Do I smell?

Daily bath for me although I have fairly shallow baths.

I am another with very dry skin and hair and have never been excessively sweaty. The smell of BO on others makes me feel nauseous so I am ultra fussy about freshness.

I shower every other day, wash my hair every three days - about twice a week. It doesn't get greasy. If I washed it every day it would be like straw, even with conditioner. I wash all the bodily nooks and crannies every day. I like a soak in the bath whenever I have time. I love that - soaking in beautifully scented water and listening to music.

Noddng hope you can get your bath again soon.

Envious am great believer in Epsom Salts bath for aching limbs too. Just intrigued how you use them in the shower?

Soap can upset the ph balance of your personal bits, and that can lead to smells and other problems.
Think of it like a self cleaning oven..

Find it very difficult to take a bath or shower at the moment, (again, don't ask) but make the effort to do so twice a week in order to wash hair. This is no pleasure at the moment and totally exhausting. The rest of the time I have to make do with strip wash but don't use soap on genital area as I can't find any kind that doesn't irritate. Articles I have read say that clear water is all that is necessary in that area anyway. Clean underwear everyday is a given. Just have to hope I don't smell and that someone will be kind enough to tell me gently if I do. Hoping that one day I'll be able to really enjoy a bath once more, I do so miss it.

Would not feel clean without a daily shower and hairwash, although if I am not going out I will forgo the hairwash and just have a good shower. DH was the same, thank goodness.

I shower or take a bath with Epsom salts which helps my body aches. Wash my hair every third day. I can’t stand the feeling of any oiliness in my hair. I took a stain a few years ago and my hair started getting a oily feeling and look the day after I washed it. Hated it so much I got off the statin.

I shower nearly every morning, if not, then a strip wash, standing on bath mat, and also wash when getting home from work.

But I know my Mum didn't wash as much, and she didn't use deodeorant, I think people didn't so much in "the old days". She used to say she didn't sweat, and that seemed to be true, never noticed her smelling, apart from cigarettes! She was always very skinny.

My Dad used to wash, including his hair, with lifebuoy soap, think that's why he went bald.

Hear hear MissAdventure and Culag as long as the smelly bits are washed daily the rest needs only twice a week shower.

I agree Maggiemaybe, I don't understand the strip wash over a shower either, I remember doing the latter on an overnight train, it's quite unsatisfactory, because you can't really rinse yourself properly, but each to their own. I think the poster who said they turn off shower whilst applying soap made a good point, have done that on occasions, although sometimes have problems turning shower back on because of soapy hands and subsequently find myself getting out of shower to rinse hands.

I really don't understand why anyone would choose a strip wash over a quick daily shower. I've only had to resort to them if the water's off, and boy, do I hate them. They're messy, splashy affairs, ending up with soapy water where you don't want it, dribbling down your legs and on the bathroom floor. They take longer than a shower anyway. I can hop in and out in a couple of minutes, use hardly any water, have the nozzle at neck level so I don't have to dry my hair every time, and always use a good posh soap, never shower gel, so I don't need lotions and creams afterwards.

Every two or three weeks though I'll have a deep, scented bubble bath, with book, face pack, cuppa, candles and the Archers omnibus. Followed by warm fluffy towels, body butter, and scented oils. Pure bliss.

And I have to say, some people do smell, yes. And as we get older, and our own sense of smell becomes less keen, it's important to do our best to avoid it.

Margs I think that is very true. The 'old lady' aroma, could also be due to infrequent clothes washes. I have met a few lovely old ladies, but they can often have food stains on their enbonpoint

More than how often one showers, bathes or has a darn good wash I'm inclined to think any "pong" is related to how often a person changes and puts their clothes through the washing machine.

This particularly applies to men, I find, as sometimes when I've been using public library computer facilities or a bus it's always men who generate a distinct unpleasant odour and frankly some of them look like they've not changed their t-shirt for days on end!

I think it's what is laughingly known as "being a manly man".......Ha!

Like everyone else Sunday was bath night and hair wash ready for school the next day. I don't remember what happened the rest of the week! I shower and wash my hair every other morning and have a strip wash on the opposite day. I couldn't turn the water off then back on after lathering though - it takes ages to run hot and it's cold enough in there! I occasionally have a bath if I'm that way inclined but it has to be hot with a lot of water so not a good option.

That was us six kids Greydusyer...bathnight was Sunday..and we had to boil a kettle of water and take it upstairs to bathroom every night/morning...but it was a big kettle so we all could get our wash out of it. No hot running water during the week for us(most wasteful). Then on Wednesday a strip down wash at kitchen sink.Hair washed once a week with bath.Didnt think it odd....all our friends were the same, some went without the midweek strip down though.My mum seemed to always have her hands in water either washing clothes ( no washing machine) or us six kids..... or the dog!!! All of us still alive and kicking ranging from me youngest at 67 to my eldest sister at 80. Nine the worse for any of it!!!

London is one of the cities cited worldwide in danger of having a catastrophic water shortage in the next 10years. Actually has a lower rainfall rate than Johannesburg. So, yes, wasteful water usage is a serious problem in the south east of England.
I wash my hair only once a week as it’s dry and thick. Never gets greasy. In fact it looks better a few days after a wash.

Thank you MissAdventure, most reassuring ?

Its only stale sweat that smells, and a daily wash ensures it doesn't get stale.

Evidently there are certain people who just don't smell at all, however slack their hygiene. I wish I was one of them. Quick shower first thing, ditto last thing as don't like to get into bed wearing the day's 'dirt' and also like to wash off deodorant as otherwise it is under my arms for about 23 hours and 50 minutes; that seems a not very good idea. I find it so much quicker to shower than wash the vital areas- flannels always seem a bit unhealthy and festering!

It seems rather wrong to me that I can use so much water without thinking about it when there are so many poor people in Africa and Asia who don’t have adequate supplies of clean drinking water.

My mother used to describe us as thinking we could “spent money like water out of a tap” implying that we’d had a free and endless supply of it - it certainly seemed so at there time!

More food for thought.

Short shower in the evenings to wash off the day’s dirt and keep my bed clothes cleaner. Hair wash 2-3 times a week.
I use less water for a short shower than if I have to wait for the hot water to reach the bathroom sink. I suppose I could strip wash at the kitchen sink like we used to on the farm when we were little.

MissA
???

I use 2cu metres water per month (av) and, by far the costliest part of the bill is the waste water fixed charge.
Between 5-28 Feb I used 1 cu metre of water (unusually low) and the fresh water cost was £1.29 and waste water disposal 79p. Fixed charge for the ww disposal was £4.28. In total the bill was £7.68. My DD is £12. For some reason TW has seen fit to up my DD to £17 from 1st April but, as they're not taking any calls about bills due to 'the weather', I sent an email asking for an explanation.
I am a conservative user.
Actually, I bought a great shower head last week from Wowcher for £7.99 which has ceramic beads to soften the water and 3 great spray options. I might buy another...

"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"
Same here, gillyknits I was in Trimdon Colliery.

I know where you're coming from OP. We had exactly the same arrangements when I was a child.
These days I shower once or twice a week, doing my hair just the once unless it looks awful. I have a wash at the bathroom sink every morning. I also have clean clothes (bra, pants, socks, vest and tee shirt) every morning. I believe that I'm clean enough, after all I don't work down a coal mine. In very hot weather I also wash each night and/or before an evening out.
If I smelled I have a very forthright sister who would jolly well tell me.