How many times in a week do you shower?

  • Thread starter gravenewworld
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In summary: People started showering everyday because it was seen as hygienic and it was thought that it would keep you from getting sick. But over the years, the social stigma against not showering has grown and people are now mostly just doing it because it's socially acceptable.
  • #36
Noxide said:
pwned

Translation for the rest of us:

urbandictionary.com said:
corruption of the word "Owned." This originated in an online game called Warcraft, where a map designer misspelled "owned." When the computer beat a player, it was supposed to say, so-and-so "has been owned."

Instead, it said, so-and-so "has been pwned."

It basically means "to own" or to be dominated by an opponent or situation, especially by some god-like or computer-like force.
"Man, I rock at my job, but I still got a bad evaluation. I was pwned."

OR

"That team totally pwned us."
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #37
In winter I shower every other day. But in summer, I can shower up to 2 times a day. You know its really hot if its a 3 shower day.
 
  • #38
I'm nearly certain that some people are completely impervious to their own stench. We've all met people who left us wondering, "How can they NOT smell that?!?"

I shower once a day. On days with physical activity, it's two times. No exceptions.

DaveC426913 said:
I think the only smell worse than B.O. is that of B.O. covered with a slathering of deoderant.

I agree with this. Even worse is that dreadful Axe or Tag spray **** that some men substitute for a decent shower.
 
  • #39
Ok hows this for awful I don't use soap or shampoo... Only time I use shampoo is if I am going to get a haircut.

I also don't brush my teeth at all.
 
  • #40
I shower every two days. I don't stink and don't feel gross, so I don't shower every day. I even still smell the aroma of the soap I used two days ago if I smell my skin. Even my clothes still smell almost newly washed after two days. It's a waste of water to shower so much.
Someone must have some overactive glands for them to need to shower every single day.
 
  • #41
I tend to eat meat, so I shower every day - plus after working out.

I have started eating a lot more white meat and not so much red meat, so maybe I could change my showering habits - especially living in such a dry climate for last decade.

The Effect of Meat Consumption on Body Odor Attractiveness
 
  • #42
Well at the moment it's been 4 days without a shower. Scrubbing yourself down using a flannel in the sink just isn't the same. I'll be really glad when the builders have finished, we're getting a power shower, so it'll be 10 showers a day for me.

Normally I would shower every day, as I have oily skin.
 
  • #43
It's been my experience that, on average, men more so than women, generate a stale-skin scent while sleeping. I don't know if it's because they sweat or what. But men who generally sleep alone need to change their bedsheets more often than women who generally sleep alone and men tend to wake up a cloud of that stale scent around them. If you're exempt from that leroyjenkens, then I'd say, from anecdotal experience, that you're the exception.

Notwithstanding the fact that I'm not male, I shower every day because I feel better.

Caveat to that: really lazy weekend days when I don't even leave my home, sometimes don't bother getting dressed for the whole day, and don't see another human being, are days that I'll not shower. The day after that, though, I absolutely must.
 
  • #44
I shower everyday when I go to university and once in 2 days when I'm in vacations, like now. It's summer by the way. My head hair becomes really oilly if I don't. (and all my face also)
My girlfriend showers twice a week aproximately. Her hair is almost never oilly, nor can I smell any sweat from her.
 
  • #45
cronxeh said:
If you don't want to smell, shave all your hair, armpit hair included.
What does body hair have to do with smelling? The odor comes from the urea exuded from your pores and the bacteria that live off it...
 
  • #46
DaveC426913 said:
What does body hair have to do with smelling? The odor comes from the urea exuded from your pores and the bacteria that live off it...

The fact is that the odor comes from bacteria. Bacteria attempt to grow on your skin but are usually competing with your natural skin bacteria (mine, by the way, do not cause odor - I have trained them). Hence, most of the odor causing bacteria are on the armpit hair, and all your chest hair.

I know this to be a fact because I have shaved my armpit hair in the past, and never had the odor for entire day. With the hair I'm lucky to last 10 hours before I start to smell it
 
  • #47
cronxeh said:
I know this to be a fact because I have shaved my armpit hair in the past, and never had the odor for entire day. With the hair I'm lucky to last 10 hours before I start to smell it
You have a funny idea of what a fact is. I'm not sure that would pass for a fact around my parents' dinner table, let alone on PF. :rolleyes:
 
  • #48
DaveC426913 said:
You have a funny idea of what a fact is.

