Curiosity only.

Here in Brazil it’s very common to have several showers a day. I, for example, take two. The first is when I wake up, before I go to work, and the second is when I get home from work. I wake up at 6.30am and get home at 8pm.

edit: I said bath, but I meant shower.

86 points

That seems really intense to me. Even if you mean shower when you say bath I can’t imagine doing it twice a day. In the summer I normally shower once every two days. In the winter once every 3 days. I am located in northern Germany so it might be a culture difference.

permalink
report
reply
4 points

Yes, the actual difference doesn’t concern the climate, whether it’s cold or hot, it’s simply cultural. In Germany, is it common for all Germans to adopt the same bathing posture or does it depend on the region?

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

I think it is the same across all of Germany. I think it might be similar for most of Northern Europe if I had to guess.

permalink
report
parent
reply
18 points

Excuse me what? I’m German and I shower daily. I know nobody who doesn’t.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point
*

It mainly depends on the season. Southern Germany may have more sun hours and slightly warmer climate, but not enough to take effect on the showering schedule. Some people shower every day nevermind the weather, but I would say every 2-3 days is standard. In summer or after workout it may be everyday or even twice, but nothing comparable to brazilian climate. Of course people have jobs where they get dirty, but that’s another topic.

permalink
report
parent
reply

it’s only normal to take a twice a day bath in a hot tropical climate.

like it’s only normal to take a bath twice a week in a cold geographical area.

permalink
report
parent
reply
13 points

I live in a mountain town, and I still shower every day when I get home from work. I am an electrician and tend to get pretty dirty throughout the day, and at minimum need to clean my feet so my boots don’t develop stank. I may forgo a shower on Sunday if I’ve spent the day on the couch or being lazy around the house, but if I’ve had any form of physical activity, shower.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

Pretty much. I’m in Texas. During the winter, every two or three days is fine. As long as I’m not doing anything to get dirty, it just isn’t needed. Excess showers will just dry my skin out, and washing my hands/feet/face is enough for daily maintenance.

But during the summer, all bets are off. Shower in the morning because the AC in apartments struggles to keep the bedroom cool and I woke up in a pool of sweat. Then sweat heavily on the way to the car, at lunch, on the way home from work, and again when taking the dog for a walk. Of course I need another shower by bedtime.

permalink
report
parent
reply
43 points

Your comment is important. Many people from tropical climates think that people who don’t take many showers a day are unhygienic. Just as many people from colder climates think that people who shower a lot are crazy.

permalink
report
parent
reply
19 points

Canadian here. Shower every day, twice if I go to the gym.

permalink
report
parent
reply
23 points

In the US daily is pretty standard, I’ll maybe do two depending on exercise or working outside

permalink
report
parent
reply
0 points
Deleted by creator
permalink
report
reply
28 points

Taking multiple baths a day can dry out your skin really quickly, you need to take one a day, at most. Even so, the areas that need to be washed daily are your pits, face, feet and groin. You could get away with a “whores bath” (washing just those 4 parts with a soapy rag) most days and a full bath every few days.

The exception being if you sweat a lot or have a dirty job of course.

permalink
report
reply
17 points

I agree, and there are studies on the amount of showers we can take. I, for example, work sitting down and with the air conditioning on. The problem is travelling from my home to work. It’s impossible not to arrive at work very sweaty. An extremely crowded train/bus or just walking for five minutes is enough to make you sweat a lot.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

I second this as a principle, though I have a hard time not showering once per day. It’s a complicated balance, between not drying your skin with water and soap and not smelling.

I lived in Brazil for quite some time and, it being a huge country, I behaved differently depending if I was in a tropical or subtropical climate. I would mostly have one shower in the morning, except when it was mad hot and humid, when no matter how lightly you dressed, you’d still be drenched in sweat after a while

permalink
report
parent
reply
7 points

Not of it’s just a quick rinse in cold water. Many people in Latin America take a shower multiple times a day but it’s not what people in the US would call a shower. It’s quick and often doesn’t involve soap. I shower at least twice a day but only one of those is a real “shower” shower with soap.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

Come visit Brazil during summer, then we’ll see if you keep that opinion.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

The exception being if you sweat a lot or have a dirty job of course

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

Once a week, whether I need it or not.

It would be interesting to see how shower use correlates with water temperature. It feels like that correlation would be negative and usage of showers is premised on the existence of cheap energy, AKA fossil fuels.

permalink
report
reply
7 points

Average lemmy user

permalink
report
parent
reply
8 points

I would suspect a correlation more with climate. If it’s temperate, you don’t shower as much as when you’re hot and sweaty all the time.

Also, geothermal power exists.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

geothermal power exists.

Hot water is also a waste byproduct of nuclear power generation. There are whole towns that use nuclear heated water to warm their houses and for hot water. It’s used quite a bit in Russia and china already

https://www.powermag.com/district-heating-supply-from-nuclear-power-plants/

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

Interesting! I didn’t know that, but it makes sense.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point
*

I was gonna say with the prevelance of air conditioning. In warmer places that have ample water supply but little AC, i would expect more showers as people sweat throughout the day and don’t want to be stinky.

I shower once a day in the morning, but i almost never sweat because im almost always in the AC.

permalink
report
parent
reply
7 points

Wow um zero? I don’t really take baths at all. Shower maybe a few times a week but no real schedule, just when I feel dirty. That could be once a week or it could be 3x in one day. Just depends how dirty I get.

permalink
report
reply

username checks out

permalink
report
parent
reply

Asklemmy

!asklemmy@lemmy.ml

Create post

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it’s welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

Icon by @Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de

Community stats

  • 11K

    Monthly active users

  • 5.9K

    Posts

  • 319K

    Comments