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Confession: I stopped showering.
Okay, not completely, but I have stopped showering every day.
And I promise, it’s not as gross as it sounds.
Why to Reduce Your Showers
To be honest, I stopped showering out of laziness. After I got married, I started working exclusively from home. While I showered after work outs and days I got sweaty or dirty, many days I simply wouldn’t shower. I would decide to wait until the end of the day to shower, and then night would come and I just wouldn’t. Fall rolled around and I would begin to forget to shower. And this makes a great reason to reduce how frequently you shower: It saves time and personal energy. After all, how much time would you save in the morning if you could take your shower out of your routine?
Secondly, it saves money. Water is included in my rent, but if you pay your own water bill, you will easily save money by cutting your showers. A conventional shower head uses 7-10 gallons per minute (source). When not showering, you will also use less electricity by not using the bathroom light, fan, or a hair dryer. You use less products, like soap, shampoo, conditioner, etc. when showering less, so you will also spend less money in that department. Oh, and all of these things make it much more environmentally friendly.
Less dry skin. I wanted to say it is healthier, but I decided that would be taken the wrong way. Poor hygiene is definitely not healthy. I am not advocating walking around covered in dirt and reeking of BO. However, if the transition is made properly, there are many aspects of less frequent showering that can be healthier. The number one benefit for me is that my skin is less dry. In the winter, this is my number one reason. I used to have to apply lotion twice a day in the depths of winter. Now, I only need to a few times a week (not counting my hands and face). This also saves me money!
I have also found that since I did make my transition to showering less slowly and properly (see below), it has many other benefits such as less odor and oil. Since I am no longer stripping my body of its healthy oils and bacteria every morning, my skin is balanced. It does not produce excess oil and I have less body odor than I did when I was showering all the time. I attribute this not only to stripping the oils with soap on a daily basis, but also to a population of good bacteria that has been allowed to grow on my skin. No, really, this is a good thing! I used to feel disgusting and grimy less than 24 hours after my last shower no matter what. Now, it takes days for me to reach that level! (and I shower once I reach it)
How I Stopped Showering
1. Transition to chemical-free. Although I only stopped showering a few months ago, I began my transition to chemical free over two years ago. Without this, none of the following steps would have been possible (besides eating real food, of course). When I stopped using commercial products on my body, I significantly reduced my toxic load. I no longer was excreting these toxins in my sweat and oils. This was most obvious in my deodorant: Before, I would shower and apply deodorant every morning and reek by midday. Once I switched to this natural deodorant, I would go the entire day with no scent. Eventually, I found that I didn’t even need deodorant if I had showered that morning!
2. Eat real food. When I am eating 100% clean, I either have no body odor, or my body odor smells like tea. I’m not even joking! Rather than struggling to process food chemicals and other junk, then excreting that in my sweat, my body is happy with my food choices. What is required for each person will be different, but a good place to start is to eliminate processed foods and any foods you may be sensitive to. Similar to the above point, if you aren’t putting toxins into your body, you won’t sweat them out as body odor.
3. Switch to No-Poo. I could never have started skipping showers if I hadn’t switched to “no-poo” first. It used to be that skipping one day of shampooing would leave my hair looking really gross. But once I got through the transitional period of no-poo, I found that I could go longer of periods of time without washing my hair. Any variety of homemade shampoos could be used, such as baking soda or the shampoos in DIY Organic Beauty Products. I love the Citrus Honey Shampoo!
4. Transition to Water Washing. I started water washing a little over a year ago. I now only shampoo my hair once a month or so. While going this long without washing your hair isn’t necessary to reduce the frequency of showering, it made it much easier for me. I don’t have to worry about whether my hair needs washing or not if I don’t shower.
5. Use Less Soap. Okay. If I didn’t lose you with water washing, I’ve probably lost you now. However, as you reduce your toxic load, you may find that you do not need as much soap. Soap strips your skin of its natural oils and good bacteria. I started by only washing my “pits and bits,” and then getting the rest of my body if it felt dirty. This saves money, keeps your skin healthy, and will allow your body to start to adjust.
