Not showering every day?

There is a climate emergency. Daily showering uses huge amounts of energy and water. Here in Cornwall we spent last year with a hosepipe ban because of a water shortage. We are dreading the start of the holiday season when our reservoirs rapidly deplete. I have a couple of showers a week and a good wash on the other days. We must all reduce our energy usage to save the planet.

I’m very naughty then, bath in the morning which helps my rheumatoid aches, swim most days then after swim shower. I use dove and moisturise but yes, my skin does get dry. But hey, the exercise is good for me. I did read recently that we should be wearing a factor 50 cream on our face which helps prevent ageing, nit to mention skin cancer. I use the Nivea 50 total block now

‘Face, feet and fanny’every morning and evening was what my mum insisted on - bath once a week! Now I don’t shower every day ( but feel slightly guilty when I don’t) and only wash hair every 10 days or so.

Another one with very dry skin on legs. I have tried everything in the way of soaps and shower gels. I try not to have the water too hot and don’t shower EVERY day.

Currently slathering on some Avon extra care cream for very dry skin, having tried scores of others. Fingers crossed.

I am so grateful for all these answers on here. In the last few months, for the first time, the skin on my lower legs is terribly dry. Almost snake like! Grim!!

Rosie51

I have the same tanith. Now that the weather is so much warmer I've reduced the temperature of the water and am making it a very quick shower with a soapless shower gel. I think I can feel an improvement even if it's not visually obvious yet. If I want a second one later in the day, I'm just using tepid water, no soap or shower gel.

Definitely. Just water is good and refreshing, I put lots of moisturiser on once I'm dry, in between showers I freshen up with water and a flannel

When I was younger we had an elderly neighbour who had no shower and too old to get into a bath.She said she washed up as far as possible and down as far as possible and then washed”POSSIBLE “!

Use natural products, which are more expensive, but worth it, together with a wholesome diet, high in antioxidants.

I too noticed some unsightly flaking ish skin on my lower limbs. I read that moisturizer with urea helps. I bought Eucerin with urea and it seems to help. I shower daily in hard water area and am soon 68.

You really don’t need to shower every day unless maybe you have been gardening or some other grubby activity.

No wonder your skin is dry and flaky.

Just use some good moisturiser every day.

Try washing head-t-toes with Eubos Pink soap.

Unless the weather is hot, like now, I box and cox shower and bath every two days. Hairwash under the shower on day 4. I use soap only on armpits and feet, water only everywhere else. Moisturiser on legs after bath/shower therefore every second day. Face obviously washed and moisturised every day.
79 in a few weeks and so far, skin okay. (Teeth not though.)

I remember the days of once a week bath, mum would shout up the stairs to leave the plug in so she could wash the bed sheets in it!

Slightly off topic but I've discovered the first cream to make a difference to my dry lower legs. I've tried Cera Ve, Nivea, other creams from Boots 'problem skin' shelves but still I had flaky dry lower legs!

It's Spanish and it's called 'Instituto Espanol Urea Skin Repair Cream' (10% Urea). It comes in a large pot and you only need a small amount. I got it from Amazon, after reading about it in the 'Sunday Times.'

I shower every other day and wash the other days.
If you shower too much you lose essential oils from your skin and have to apply artificial chemicals in the form of moisturisers.
Less showers =less dry skin. Seems simple enough to me.
Showering every day is only a habit not a necessity.

Just “top and tail”

I'm 76 and fanatic about not being smelly, but only shower every other day when it's hot (more if it's really sweaty weather; twice a week in winter) BUT I have a proper stand-up wash of potentially smelly zones every night without fail. I moisturize well after a shower, and as I get older I need a richer body lotion/cream. There are plenty that aren't expensive. I'm careful not to use too much shower gel - just enough to get a lather on my shower puff.

lemsip

back in the day what deodorant did you use.. as a teenager me and sisters used 'odorono' cream in a litte pot!

Yes I remember that, pre the days of sprays and roll ons

Advice is not to shower or bath daily unless advised by a clinical professional.

My dermatologist recommends showering using only Aqueous cream. A large tub from Superdrug is best I think. It both cleans & moisturises. Does take some getting used to though. No way I can miss my morning shower unless I’m ill or had surgery. I’m amazed at how many of you don’t.

What is this fetish with showering every day?
Not necessary, in my view, unless one has a particularly demanding physical job.
And what about those people who do not have a Shower nor can use a Bath?

Go back to the old fashioned strip wash on alternate days just wash the bits necessary.
Aveeno or ceravie may help moisture your legs

As a war baby I was brought up with all sorts of 'privations', whilst my Edwardian mother still enjoyed the luxury of a daily hot bath.
I strip washed as and where I considered necessary daily and didn't seem to get any complaints from school friends or enemies.
Soap had been in short supply during the war and we used a small wire basket contraption containing the ends of the bars of soap to make a sort of foam for whatever washing purposes including the dishes

Upon marriage, my husband was sent to Singapore and then the trouble started. I was advised to shower several times daily ( My husband sorted the problem out by changing his sweaty garments at least 5 times daily....( everyone needs a wife and at the time we didn't have that much spare cash for other help). I solved THAT problem by drying out his garments and refolding them to replace in his drawers bas I was very occupied with our new baby)

I found the pinpricks of water on my legs during the showers most unpleasant. I gave up soap but my legs startted to itch following a shower... I scratched and was warned of the possibility of varicose ulcers when I scratched the more and broke the surface of the skin

I reduced my contact with water to the minimum. I do not know if the fact that I had been told that we were using treated salt sea water in the shower was significant in the 60s

In other tropical/ semi-tropical countries where we lived I found the healthiest way for me was to reduce my contact with water on the skin.... a quick passage with a wash cloth without soap sufficed+ a limited application if necessary of some sort of emollient cream

Although I had loved the luxury of the occasional hot bath as a child I think that my skin was better off for less contact with water as I grew older

Excuse all the ' Me me me references, please...... a friend suggested that my views of alternative ways of life more than half a century ago might be of interest to some

A friend recommended an excellent bar soap made with natural ingredients, and no SLS, which helps lathering but strips the skin of oils. I've used that now for years. A little Nivea Soft on arms and legs after showering and my skin is never dry. Evidently everything the body produces is water soluble, so in theory warm water should make you clean...but I would not feel properly refreshed without soap in a few areas.

Dry flaky skin can be caused by showering too often or in too hot water, but is just as likely to be due to intolerance of the soap you are using or the pefume it contains if it is perfumed.

Then most people go on to add skin tonic that just makes things worse.

You could try just washing under your arms, your neck and between your legs in tepid water morning and evening every other day so you wash one day and shower the next.

Dry skin can be due to you not getting enough fat in your diet - these days most people are scared stiff of fat, oil, butter etc, but it seems we do need a certain amount of it.

If you shower every other day and wash every other day, you ought to be able to persuade yourself that you are clean.