Do I sense a counter-argument there, a bit of cherry-flavored fact finding link? Or perhaps a stench of defeat in a cynical statement.
 
  • #49
It's been my experience that, on average, men more so than women, generate a stale-skin scent while sleeping. I don't know if it's because they sweat or what. But men who generally sleep alone need to change their bedsheets more often than women who generally sleep alone and men tend to wake up a cloud of that stale scent around them. If you're exempt from that leroyjenkens, then I'd say, from anecdotal experience, that you're the exception.
Stale skin scent? That's a new one to me. I don't even know what that would smell like.
My skin smells fine after two days. My deodorant even lasts for that long, so most of the time I don't have to reapply any.
Sometimes I may have to change my clothes every day, depending on where I go. They pick up the smell of where I was the day before. Like at my friend's smoky house, my clothes will pick that up and I can smell it really well, but my skin doesn't pick it up. My hair might, but it's not long enough to reach my nose so I can smell it.
What does body hair have to do with smelling? The odor comes from the urea exuded from your pores and the bacteria that live off it...
There's a lot more surface area for them to subsist on in hair. Getting rid of the hair won't get rid of the smell, but it will make it better.
It's like the smell of a long haired dog vs the smell of a short haired dog.
 
  • #50
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  • #51
What the internet needs is a "scent cam" that would allow odors to be passed over the internet. It's the only way some of these claims could actually be resolved.

In my case, I can at least provide an expert description of my odors, because I smell like KISS Fragrance for Men:

Gene Simmons said:
KISS fragrances have the smell of success for us...and for all the men and women who will wear it. These fragrances hit all the right notes and will top the charts in no time."

It's an odor presumably obtained by taking underarm samples from all four members after performances and combining them in a secret proportionate mix that provides the ultimate manly fragrance.
 
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  • #52
Every evening. I usually go for a run or a ride at lunch, so when I get home I need a shower.

Once in a while a Saturday will pass without me showering.
 
  • #54
cronxeh said:
The fact is that the odor comes from bacteria. Bacteria attempt to grow on your skin but are usually competing with your natural skin bacteria (mine, by the way, do not cause odor - I have trained them). Hence, most of the odor causing bacteria are on the armpit hair, and all your chest hair.

I know this to be a fact because I have shaved my armpit hair in the past, and never had the odor for entire day. With the hair I'm lucky to last 10 hours before I start to smell it

it's not simply a matter of sweat, it's the type of sweat glands in the area. the watery secretion you get from most sweat glands doesn't cause much smell, as there's little for the bacteria to feed on. but as you hit puberty, the apocrine glands in the pits and genito-anal area start secreting a more viscous sweat with fats and proteins (and pheromonal steroids, apparently) and this is what the bacteria feed on. without hair, you probably just have an easier time cleaning.

but this hits another area that might be worth mentioning. for those nerds that don't like bathing, just washing your pits and bottom with a bit of soap to remove the apocrine secretions will take care of most of the offense you give others.
 
  • #55
leroyjenkens said:
When I stink, I can smell it.

How do you know? All you know is that when your stink crosses a certain threshold, you can smell it. But you do not know where your theshold is.

The general opinion is that most people have the threshold for their own stink set pretty high. (It is the same reason bad breath abounds - people are actually unable to smell their own bad breath without making some deliberate attempts to do so.)
 
  • #56
How do you know? All you know is that when your stink crosses a certain threshold, you can smell it. But you do not know where your theshold is.
The burden of proof is on you to prove the existence of the threshold. I'm not going to assume it exists.
I can see how you can get used to a house smell. You know how some people's houses smell different than others. I've noticed my clothes pick up the smell of any house I've been in the day before, especially if they're smokers. You can get used to the smell and not notice it on you. At my house, I don't notice a smell. Maybe other people can smell it on me, but I guess since I'm used to it, I don't notice it. Or there may not be any house smell at all on me.
But I don't see how you can get used to a stink coming from yourself unless you stink all the time. Because the moment you took a shower, you would notice the stink is gone and would notice it come back.
Also, why would your threshold for your own smell be high, but the threshold for someone elses smell be low? If you stink and someone else stinks just as bad as you, would you only notice their stink? That doesn't make sense.
The general opinion is that most people have the threshold for their own stink set pretty high. (It is the same reason bad breath abounds - people are actually unable to smell their own bad breath without making some deliberate attempts to do so.)
I can also smell if I have bad breath. Most people, from what I've noticed, who have bad breath, don't eat anything for long periods of time. Especially religious people who fast. If I went to church with them, their breath is enough to make me lose faith.
I usually eat something every hour or two, so I only have bad breath in the morning.

