Strip Washing

@Petre

*Hypothetical question.
You could go on a journey/ holiday/ adventure which you’ve always longed to do ( this could take 6 weeks) longer if you wanted, but, there would be no showers.
Would you do it*

I could, and often have, and would happily do it again. Old habit from childhood.

When I started periods my mother (very fastidiously clean) advised me " a lady strip washes twice daily". which I always did at home and when when rough travelling.

In my teens we lived at my grandfathers house with no indoor plumbing whatever; just a iron pump over the well in the garden shared with the nrighbours Every drop of water was fetched in buckets (my job); For strip wash you tipped some from the bucket into a jug (cold) and carried it up to the bedroom where we had a china bowl on a washstand Wash in cold water, tip bowl out of the window.

Yes I think we’ve become too precious about showering so constantly. I worked with dermatologists for 10 years at our local hospital. They said we (mostly) all shower/bath too frequently.

Maybe when you’re younger, exercise
more getting sweaty, I was a runner 4 miles every day before work in my mid 40’s I would shower every morning

But now? No way José. I shower every other day or every third when my hair needs washing.

Last summer, we were left without hot water for a few weeks. Being old school and brought up on strip washing, we managed fine. We only shower or bathe every couple of days if we’re just at home. Strip washing in between. My husband always insists we’re far too clean for our own good these days!

Usedtobeblonde

When I go away for a couple of nights to meet family or friends I never use the shower as I need someone to be in the house when I shower in case I fall or feel unsteady.
I use some large wet sheets called Omnitex bath and bed wipes. I have used others but can’t remember their name.
I buy them from Amazon and I feel very clean all over.

I do remember strip washes though, we used to say ,wash down as far as possible, then up as far as possible, then wash possible.

My father, a G.P. ,cynically remarked that in his opinion this method resulted in Possible not being washed at all.

I remember staying with an aunt in Ireland. She had 13 children and no running water. They had a well in the garden and used to bring it up in buckets. I don't remember any bad smells in the cottage.

I have periods of being quite disabled and unsteady so I use a collapsible sitz bath with a jet facility over the toilet for the lady bits & wash my arms etc over the basin. Id like a bidet next.

I also agree with luluaugust. Unless you have a job or are doing something that makes you sweaty or dirty, then I don't think we need to shower every day. Apart from it being a waste of water.

A friend of mine regularly showers twice a day. Despite using body lotion, her skin looks very dry especially on her arms and legs.

I have a bath a couple of times a week and an additonal shower if necessary. If I wasn't having a shower or bath, I would have a strip wash in the morning and evening.

As a colleague once said to me, 'As long as you wash the three f's you will be fine'. The three f's being face, feet and f**ny

Takes me right back to my Youth Hostelling days. No showers. Cold water only.
We must have been fragrant.

I do. I don't have a shower every day, so alternate them with a strip wash. It's how I was brought up as we didn't have much hot water. So I enjoy a wash basin full of hot soapy water and a sponge or flannel. And it saves water . No problem.

Netflix I have just looked on Amazon and some of the Omiitex wipes are biodegradable.

Does anyone know if the Omnitel Bed and bath wipes are biodegradable please?

If I go to stay with DD for a couple of days - say over Christmas - I strip wash. They have a huge wetroom which I don’t feel safe in, and a shower over a bath that I can’t get in and out of. DD has offered to help me negotiate the bath but that’s a bridge too far for me, though there are times when I would sell my soul to sit in a bath of hot soapy water! I only shower every other day these days anyway and schedule the shower days as those on which I am going to be in the close company of other people. The days I’m going to be slopping around on my own I don’t bother.

Yes I sometimes use large disposable tissues ----I forget the name--you see them advertised----if I need a quick clean up.
Tomorrow for instance I am expecting somebody to give me a Covid jab at home between 10AM -3PM and I don't want to be in the shower when she rings the door bell.

Beechnut

petra

luluaugust

Many years ago a skin specialist I was seeing said he wished people would stop showering everyday as the skins natural oils never got a chance to work and resulted in him having to deal with dry skin and the purchase of expensive creams
I have to say it didn’t stop me showering but if I am home alone I do just have a strip wash

Needless to say your skin specialist was correct.
The skin is also part of our immune system.

This won’t happen in our generation but it 100% will in our grandchildren’s time. Water rationing.
I know that sounds bizarre when you think of the amount of rain some areas get, but as of yet the uk hasn’t worked out a system to move this water overflow.
news.yale.edu/2021/05/06/how-skins-immune-system-cells-coordinate-defense-against-threats

The doctor once told DH, “ We are too clean!”

Well that’s 3 of us who know the damage we are doing.
4 including MrP.

Hypothetical question.
You could go on a journey/ holiday/ adventure which you’ve always longed to do ( this could take 6 weeks) longer if you wanted, but, there would be no showers.
Would you do it 🤷‍♀️

Good reasons to combine showering and strip washing throughout the week.
1) saves water ( I also have a shower timer for my shower days)
2) an increase in dry skin through showering too much

Only after my operation

petra

luluaugust

Many years ago a skin specialist I was seeing said he wished people would stop showering everyday as the skins natural oils never got a chance to work and resulted in him having to deal with dry skin and the purchase of expensive creams
I have to say it didn’t stop me showering but if I am home alone I do just have a strip wash

Needless to say your skin specialist was correct.
The skin is also part of our immune system.

This won’t happen in our generation but it 100% will in our grandchildren’s time. Water rationing.
I know that sounds bizarre when you think of the amount of rain some areas get, but as of yet the uk hasn’t worked out a system to move this water overflow.
news.yale.edu/2021/05/06/how-skins-immune-system-cells-coordinate-defense-against-threats

The doctor once told DH, “ We are too clean!”

luluaugust

Many years ago a skin specialist I was seeing said he wished people would stop showering everyday as the skins natural oils never got a chance to work and resulted in him having to deal with dry skin and the purchase of expensive creams
I have to say it didn’t stop me showering but if I am home alone I do just have a strip wash

Needless to say your skin specialist was correct.
The skin is also part of our immune system.

This won’t happen in our generation but it 100% will in our grandchildren’s time. Water rationing.
I know that sounds bizarre when you think of the amount of rain some areas get, but as of yet the uk hasn’t worked out a system to move this water overflow.
news.yale.edu/2021/05/06/how-skins-immune-system-cells-coordinate-defense-against-threats

Many years ago a skin specialist I was seeing said he wished people would stop showering everyday as the skins natural oils never got a chance to work and resulted in him having to deal with dry skin and the purchase of expensive creams
I have to say it didn’t stop me showering but if I am home alone I do just have a strip wash

When I was a child, the kitchen sink was the only point of tap water in the house therefore in constant use whether to clean pots and pans, bodies, hair and teeth!
Located in a very small kitchen and right next to the back door, the kitchen sink was a very congested and un-private area of the home.
In the winter and with no central heating, strip washing was a very quick process.

I hate strip washes,but would find Omnitex body wash useful on trips .
They also make a shampoo cap ,which is apparently very good .

Tesco sell a similar large wet-wipe of a make called "Fred and Flo", which I keep in the bathroom for when a full bath or shower is not feasible or desirable.

I bought those wipes to help after Mr C’s mitral valve repair utbb and agree, very useful and they do leave a feeling of cleanliness. I’ve never thought to take some away with us, not all showers being equal and climbing in and out of a bath can no longer happen! Excellent thought, thank you.

Same memories of strip washes, they continued into our early days of marriage when our tiny terrace house had no bathroom and an outside toilet. We managed, as did many people, always being careful of ‘possible’. .

😉😝 kitty

Possible being the most important bit, Utbb.