# Has anyone slept in the bathtub? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 13, 2020, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340 "2020-01-13T06:25:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/21 "2020-01-13T15:48:06Z")
> [@atimnie](#): > > I grew up in a house with an old fashioned claw foot bathtub, you could easily sleep in it. Not that I did, but you could. I owned an old house with that type of tub for about 10 years. Filled it up with bath temperature water and fell asleep in it numerous times. However, the cold water woke me up. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/22 "2020-01-13T15:52:04Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’ve seen the sleeping-in-a-bathtub scene in movies and TV shows and it didn’t make sense to me either. For one thing, you have sleep sitting up and also the tub is going to be really cold, particularly if it’s cast iron or porcelain. That’s always my first thought when I’ve seen this in a show or movie - that has to be really cold! ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/23 "2020-01-13T15:54:01Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I once slept on a billiard table. I will gloss over the circumstances but it was that or share a bed with a rather drunk friend. Back in the day, billiard tables were the ‘normal’ alternative rather than baths. LOL, I was going to add this to my OP. I slept on our pool table for years because the room it was in was cooler than my bedroom and the farthest from the rest of the family! ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/24 "2020-01-13T15:59:56Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Can you give an example? I have no idea what you’re talking about. People are turning their bathtub into a bed for sleeping? This is common in movies and tv? Can’t find any examples on Youtube, but the setup usually is like Chronos described, the bed(s) and the couch are occupied and only the bathtub or the floor is left. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/25 "2020-01-13T16:09:59Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > Can’t find any examples on Youtube, but the setup usually is like Chronos described, the bed(s) and the couch are occupied and only the bathtub or the floor is left. For the life of me, I can’t think of a single time I have ever seen or heard of this. My mind is blown by the fact that everyone in this thread seems to not only know exactly what you’re describing, but also discussing it like it’s commonplace. Bed – \> Couch – \> Bean Bag, maybe – \> Large Lazy-Boy Chair – \> Floor That’s _always_ been the sleeping hierarchy as I’ve known it. I can see passing out drunk in other places like billiards tables, and even a bathtub I suppose. But the idea of purposely utilizing a tub as a place for guests to sleep? That’s just so alien to me. Do people do this at hotels too? If it’s maybe 4 people sharing a two-bed room? Is it one per bed, one on the couch and one in the tub??? Nobody on the floor? I’ll have to keep my eye out for this craziness! ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/26 "2020-01-13T16:14:48Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Note that it is entirely an American trope. . . Americans had the well-known characteristic of chewing tobacco, and spitting in, around, near to, or in the direction of the spittoon. Or dribbling on the floor, as circumstances dictated. I’m a tobacco chewing American, and I’ve never heard of this. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/27 "2020-01-13T16:38:55Z")
Not confined to tobacco chewers, but anyone in general. "Use of spittoons was considered an advance of public manners and health, intended to replace previously common spitting on floors, streets, and sidewalks. Many places passed laws against spitting in public other than into a spittoon. Boy Scout troops organized campaigns to paint “Do not Spit on the Sidewalk” notices on city sidewalks. In 1909 in Cincinnati, Ohio, scout troops together with members of the Anti-Tuberculosis League painted thousands of such messages in a single night.[1] A mass-produced sign seen in saloons read: If you expect to rate as a gentleman Do not expectorate on the floor" And not confined to the West either: "In China during the Qing Dynasty and later in Japan, a golden spittoon would be among the numerous objects displayed in front of the Emperor at major ceremonies.[7] After China became a Communist state in 1949, the spittoon became much more prevalent: spittoons were placed at every conceivable public place, and were commonplace in homes as well. The mass introduction of spittoons was no doubt a public hygiene initiative, motivated by a desire to curtail the still common Chinese practice of spitting onto the floor. The spittoons used in China were typically made of white porcelain, sometimes with traditional Chinese art painted onto the exterior. Spittoons were used even during official functions by the political leaders of China; especially when Deng Xiaoping had a frequent use of spittoon with other political leaders.[8] This eventually became a source of ridicule by the mass media outside China. As a response, the spittoons have largely been withdrawn from public spaces in China since the late 1980s" Source: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spittoon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spittoon) ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/28 "2020-01-13T16:46:29Z")
I suspect part of the logic of sleeping in a tub is that it’s cleaner than the floor since it’s used for cleansing. Personally, I’d rather sleep on a floor that people only walk on verus somewhere, where people lie naked! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/29 "2020-01-13T16:54:14Z")
Years ago, during a hurricane that passed us in the night, I had one kid sleep in the tub, one on a beanbag next to the tub, and I stretched out on the hallway floor. It was the only area in the house without windows. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/30 "2020-01-13T16:57:54Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > I suspect part of the logic of sleeping in a tub is that it’s cleaner than the floor since it’s used for cleansing. The shower at the gym is used for cleansing as well. I wouldn’t even touch the floor with my bare feet, let alone _sleep_ on it. I don’t care if the tub _is_ cleaner than some floors. It would just feel odd. And surrounded by all their toiletries and such too. Worse yet if the tub and toilet are in the same room. Fuck all that. > [@](#): > > Personally, I’d rather sleep on a floor that people only walk on verus somewhere, where people lie naked! Exactly. A bathtub just doesn’t _feel_ clean to me. Reminds me of Kramer cleaning his vegetables in the shower. I’d much rather sleep on someone’s floor. Even if they _do_ wear shoes inside, I’d still rather sleep on the floor than in a tub. ---
