Z")
“I’ll tell you something else, my well-scrubbed friends… you don’t need to always need to shower every day, did you know that? It’s overkill, unless you work out or work outdoors, or for some reason come in intimate contact with huge amounts of filth and garbage every day, you don’t always need to shower. All you really need to do is to wash the four key areas; **armpits, asshole, crotch, and teeth.** Got that? **Armpits, asshole, crotch, and teeth.** In fact, you can save yourself a whole lot of time if you simply use the same brush on all four areas!” – George Carlin ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/18 "2017-01-08T03:01:30Z")
Nope. Water pounds on it for a bit, then I scrub a bit with the towel while drying off. No scrub brush or extra washing. ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/19 "2017-01-08T03:24:52Z")
Not every time but thanks for reminding me … I should do that again soon. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530/20 "2017-01-08T03:35:56Z")
Generally I just let the hot water run over my back after spreading soap around wherever I can reach. Occasionally my back needs a good scrubbing and I use a 2x4 with some nails sticking out of it for that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-wash-your-back-every-time-you-shower/776530.md?page=2)