Showering & Washing

As I stated in the previous chapter, washing is the most natural and common way for animals to clean themselves. It’s no different for us. A shower cleans your whole body, which obviously has a bigger effect than something small like trimming your nails.

Showering vs Bathing

Some people like showers, some people like relaxing baths. I recommend showering and not bathing.

Why?

• Better for the environment. If you shower less than 5–10 minutes, you will use less water than if you were to take a bath. People also tend to throw all sorts of oils into their bath, which can be expensive or bad for the environment.
• It cleans your skin better. In a bath, you are sitting still. After some time, you are merely sitting in your own filth. A shower pushes dirt off your body and straight into the sink.

Washing

On top of showering regularly, you should also wash your hands and face. A good rule of thumb is:

Any time you significantly change environments or activities, wash your hands and face.

There’s no need to wash every 5 minutes. Or to wash your hands for 5 minutes at a time. But, for example, whenever I come from outside and go inside, I try to wash my hands. When you’ve been doing something for hours, it’s easy to overlook how dirty you became. Just to be sure, wash yourself whenever you change environments.

Why hands and face? These are used the most during the day and are most visible to others. Generally, try to clean your face twice a day.

How often should I shower?

Most people have a habit of showering every day, either before they go to bed or just after they’ve woken up. They also take an extra, shorter shower if they’ve done some (intensive) exercise or activity.

Both times have their pros and cons.

• Showering relaxes your body. But, you still need to stand up and be active. And once you get out of the shower, you’re woken up more by the sudden cold. As such, showering before bed can make it harder to fall asleep.
• On the other hand, showinger after waking up means you go to bed without washing. Your bed becomes dirty faster. Many people, including me, report that they can’t sleep if they don’t feel “clean”

The obvious solution is showering twice, in the morning and the evening. The less obvious, but better, solution is to shower using cold water.

But beware! You can shower too much. Showering removes dirt, but also natural oils created by your skin to protect it and keep it smooth. If you shower too often, your skin will become dry, bare and unprotected.

In summary, shower at least once every two days. Take an extra shower after tough exercise or long hours of work, or when you need to look good for a date or professional appointment.

How long should I shower?

Showering feels nice, doesn’t it? I surely have the tendency to forget the time and stand there way too long.

But that is bad. For the environment and for my wallet.

As such, I recommend maintaining an absolute maximum of 10 minutes. You can surely clean yourself, in all ways needed, in that time frame. If you shower multiple times a day, keep them shorter, at a maximum of 2–3 minutes.

Aything else?

A few things. Your basic idea of showering is probably just standing under the showerhead, letting the water flow all over your body. But you can do better!

• Scrub your armpits, face and “intimate area”.
• People usually forget their feet. Those are not going to get clean from just standing there. Also scrub the bottom of your feet.
• Just before you get out of the shower, for a minute or so, turn the water cold. This takes some getting used to, but it has all sorts of positive effects. It energizes you, makes sure you don’t sweat after you’ve stepped out of the shower (which would defeat the whole purpose) and leaves your skin less vulnerable.
• Don’t use the towel too aggressively. Your skin can only withstand a limited amount of pressure or roughness until it gets scratches, small wounds or other unhealthy side-effects.