**Author:** ![sjankis630](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ea924/32.png) [@sjankis630](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjankis630)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/31 "2020-01-13T17:31:36Z")
A friend and I helped a woman rearrange furniture in her 4 level townhouse after some water damage on the upper floor. The top floor was more of a loft but she had so much crap in the whole house that we could scarcely find stairs to walk up and down. All of it was fancy art/nick nacks and the house seemed otherwise clean but this was the first time I had ever seen what I would call a hoarder. While we were in the master bedroom trying to find space for the moved stuff she admitted to us that she had so much stuff around that many nights she slept in her bathtub. This is essentially in a 3 bedroom modern 4 level townhouse of about 3,000 square feet. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/32 "2020-01-13T18:34:08Z")
I did for a couple nights in what qualified as a seriously shaky situation even by my standards. Good thing too; the house caught a few strays just after I left. My brother would sometimes sleep walk and end up asleep in his bathtub after he got back from Vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/33 "2020-01-13T19:09:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [Not moderating] > When I went to an overcrowded sleepover as a teen, with bedding space scarce, I ended up sleeping in a living-room chair. Not even a recliner, but it still seemed the best option available. I just pretended I was a cat. > > Much less drama than **Beckdawreck** ’s, but then, my host-mother was sober. Similarly, high school Science Olympiad out-of-state competition trip where some kids wanted to be loud and opened the inter-room doors, and there were 4-5 per room, I just took my pillow and the comforter and slept in the bathtub. I was the only one who got good sleep that night. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/34 "2020-01-13T22:45:13Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > I’m a tobacco chewing American, and I’ve never heard of this. 😕 Washington DC: > [@Charles Dickens](#): > > Both Houses are handsomely carpeted; but the state to which these carpets are reduced by the universal disregard of the spittoon with which every honourable member is accommodated, and the extraordinary improvements on the pattern which are squirted and dabbled upon it in every direction, do not admit of being described. I will merely observe, that I strongly recommend all strangers not to look at the floor; and if they happen to drop anything, though it be their purse, not to pick it up with an ungloved hand on any account. – and that, I suppose, was the ‘civilised’ part of the country. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/35 "2020-01-13T22:56:16Z")
It’s the safest place in my apartment during a tornado warning, and I was tired. ---
**Author:** ![DrForrester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@DrForrester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrForrester)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2020, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/36 "2020-01-14T00:14:15Z")
I was once the special sort of horribly sick that prevented me from being awake and being asleep. I was trapped in a horrible limbo of fever dream and nausea. After about 35 hours or so, I tried to think of anything that I could do to help keep my sanity. Take a bath! What could go wrong there? I entered the hottest bath that I could tolerate and instantly woke up - naked and completely dry - in the bath tub. I was startled & cold. I poured another bath … and, once again, woke up instantly naked & dry. It was a deeply strange thing. It’s been decades since that happened… and I was beginning to think that I was alone in that experience, until I read several posts above which described almost exactly the same thing. Not sure that I have taken a bath since then, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2020, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/37 "2020-01-14T02:16:14Z")
I slept in a bed once. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2020, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/38 "2020-01-14T03:54:12Z")
[You Were on My Mind](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Were_on_My_Mind) _is a popular song written by Sylvia Fricker in 1962,[1] in a bathtub in a suite at the Hotel Earle in Greenwich Village. She wrote it in the bathroom because “it was the only place … the cockroaches would not go”._ I stand nearly 6.5 feet, much too tall for any but the most extravagant bathtubs without great pain. Ms Fricker is likely much shorter. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2020, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/39 "2020-01-14T04:56:59Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Washington DC: > – and that, I suppose, was the ‘civilised’ part of the country. Yea, I understand that. I didn’t say that I don’t understand how filthy people were in the past or how spittoons worked. What I said is that I’ve never heard of people sleeping in a bath tub. You suggested that it is an American trope and is related to the fact that Americans are known for chewing tobacco. I commented to say that even as an American who chews tobacco, I still have never heard of someone sleeping in a dry bathtub. Couch, chair, futon, bean bag… floor. That’s common. Bath tub is _not_. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340/40 "2020-01-15T17:55:38Z")
Once after a bad sunburn I was itching uncontrollably under my skin, it was excruciating. I took a cool shower and spent the night soaking in vinegar in my bathtub. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-slept-in-the-bathtub/846340.md?page=3)