# Pandemic Showering habits **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 23, 2021, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651 "2021-04-23T23:47:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/21 "2021-04-25T16:59:15Z")
Before working exclusively from home and not really being able to go anywhere, I could shower about three times a week. Now I’m lucky if I do it twice a week. I just can’t bring myself to care. It’d probably help if I had a nicer shower- the shower in this house is really small. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/22 "2021-04-25T17:06:04Z")
I’m fairly neutral toward the experience of showering itself: I don’t mind it, but if I could get the effects of showering without actually taking a shower, I would. However, when I go a day without showering (which last happened a few months ago when the water heater broke), I feel icky and stinky. I absolutely accept that people differ, both physically and psychologically, in how often they need to shower. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/23 "2021-04-25T17:17:17Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > To me, there is nothing like a nice, relaxing shower, and I love that nice, clean feeling you get when you just step out of one. My issue is that my bathroom is cold. When I take baths, I’m normally overheated before I step out, so the cool air is refreshing. With showers it’s just unpleasant. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I absolutely accept that people differ, both physically and psychologically, in how often they need to shower. I would shower less often if my hair didn’t get greasy so quickly. I can’t stand it. I’ve heard people say eventually your natural oils kick in to… something… but I’ve never been able to make it that long. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/24 "2021-04-25T18:14:01Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I’ve pretty much settled into a rhythm of showering every other day. If I do something that gets me all sweaty or messy, I’ll shower afterwards, regardless of when I had my last shower, but that’s not very often these days. I shower every other day, too … unless, like you, there’s a specific need to shower before then. My sister and I alternate doing our “dog duty.” Because we’re in a townhouse, with no backyard, he needs to go out multiple times a day, he’s fed three times a day (with medications), so, on my non-dog days I shower and sit around (mostly) having a relaxed day. On dog days, I’m out walking a lot, and I do chores on that day, so I need to shower after that. It works for me. > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I would shower less often if my hair didn’t get greasy so quickly. I can’t stand it. I’ve heard people say eventually your natural oils kick in to… something… but I’ve never been able to make it that long. I’d heard that, too, and I also could never go long enough to see if it worked. Now that I’m older my hair is _finally_ less oily, so I don’t need to wash it every day. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/25 "2021-04-25T21:41:23Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > …if I was outside much or exerted much I’m gonna get clean before imposing myself and my stench on others. I may be lazy, but I’m not a anti-social. This does raise the question of whether other people can smell you from six feet away if they’re masked. * * * We had a wintertime discussion of showering a few months back: > [@Let's talk about showers (the bathing kind, not the meteorological kind)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-about-showers-the-bathing-kind-not-the-meteorological-kind/930547): > > Full disclosure: I hate showering. Especially in the winter. Because I hate to be cold right after when still I’m all wet and haven’t gotten dry yet. Also because in the winter my skin gets so dry I feel like it’s all just going to flake off my body. Rest assured, I DO shower (although not every day in the winter, as I don’t do anything or go anywhere), but I wish I enjoyed it. It’s just a necessary nuisance. I feel like this is a grownup thing I haven’t mastered and consider myself inept in the… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/26 "2021-04-25T21:54:07Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This does raise the question of whether other people can smell you from six feet away if they’re masked. We’ve all seen those bumper stickers that say something like > If you can read this you’re following too close! I suppose we could sell ragged A-shirts (AKA “wife-beaters”) with gaping open armholes that say > If you can smell me you’re too close for COVID!! on the front and back. Then just skip showering altogether and use your BO as a force field to repel all the infectious strangers. It’ll even repel the maskless to a greater distance than the masked. By George, I think I’m on to something here! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/27 "2021-04-25T21:57:34Z")
See, this is where i want to click the “like” button. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/28 "2021-04-25T22:02:55Z")
I was hoping the discussion would have gotten a bit more clinical about how showering or not showering affects body odors and bacteria. I am convinced that too much showering has the opposite affect that we are looking for when we shower. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/29 "2021-04-25T22:03:22Z")
