# Speaking of showers - wash cloth or no? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222 "2015-11-10T20:35:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/21 "2015-11-11T00:10:10Z")
If you’re not using a sponge or towel, please rinse the soap off thoroughly before putting it back. I know where it’s been and I think you enjoyed it a little too much. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/22 "2015-11-11T00:16:25Z")
I use one of those scrubby poof things in the shower. I use a washcloth for my face in the evenings when I take my makeup off. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/23 "2015-11-11T00:41:13Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I use napalm to exfoliate. Sissy! Use a wire brush and sulfuric acid like a real man! ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/24 "2015-11-11T00:45:14Z")
I use a washcloth. When I’m done washing, I rinse it out, wring it as dry as possible and hang it in the shower to dry. It’s never stinky or gross the next day so I just keep using it until I get the urge to wash a load of towels, wash clothes and dish towels. 1-2 weeks usually. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/25 "2015-11-11T00:51:07Z")
I’m a really oily person. I need foamy soapy scrubby time in the shower to get it off. If I don’t use something to scrub a little, I get buildup behind my knees, ankles, elbows. If I don’t scrub every other day or so, and rub those spots with just my hands after they seem squeaky clean, I’ll get little “pills” of stuff that must be oil and skin cells. So for me, yeah, I need a soapy exfoliation about every other time I shower. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/26 "2015-11-11T01:00:46Z")
Washcloths are awesome with liquid soap. If you don’t want to reuse washcloths, try using a paper towel. They’re not as good, but they’re cheap and disposable. I use a paper towel washcloth when I shower at the gym to get all the sweat off. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/27 "2015-11-11T01:28:13Z")
I like using a wash cloth for my nether regions. I feel like it gets the job done better than my hands do. ---
**Author:** ![CT\_Damsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/28 "2015-11-11T02:13:50Z")
I use tiny little clothes to apply my face soap and a large long exfoliating cloth on my body to aid in washing my back. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/29 "2015-11-11T02:30:25Z")
I haven’t used a bar of soap for years. I use shower gel and one of those scrunchy thingoes. It’s mine and only I use it. Rinse it out after use and leave it hanging in the shower to dry until next time. Far better than rubbing a bar of soap on your body that has been rubbed over other peoples bodies and has bits of their DNA encrusted into it. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/30 "2015-11-11T03:54:38Z")
I have tough, oily skin so I don’t really feel clean unless I give my bod a good hard scrubbing. I use a washcloth except for my face and back where I use brushes. Yes I brush-scrub my face. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/31 "2015-11-11T04:56:34Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Sissy! Use a wire brush and sulfuric acid like a real man! Doesn’t get you clean enough. I take a machete in the shower with me, chop off the outer layers, grow 'em back the next day. It’s tingly! Grew up with washcloths, now don’t use 'em. Once in awhile I go for the shower scrubby, but otherwise I’m all about the soap & water approach. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/32 "2015-11-11T05:10:45Z")
Clean, rough washcloth every time. I use it on whatever I feel needs exfoliating. And every person’s undercarriage should receive the daily power wash of a good hand-held shower head. ---
**Author:** ![tacos4all](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@tacos4all](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacos4all)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/33 "2015-11-11T07:15:34Z")
Personally, body wash and hands. I think washcloths are for people shy/squeamish to touch their own bodies perhaps? I do use a loofah about once a week though, and a pumice stone on the soles of the feet. Note for ladies: never exfoliate right before shaving, the doubleassault on the skin is too much. Also, always moisturise after exfoliating. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/34 "2015-11-11T08:58:52Z")
I don’t feel clean with a washcloth, or with bare hands and soap. I use one of those shower puff things. I’ve used them since I was a child. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/35 "2015-11-11T09:50:14Z")
> [@tacos4all](#): > > Personally, body wash and hands. I think washcloths are for people shy/squeamish to touch their own bodies perhaps? No. See my post above for my personal reason, and I think at least one other person mentioned a similar reason. Some people need a scrubbing. But personally as a woman, I use just soapy hands on genitalia/rear end just in case there’s something that I don’t want to get on a cloth or scrubbie. I don’t think that’s being shy with myself. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/36 "2015-11-11T10:25:07Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > My dead skin cells take care of themselves, as far as I can tell. in 54 years I have not once attempted “gentle exfoliation” and I’m not suffering any ill effects. Interesting username/post content. I usually just use soap and my hands when I shower, but when I shave my legs I take a tubby bath and exfoliate all over. Washcloth gets used once, then into the laundry. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/37 "2015-11-11T12:22:17Z")
I put soap on my washcloth, use it to scrub, then after the shower it goes in the hamper to be washed. I have enough washcloths that I could do this every day for two weeks, though I don’t go that long between washing towels and such. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/38 "2015-11-11T13:42:23Z")
I’m deciduous, so I exfoliate spontaneously every year about this time. I’ll start refoliating in mid-March or so. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/39 "2015-11-11T14:55:57Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I use napalm to exfoliate. I love the smell of burning dead top layer of skin in the morning. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222/40 "2015-11-11T15:41:50Z")
If needed (motor oil, paint, baked on crud) I’ll use one but not for the normal shower. And when I do its as much for the massage effect as it is because it gets me cleaner. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speaking-of-showers-wash-cloth-or-no/737222.md?page=3)