I also have a counter example. My friend and I go to the gym together and afterwards we usually go eat. Sometimes, but not always, after we're done at the gym, he says he has to go take a shower before we eat because he stinks. But I rarely smell anything unpleasant from him. He smells it before I do.
 
  • #57
leroyjenkens said:
I can also smell if I have bad breath. Most people, from what I've noticed, who have bad breath, don't eat anything for long periods of time. Especially religious people who fast. If I went to church with them, their breath is enough to make me lose faith.
I usually eat something every hour or two, so I only have bad breath in the morning.

what you smell are ketones. we produce a lot of them when our bodies start using stored fat for fuel. i guess you could avoid that by never dieting and never going into ketosis, but in my experience, fat people often have a body odor that is particularly unpleasant.
 
  • #58
leroyjenkens said:
The burden of proof is on you to prove the existence of the
threshold. I'm not going to assume it exists.

But I rarely smell anything unpleasant from him. He smells it before I do.

You just proved it exists and that your threshold for sensing human odor is higher than your friend's.

He can smell himself yet you cannot smell him. It is therefore quite plausible that others can smell you but you cannot.
 
  • #59
14 times per week.

I will take about 30 minutes to an hour in the morning, and about 10 to 15 minutes at night after I work out.

On the weekends it is usually once a day.

Although if I am at my cabin during deer season, I will usually go a week and a half without one!
 
  • #60
You just proved it exists and that your threshold for sensing human odor is higher than your friend's.

He can smell himself yet you cannot smell him. It is therefore quite plausible that others can smell you but you cannot.
First of all, that doesn't prove anything. That could be because he's simply closer to himself than I am. People closer to a smell tend to smell it easier than someone farther away.
Second, you're moving the goalposts. First, you can smell other people but not yourself. Now, suddenly it's dependent on how high your smell threshold is.

All anecdotes and "general opinion" aside, I see no reason why you should be able to smell other people but not yourself. A stench is a stench, regardless of where it's coming from.
 
  • #61
leroyjenkens said:
... You can get used to the smell and not notice it on you. At my house, I don't notice a smell. Maybe other people can smell it on me, but I guess since I'm used to it, I don't notice it. ...

leroyjenkens said:
I see no reason why you should be able to smell other people but not yourself. A stench is a stench, regardless of where it's coming from.

I think you did an excellent job giving a reason in the first quote. :wink:
 
  • #62
leroyjenkens said:
First of all, that doesn't prove anything. That could be because he's simply closer to himself than I am. People closer to a smell tend to smell it easier than someone farther away.
Second, you're moving the goalposts. First, you can smell other people but not yourself. Now, suddenly it's dependent on how high your smell threshold is.

All anecdotes and "general opinion" aside, I see no reason why you should be able to smell other people but not yourself. A stench is a stench, regardless of where it's coming from.

Or maybe, you get used to smelling the smell of yourself and therefore you really can't smell yourself when regular people think you smell bad because you've 'moved the threshold' higher(gotten used to how you smell).

So if you regularly don't shower for a few days you will be acustomed to the smells that come along with that and won't notice. For someone who showers daily they WILL smell you, they will also smell themselves if they start to smell bad.
 
  • #63
How many times in a week do you shower?

Daily if I do lots of physical work or the room temperature is uncomfortably hot.

Once/twice a week if I don't do enough physical work and the room temperature is moderate (not too hot) and I am involved in some interesting work

Not at all until I remember that I should do shower for a change if I have some very interesting work.

Two times a day if I don't have anything to do.

Currently, I believe I showered about 4 days ago :DPeople who find them smelling after two days of no shower under normal temperature/no physical work must have a really sensitive nose.
 