Once I get that up on some T-shirt selling site I just want you to click the “Buy” button. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/30 "2021-04-25T22:14:29Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I was hoping the discussion would have gotten a bit more clinical about how showering or not showering affects body odors and bacteria. I am convinced that too much showering has the opposite affect that we are looking for when we shower. Yet others are saying they don’t see the same effect as you. You’re just not seeing what you want to see. What works for you doesn’t necessarily work for others. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/31 "2021-04-25T22:18:50Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I suppose we could sell ragged A-shirts (AKA “wife-beaters”) with gaping open armholes that say > > > If you can smell me you’re too close for COVID!! > > on the front and back. Then just skip showering altogether and use your BO as a force field to repel all the infectious strangers. I admit, I’ve used masking and social distancing as permission to unashamedly fart in a public place. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/32 "2021-04-25T22:51:31Z")
I may have not stated my case well enough. Most posts I see are saying if they skip showers they feel and smell grubby. What I failed to say in the OP was that it didn’t start happening to me suddenly but it was fairly quick. I am going to guess it took about 6 weeks for my body to condition itself to less showers. The improvement was steady almost from the beginning. I am curious if others have tried this. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/33 "2021-04-25T23:17:01Z")
I have certainly read of other people reporting the same experience as @HoneyBadgerDC does. That after a few _weeks_ of no showering / bathing the ecosystem of skin microflora and microfauna has changed a bunch and the stinky BO-causing bacteria have been outcompeted by something else. I know I used to work with a guy who had truly eye-watering sulfurous BO. I stink when I sweat; this guy reeked. I know he showered regularly because this was in the military and we all showered more or less together after morning PT. Anyhow one day he came in to work and simply didn’t stink. It was miraculous. Turns out he had seen a dermatologist specialist that put him on some meds that exterminated whatever skin infestation he had and viola: he smelled like an ordinary human. Actually less rank that most ordinary humans. Daily showering or not could equally be influencing which bacteria & fungi you’re wiping out and which you’re supporting. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/34 "2021-04-25T23:35:08Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > If one has dry skin, or a variety of other skin diagnoses, most dermatologists recommend showering less often. 2-3 x a week is considered more than sufficient for health purposes for typical individuals. Aesthetics are another issue. > > Since I see patients who have covid, I take a LOT of showers during the Pandemic. I am one of those dry hair/dry skin types now. First run through chemo 4 years ago did it to me. I shower Sundays and Wednesdays, and use a shampoo without the sulphates and silicones [or whatever, I use the brand recommended by the derm the oncologist sent me to] and I use a superfatted soap by Bravo Sierra. I did notice that when on infusion chemo I had absolutely no body odor or random body acne, the chemo apparently kept killing off my external bugs and fungi [?] I tend my stoma every day, I use a 2 piece bag system. I use plain boiled water [we have well water, so I keep an electric kettle on hand for using in my neti pot, so I just divert some to keeping my stoma clean] \ I change the barrier on my pouch system once a week on Sundays, and with good diet, use of olive oil as a bag lubricant and oddly strong wintergreen altoids as the bag deodorant, I can generally make the bag do a week as well. I have a couple boxes of the nondrainable pouches that match my barrier that I use for medical appointment days. Over on reddit, r/ostomy someone asked what happens to ostomates in the slammer, so I tend to be a bit curious myself. And please do keep safe, it would be horrible to lose you, you are a gifted story teller and font of information of everything from prison, medicine to cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2021, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/35 "2021-04-25T23:44:14Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > what happens to ostomates in the slammer They get necessary supplies, ostomy clinic followup as needed, and single cells. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/36 "2021-04-26T00:55:19Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > And please do keep safe, it would be horrible to lose you, you are a gifted story teller and font of information of everything from prison, medicine to cheese. > > (said to @Qadgop_the_Mercotan) Seconding this. I think about the hazardous conditions you work under… and I do worry some… ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/37 "2021-04-26T01:19:17Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > and viola: he smelled like an ordinary human. Man, that must’ve been some _incredible_ viola-playing! 😁 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/38 "2021-04-26T01:25:51Z")
Thanks for noticing. I always use “Viola”. [https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-bottom-line-to-all-these-sovereign-citizen-cases/926331/61?u=lslguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-bottom-line-to-all-these-sovereign-citizen-cases/926331/61) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/39 "2021-04-26T01:38:36Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Thanks for noticing. I always use “Viola”.- My mother (of blessed memory) did, too. Intentionally. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2021, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651/40 "2021-04-26T05:15:20Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > > [@aruvqan](#): > > > > what happens to ostomates in the slammer > > They get necessary supplies, ostomy clinic followup as needed, and single cells. Good to know, diet requirements as well? [I am lucky that so far everything I have eaten has digested well though I understand iliostomates have a much more restricted diet they need to follow.] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pandemic-showering-habits/940651.md?page=3)