I normally take a full hot shower right when I get up from bed and do the full scrubbing and shampoo then. Then when I get back from work I will just take a quick 3 minute cold shower without any soap or shampoo, just having the water spray off any excess sweat and make me feel better.
My girlfriend claims that doing absolutely no scrubbing at all is just a complete waste of water, that I’m not actually getting the sweat off and I should be taking that like a “normal” shower but I don’t want to waste time/water doing a full 10 minute shower that also takes me longer to dry off from.
a water-only shower will rinse water soluble stuff like salt (from sweat) and loose dirt off of you, but it obviously won’t wash away oils.
sometimes after a long bike ride I’ll take a short cool/cold shower to cool off and rinse the gritty salt off of me (and yes, I can feel it.) if it’s yours, do what you want.
Water is a versatile/great/universal solvent. Polar substances/Ionic compounds, including organic substances like amino acids just wash away. (Body odor is partly attributed to breakdown of amino acids on your skin). If you add soap, it helps to capture the stuff that is dissolved, helping prevent re-deposition, which is particularly important in a bath tub or washing machine, or when washing your hair, but less important in a shower. (Washing your hair with soap makes you more susceptible to head lice, because they like the conditions better after the protective oils have been removed)
Soap is also a disinfectant , and alters the balance of your skin flora, which can be either a good or a bad thing.
Personally, I like a bit of scrubbing, with a washcloth, in hot water, but I don’t see the need to do it several times a day. If I’m just hot and salty and covered with excretions, I wash it off with water.
And that might be a reason to do a water-only shower. If you’re hot and sweaty but not particularly dirty (such as after a bike ride or pick up basketball game) it gets the sweat off without drying your skin and hair as much as soap and shampoo would. If you have dry skin water-only might be preferable in between actually scrubbing showers.
But as noted up thread it’s your body. If a quick water rinse makes you feel better/cooler/whatever go for it.
Anything that doesn’t wash off in the shower will get scrubbed by the towel when you dry off afterward. If you often shower without using soap, you’d be advised to change out your bath towel more frequently than you otherwise would.
Take a Navy Shower. In the bad old days, ships were short of fresh hot water.
So you get wet, 20-30 seconds.
Soap up with water off and scrub.
Scrub and rinse for 1-2 minutes.
Much cleaner than no soap and no extra water used than what you’re doing today.
This time of year I quick shower after walking the dogs or gardening. I use a pouf and mild soap.
I don’t consider this my main daily cleansing bath.
More scrubbing than that and I dry up.
I have to moisturize after every use of soap.
Diabetic skin is a cruel mistress.
The OP seems to be asking about a soapless shower with no scrubbing vs. a soapless shower just letting the water run over you (not a soapy shower vs. soapless shower). A scrubless shower is not a total waste–it will certainly rinse off a lot of stuff. But you will loosen up and rinse off more soluble deposits (e.g., salt from sweat) if you rub your skin down while rinsing.
It also depends on how dirty you are. Have you ever just hosed off a dirty car with no soap or sponge? It will just rinse off some loose stuff but you won’t end up with a clean car.
If the purpose of the shower is to make you feel better, and it does so, then how could it be a waste?
But perhaps your girlfriend finds something objectionable in the way you smell after your scrubless shower, and that’s why she wants you to clean more thoroughly.
Who here is old enough to remember the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle children’s books? In one story, a crappy child refuses to bathe. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle recommends that the parents allow him not to bathe. After some time, when the child is covered from head-to-toe with inch-thick dirt, Mrs. P-W plants radish seeds therein. Later, when the radishes grow and Mrs. P-W plucks the radishes out, the process is described as being painful for the child. Then the crappy child decides to take a bath, which uses up multiple bars of soap.
Yes, and the oils are not a bad thing, in fact some experts have said that only use soap where you are obviously dirty, and your hands, armpits, groin and asscrack.
I often take a quick cold shower on hot days to cool off and rinse the sweat off.
