Following on from being dirty and 10 second rule posts. Are we too clean?

They do say kids need to get a bit grubby now and then to build up immunity but I still think clean underwear and a shower/bath daily is necessary. Who knows whether being 'too clean' is the reason for the rise in allergies and asthma as we are told I guess only time will tell or has it actually been proved that this is so?

As a child I had a weekly bath on a Sunday evening!! I now wouldn't dream of not having one every day!

My GC certainly don't bath or shower every day; and neither did my children.

I dont agree with bath or shower every day either. I dont think it can do skin much good.
I do want daily clean underwear though.

I did have clean underwear every day as a child, but baths/hair-washing were weekly (until I was a teenager and would have baths just for the pleasure of it!).

My main concern regarding the immunity of today's youngsters is the possible effect of over-exposure to antibacterial products. People seem to be spraying them all over their homes without any thought.
There are good bacteria as well as bad, and what might the consequences to our bodies be if a)we kill the good bacteria or b) upset the balance of bacteria in our guts that our bodies have evolved to need?

The adverts for washing detergents with antibacterial in them make me furious. I honestly think that in the long run it could turn out to be far more harmful for a young child to suck clothing / bedding that's got antibacterial products in it than, say, to suck a dummy that's been dropped on the average floor several times!

I have never liked sprays. To me, we are spreading chemicals all over the place.

cats lick and a promise as a child with all over body wash on sunday night,we didnt have a bathroom..that changed at 13 when I would strip wash ,feet in sink everday,still bath every day,hairwash,and children have all been same,re underwear my mum was of the "shake'em n turn'em" school of thought so maximum usage was extracted before changing.
Dad was definitely of the week on week off maxim

I'm a great believer in kids being allowed to get grubby, but they always had daily bath time. However we have never used antibacterial sprays. Some cobwebs remain undisturbed for weeks in our house - spiders are welcome .

When I was little we also had 'spot parties' - definitely no bars on playing with infected children to ensure that everyone got chickenpox and mumps etc. in their childhood.

Bath and hair wash every Sunday, underwear changed twice a week (ugh) as a child, something of a lick and a promise the rest of the week.
And definitely remember the mumps/measles/German measles/chickenpox parties too!

We've got much more fastidious about such things these days. The once a week bath and hair-wash was common practice in my childhood and I don't remember anyone being smelly or catching some hygiene-related disease!

There was an issue with hot water too - if you only had an immersion heater it would have been very expensive to bathe every day. I can remember having to ask if there was 'enough hot water' to wash my hair, even as a teenager.

Definitely cost of heating water was a factor; we shared bath water, I was first (and the water would be scaldingly hot, I would emerge lobster red!), then my sisters.
Asking if there was enough hot water continued even after I left home.

A uni friend of mine used to change her knickers daily, but if she didn't get around to doing the washing she would take the old pairs out of the washing basket and give them a sniff to see which pair could be worn again! - and she was a very well-brought up young lady!

I don't know about being too clean, but we are definitely cleaner, from our bodies to our clothes, and to our houses.

I think we all have our comfort levels now when it comes to cleanliness and they are very different to when we were growing up. For me, I like a clean feeling, but I know I'm not unclean (usually!) and can be relaxed about what gets clean and when.

I might wear clean knickers every day, but I don't change our towels unless I think they need changing (and have a large supply in the same colour to make this easy). In fact, apart from my knickers (and his underpants!), I don't have any regular cleaning schedule. Maybe I should.

And definitely remember the mumps/measles/German measles/chickenpox parties too!
The chickenpox ones are still going strong this half-term!
Poor spotty DGD, but at least she has seen a couple of friends

It was very different in the 40s and 50s. Weekly baths were normal for many families, also underwear changed less often than daily. School blazers and tunics were dry cleaned each half term for some of us, we only had one of each.
Shop assistants often wore black wool dresses with underarm cloth 'sweat pads' which could be changed during the week. BO was a problem. Nowadays with deodorants and washable fabrics it's not often mentioned or noticeable.

Today there are so many sprays and wipes, all full of chemicals with unknown side effects.

Twice weekly baths, clean knickers every day (although DM told me with horror that 'next door only changed their underpants once a week )

A clean school blouse on Mondays, Wednesdays and sometimes on a Friday (depending on the state of it) and gymslips sent to the dry-cleaners at the end of term.

Goodness, none of our school clothes got send to the dry cleaners!

Gymslips were washable, weren't they? Certainly my school blazer was never cleaned - and of course it had been bought so big that it fitted me all through my time at Grammar School...

Our pleated school skirts certainly weren't washable, so they went to the cleaners just once a term (if we were lucky ). Blazers? Never cleaned as far as I can remember - and yes, it had to last all my time at Grammar School too, as did the winter gabardine raincoat. This was halfway down my calves in the first year, but fashionably just above the knee by the time I left in the mid '60s!
School blouses changed twice weekly, cardigan (I only had one!) probably weekly.
As I recall, our PE kit (divided skirts, air-tex polo shirt and v-neck jumper) was hung on a hanger and kept in school, on our designated pegs in the cloakroom, so heaven only knows when that all got washed

And what about the school tie? I don't remember it ever being washed or cleaned during all the years I was at the school...

Ana haha, I expect your tie was washed by your Mother at some point! Hmmn, the blazer though, mine never got dry cleaned that's for sure.The gymslips were washed every now and then.Bath and shampoo every week ( Friday night is Armami night!)How lovely to have a daily shower and clean clothes every day now, and I change the towels daily as well.

I had a growth spurt at 10 and then stopped after a few months at 5' and a bit (now down to 4'10"!). By then my gymslip had been bought, regulation was 4" above the knee when kneeling but, of course, my mother bought mine longer to allow for my rapid growth. Said growth never came so mine was on my knee (as several other girls kindly pointed out) until I stopped wearing the unflattering boxpleated garment in the lower 5th three years later. What relief, in that year we were first allowed an A line skirt, much better!

Indinana I had exactly the same raincoat I had two white blouses which were washed once a week and two pairs of socks ditto. Not sure if my gymslip was ever washed, I know it went very shiny. I very much doubt if I had clean knickers every day, they were the thick navy ones of course. My tie was definitely never washed and ended up like a greasy shoestring.

Oh the gaberdine raincoat, I'd quite forgotten that . 1 blazer, 1 gymslip, 2 school blouses I can recall. School scarf and beret - and we could get reported for being in uniform and not wearing that flipping beret !

We had school summer dresses, but I think I only had one of those so that was probably only washed at the weekends.

Bath and hairwash once a week in our house, a strip wash in between.

Anyone else wear rags in their hair at night (no heated rollers in my childhood)

DM used to wash my tie, it went all limp and twisted afterwards. They were only nice when they were brand new.

The cardigans had carefully darned elbows. I can't darn but DM was very skilful at it.