  • #64
I think you did an excellent job giving a reason in the first quote.
But then I explained why body odor would be different in the part you left out.
Or maybe, you get used to smelling the smell of yourself and therefore you really can't smell yourself when regular people think you smell bad because you've 'moved the threshold' higher(gotten used to how you smell).
That's assuming you smell the same all the time, which taking a shower would preclude.
So if you regularly don't shower for a few days you will be acustomed to the smells that come along with that and won't notice. For someone who showers daily they WILL smell you, they will also smell themselves if they start to smell bad.
You would notice the difference between the way you smell the days you take a shower and the days you don't. If you take a shower every other day, like a lot of people, including me, then half of the time you would smell like the daily bathers. Why would you get accustomed to the second day smell instead of the first day smell? You have a 50/50 chance to be accustomed to either one, yet you choose the one that fits your argument.
 
  • #65
Why is it that nearly every (ok I am exaggerating a tad) thread made in GD ends up with Leory and Dave bickering?
 
  • #66
leroyjenkens said:
But then I explained why body odor would be different in the part you left out.

That's assuming you smell the same all the time, which taking a shower would preclude.

You would notice the difference between the way you smell the days you take a shower and the days you don't. If you take a shower every other day, like a lot of people, including me, then half of the time you would smell like the daily bathers. Why would you get accustomed to the second day smell instead of the first day smell? You have a 50/50 chance to be accustomed to either one, yet you choose the one that fits your argument.

No you wouldn't. You don't 'get accustomed to one smell' for your entire life that's a rediculous position.

If you live in a fish market and get accustomed to the smell of fish does that automatically imply that you can't get accustomed to other smells? What kind of logic do you use to get THAT?

EDIT: If for your entire life you go say 3 days without showering you will be accustomed to ALL the smells associated with that. Not to say that if you TRY to smell what you smell like you won't notice it but you won't MIND it at all. However if someone walks into your house with fresh dog doo-doo on their shoe you probably WILL smell and mind it probably fairly quickly.

Here's a good test: Stick your hand down your pants and well... touch your area and pull out your hand and smell that. Would you want your girlfriend to go down on that? Just to make sure would YOU go down on that?
 
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  • #67
No you wouldn't. You don't 'get accustomed to one smell' for your entire life that's a rediculous position.

If you live in a fish market and get accustomed to the smell of fish does that automatically imply that you can't get accustomed to other smells? What kind of logic do you use to get THAT?

EDIT: If for your entire life you go say 3 days without showering you will be accustomed to ALL the smells associated with that. Not to say that if you TRY to smell what you smell like you won't notice it but you won't MIND it at all. However if someone walks into your house with fresh dog doo-doo on their shoe you probably WILL smell and mind it probably fairly quickly.
So you can get accustomed to one smell (not taking a shower), but you can also get accustomed to the opposite of that smell (taking a shower)?
So that means if you don't take a shower, to you, you would smell the same as you do if you do take a shower? If you're accustomed to both smells, you wouldn't notice the difference.
Here's a good test: Stick your hand down your pants and well... touch your area and pull out your hand and smell that. Would you want your girlfriend to go down on that? Just to make sure would YOU go down on that?
So you're saying your crotch smells good 24/7? At the beginning of the day, you take a shower, but somehow at the end of the day, your crotch is still nice and fresh?
 
  • #68
I try to shower as little as possible, but unfortunately I haven't been able to shower less than about two to three times per week, routinely. I have gone without taking a shower for a few weeks a few times in my life.

Taking showers is unhealthy for the skin. The bacteria that live on your skin that make you smell are beneficial. Sweat contains many beneficial compounds. We are animals and animals have evolved not to need showers. Mud bads may be ok. though.
 
  • #69
leroyjenkens said:
So you can get accustomed to one smell (not taking a shower), but you can also get accustomed to the opposite of that smell (taking a shower)?
So that means if you don't take a shower, to you, you would smell the same as you do if you do take a shower? If you're accustomed to both smells, you wouldn't notice the difference.

You walk into a fish market you go
"JESUS THAT SMELLS"
after 15 mins it's not so bad.

If you go out and have fresh air for a bit, then return to said fish market BAM you can smell it at full force again.

As beginning to smell is a gradual thing, it's not always noticable to the smellee, but someone who's beeen breathing nice fresh air may think you smell like crud. It's all opinion.
Still if you say you smell like fresh roses/morning dew/winsauce after not showeing there is no way that we can disagree.
 
  • #70
Habituation?
 

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