6. Shower Less! Now you’re ready to reduce your showers. Do this to whatever extent you are comfortable and your personal hygiene allows. For me, I started this by simply forgetting to shower, and I eventually reduced my showering to once a week or whenever I feel like I need one. This is the easiest part. 🙂
Note on detox baths: Since starting GAPS intro, I have been doing daily detox baths, which ups my shower/bathing count. I love these baths to help flush out toxins and body odor. It allows me to go longer between showers. However, I try to do foot baths whenever possible to avoid the water use and dry skin of daily bathing.
Showering less definitely isn’t for everyone, and it can take a long time to comfortably make the transition. But I am so glad that I did!
How often do you shower? Would you try reducing how often you shower?
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We don’t shower everyday either 😉 My kids get a bath 1-2 times per week – if that in the winter 🙂 And I wash my hair once a week and take a bath a couple times per week 🙂
Glad I’m not the only one!
We encounter millions of germs everyday. Is it really sanitary to be out and about all day long, being exposed to bacteria and germs, and then hop in your bed and go to sleep with those germs and bacteria on your body? What about if you’re on your menstrual cycle?
I shower when I feel I need to. Sometimes that is more regular, sometimes it is less. I have never worried about bacteria or germs because I wash my hands regularly and change out of my daily clothes.. I also never took showers at night growing up, so it really doesn’t make a difference to me. I just wash my sheets and pajamas regularly. I use a menstrual cup, so I do not get menstrual blood on myself, nor do I have any smell. I learned that showers are actually really bad for my skin, so while some may consider it unhygienic I actually feel healthier and smell better without showering daily.
I shower or bathe everyday. I don’t feel good unless I do. I wish I could skip it…but I can’t.
I was the same way my entire life until I started going through these steps. I felt so gross less than 24 hours after a shower. I’m so glad that changed for me!
I also don’t shower every day. I’ll shower when I feel nasty and in need of one, which is at most every third day. Don’t think I ever went longer. But I do feel that my hair is happier that way for sure!!
Thanks for sharing!
We clean up as needed. Some of us daily, others less often. Works for us!
I shower everyday, I don’t feel good if I don’t. It helps me wake up in the morning and sometimes it’s a calming time for me if I’m alone {sometimes I have the kids in with me to get everyone bathed quick, and sometimes my husband and I shower together}. My oldest daughter bathes or showers usually every day, but my youngest sometimes goes a few days without.
It depends on the season here but most day we don’t get dirty enough for a shower in the winter.
Yep! We definitely shower a lot more in the summer than in the winter.
I am happy to skip one day and my kids can skip 2-3. My baths are so important to me, for detoxing. I’m a fan of sponge baths, too, just using a wash cloth. 🙂
Yeah, I’m washing a lot more because of my baths. I try to do foot baths, because my skin just can’t do daily baths in the winter, but I LOVE my detox baths. Best part of GAPS.
I dry brush every day and use clay for shampoo and have found I don’t need nearly as many showers! I only wash my hair once a week now and I used to wash it every single day.
Thanks for sharing!
I am right there with you girl! Haha… Since I transitioned away from the chemical shampoo, I haven’t had to wash my hair everyday, and not showering daily was sort of a by-product of not having to wash my hair. I never thought about the connections you made with the natural deodorant and food choices contributing (or not contributing) to body odor… I had noticed that I didn’t smell bad since we’ve been making all these changes, but never put those together… it’s a good point though!
Thank you for sharing! It took me awhile to make the connection, too.
Sink baths are common to freshen up and still saves on water. I did the no-poo method for a little over a year and I’m convinced it was part of the reason I healed my hair. After moving to the dry desert, it started to get dry and break off. I am a licensed hair dresser and have always had healthy and beautiful hair til…
Though I’m not no-pooing anymore, I use natural shampoos and conditioners and still do ACV rinses then follow it up with lemon juice rinses. I don’t ‘do’ hair anymore but keep my licenses active for that Plan C. I’ve never colored my hair and have always been natural looking or maybe a “plain Jane” and I’ve got great skin and hair. Yay for the natural girls!! =]
Thank you for sharing your experience!
I like the idea of the ACV rinse. I used to put lemon juice in my hair, but I don’t think it was good for me. I stopped dyeing my hair a little over a year ago. