# How and When Did Daily Bathing Become the Norm in the United States? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 26, 2001, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-when-did-daily-bathing-become-the-norm-in-the-united-states/70144 "2001-06-26T00:32:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2001, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-when-did-daily-bathing-become-the-norm-in-the-united-states/70144/21 "2001-06-27T18:30:34Z")
Norm has always bathed, in the United States & in any foreign countries he has visited. Sam won’t let anybody drink in _Cheers_ if they don’t. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ben\_Stepton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ben\_Stepton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben_Stepton)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2001, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-when-did-daily-bathing-become-the-norm-in-the-united-states/70144/22 "2001-06-28T13:25:53Z")
Tim A) my post was tongue-in-cheek B) if you’re going to dare me, well then, you stink! you stink something awful and that’s why you have no friends. Sorry. Ben ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2001, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-when-did-daily-bathing-become-the-norm-in-the-united-states/70144/23 "2001-06-28T16:27:56Z")
Heh heh. Good, good. Glad to see a good natured new guy. I get tired of the ones who make assinine snap claims. Hope you stick around. –Tim ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2001, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-when-did-daily-bathing-become-the-norm-in-the-united-states/70144/24 "2001-06-28T17:24:14Z")
Napoleon was returning from a campaign and wrote to Josephine: “I’m coming home soon. Don’t bathe!” Yuk. stoid ---
**Author:** ![Opengrave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/919ad9/32.png) [@Opengrave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opengrave)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2001, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-when-did-daily-bathing-become-the-norm-in-the-united-states/70144/25 "2001-06-28T17:27:35Z")
Oh man, old B.S.A. handbooks. Find the section on clothing or camping (I can’t remember) it says “in bad weather _rubbers_ may be worn.” (emphasis mine). I cracked up when I read that. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2001, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-when-did-daily-bathing-become-the-norm-in-the-united-states/70144/26 "2001-06-28T18:18:33Z")
Just for the record, the Handbook now (as of 1990, at least) advocates daily bathing, of some sort or another. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2001, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-when-did-daily-bathing-become-the-norm-in-the-united-states/70144/27 "2001-06-29T00:43:21Z")
You know, I dont’ ever recall reading anything about bathing, daily or otherwise, in my girl scount handbooks. Wonder why? Did they just assume girls had better hygiene? ---
**Author:** ![DarkPrince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@DarkPrince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkPrince)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2001, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-when-did-daily-bathing-become-the-norm-in-the-united-states/70144/28 "2001-06-29T03:40:38Z")
I dunno about girlscouts, but when I went on boyscout camping trips I always made sure I took a bath at least once a day…in a creek that had thawed out 26 minutes ago…with leeches. Ah, camping. Anyway, I feel totally nasty if I don’t shower daily, but that’s just me. My girlfriend on the other hand will go days without bathing and still be as fresh and clean as a rose, go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2001, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-when-did-daily-bathing-become-the-norm-in-the-united-states/70144/29 "2001-06-29T07:29:49Z")
Don’t any of you that have long hair use conditioner? I wash my hair daily because otherwise it gets too oily. A good conditioner keeps it from drying out. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2001, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-when-did-daily-bathing-become-the-norm-in-the-united-states/70144/30 "2001-06-29T10:19:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hastur \* > Don’t any of you that have long hair use conditioner? > > I wash my hair daily because otherwise it gets too oily. A good conditioner keeps it from drying out. Sure, I use conditioner. And a very mild shampoo. But, as I said, if you brush the long hair very thoroughly (which you should do) the oil on your scalp winds up on the hair, where it belongs, and because there is so much more hair than on a shorthair there’s places to put it all. If I _don’t_ brush the hair out (a problem when I was a young and irresponsible child) then the oil hangs out on the scalp and gets skanky and the ends get dry, brittle, and break off. Ick. When I use conditioner I give the bottom foot of my hair a double-treatment, because those ends are years old, dried out, and more delicate than the new hair closer to my scalp. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-and-when-did-daily-bathing-become-the-norm-in-the-united-states/70144.md?page=1)