Do I smell?

When I was teaching in a tiny country village in the early seventies, some of the children were sewn into their thick vests (liberty bodices) in the Winter. Their faces were clean but their necks were reall grimy! In spring or warmer weather their vests came off and they had a proper wash.
Also, if they got nits, their parents just shaved all the underneath hair off like Blackadder’s.
Got used to the smell after a while!

When I was working in North Africa it occurred to me that having a shower before I went to work, another when I came home sweaty from the journey, and then another before I went to bed, after an evening out, was a bit excessive. It then occurred to me that it as a real waste of both time and water as the clean freshness only lasted whilst I was in my air conditioned flat and was replaced by sweatiness within minutes of going out. But when I considered not bothering with all these showers that seemed like a slippery slope to nowhere!

I like what I am told is an “army” shower, turning the water off after drenching myself, lathering up without the water running and then rinsing off with it turned on again. Shower or bath alternate days with bidet and basin wash on the alternate days. Very concerned about “old lady smell” whatever that is. Don’t detect it on my friends, but I don’t have an acute sense of smell! Wouldn’t like to think I had it!

Always wash 'The three 'F's' (face, fanny and feet)

Thinking about it again, in the old days all water had to be heated on the fire.

At the moment we can't bathe or shower (don't ask) so I wash my "pennies and tuppences" which is what a friend called them, and underarms at least twice a day, in cold water .That's where most smells come from. Also feet.
Hair once a week.
Clean undies also important.

I shower every day and wash my hair. I remember working with a woman who stank of sweat. It was embarrassing as anyone coming into the office wouldn't know who it was. I was only 17 so I couldn't say anything to an older woman.

I happened to be reading Good Housekeeping at the doctors this morning. An excerpt from their 1920 issue read "Cleaning hair". Blonde hair should be cleaned every two weeks and dark hair every three weeks. People must have been really dirty, but everyone was in the same boat.

My mum used to inspect our necks, and woe betide us if it was grubby!

Strip wash twice a day. Shower and wash hair once or twice a week and a long bath once a week. Pretty sure I don’t smell!

We haven’t had a bath in our house for the 15 years, haven’t missed it one bit, we replaced it with a shower which I use 2 or 3 times a week. We also have a bidet a very important piece of bathroom kit. I really don’t understand why they are not more popular in UK? Yes as a child nightly stand up strip wash in the kitchen, hands & face & neck! Followed by anything below the waist that needed washing, in the morning before school with weekly bath shared with the rest of the family, children first & my Dad always last after the bath was topped up with hot water from the geyser. I can remember sitting behind a boy at school who’s neck was always dirty, I couldn’t take my eyes off of it! How did he get away with it?

I hate showers and have a bath most days (strip wash other days) . I only wash my hair twice a week as I believe it's bad for the hair to have natural oils removed too often , and this only makes the scalp produce more oil. My hair is never greasy. I do not use too much water in the bath and believe I use no more than people use in the average shower (judging from the length of time i hear the shower running)
If im on holidsy and tgeres only a shower i use the method described above of wetting, switching off, soapi then rinsing. But I never feel properly clean after just a shower!

The production of clean drinkable water is an expensive business. I tend to shower quickly as and when necessary, usually every other day but sometimes three days. I’m mindful of water use and do turn the tap on and off even when cleaning my teeth. Shameful to just let it run away while you’re soaping your body or brushing your teeth.
I agree with other posters regarding drying away natural oils with over washing and the use of harsh products.
While living in France for last three years only had a shower, really missed a bath. Arrived back in the UK insisted on having a bath installed only to find I can get in but can’t get out again!

I don't think my mum would have allowed smells on us kids.
She was ridiculously fussy.

It's not the water that's running out, it's that there are far too many people on this planet. In fact, that's probably the cause of all the ills in this world. So, unless that is sorted out pretty soon we are, in the words of that dad's army bloke, 'All doomed!'

At boarding school in the 60's we had two baths per week but they had to be with a friend, ugh! School clothing list was three of everything...one on, one clean and one in the wash, so one pair of knickers(grey interlock) had to last a week. We ALL smelled!!

Shower or bath.....I find it very therapeutic to either soak in a hot bath or to let warm water run over achy joints and back, especially after a long day.

All the same, I find showering to be more practical. My daily shower usually happens in the morning and I use a washcloth and soap before bedtime, just to make sure everything is still fresh at the end of the day. I also take care of my feet regularly and I wash my hair (in the shower) every other day.

Clothes and underwear need to be clean at all times too. I remember the school nuns wore the same habit day after day and they smelled like someone's dirty laundry even though they all looked so clean and tidy.

A note to add....my own mother lost her sense of smell (stroke) in the years leading up to her death. She began having problems with her personal hygiene right about the same time. The inability to smell can impact the need for adequate hygiene, so it's important to follow routines whether or not it feels unnecessary.

Shower every other day and and wash hair.

A bit shocked by all this bathing . Now we're on a water meter I have reduced my two baths to one a week. We don't have a shower. Have been retired for 4 years so sometimes wash my hair only once a week now rather than twice. I have a strip wash every morning. Knickers changed every day. Face cleansed morning and bedtime. Hope I don't smell , I'm sure DDs would tell me.

I agree about the towels TerriBull. After all, how dirty can the be when you've just showered?!

"A daily shower is not necessary" sorry mabon, but I think that's rather up to the individual to decide. I think it is, and so it seems do many who have posted here. Yes I think we need to mindful of how much water we use when we take that shower. I have read articles suggesting that towels should be washed on a daily basis, I certainly don't subscribe to that one, changing towels so frequently would require the washing machine to be on way more than necessary.

An interesting study:

"In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers described having heterosexual male subjects place absorbent pads under their armpits while watching a pornographic film. Subjects then repeated the process while watching a normal film. Then, 19 heterosexual women were asked to sniff the pads of the men who showed the most arousal. The women also sniffed a control pad with a neutral odor and also a pad which contained the hormone androstadienone which is believed to be a sex pheromone.

Researchers used an MRI to monitor brain activity as the females sniffed the pads.

The results were somewhat surprising. The majority of women registered a preference for the pads used by the men who showed the most arousal. The study was the first to demonstrate a connection between body odor and sexual urges among humans."

Daily shower for me except after Pilate's when a nice soak eases my aching muscles. Frequency depends on your lifestyle IMO but wouldn't ever miss more than one day and it would have to be a strip wash instead. And don't get me started on people who are sexually active but don't shower everyday..... euuugh gross!

I still only wash my hair once a week, wash every day and shower every other day, as my dry skin does best without daily showers.

I think we do need to be concerned by the daily consumption of drinking water, which is also used for laundry, personal hygiene, toilet cisterns, washing up.

Personally, I would like it to be legal here, as it is in the Netherlands to use rain water for flushing toilets and other purposes except washing up and food preparation.

When I was a child council houses in the Glasgow area had two cold water taps in the kitchen, on marked drinking water and the other was for use when cleaning.

I shower and wash my hair twice a week. As I have eczema that's the most my skin can stand of losing all its natural oils. I've always done it and never been told I smell. I think that there's too much waste of water. I don't have a dishwasher either and I wait for a full load before using the washing machine

I still enjoy my Saturday night soak in the bath, including body scrub, hairwash, defuzzing etc and it is the thing I most look forward to when we come home from holiday. I also have a midweek shower to wash my hair again and on other days I just wash face, armpits, bum and feet. We only had a weekly bath (Saturday night so we were clean for church!) and a daily rub with a hot, wet flannel as small children, but were told to strip wash and use a deodorant when we reached puberty. The glands that produce the 'B.O.' only really kick in then.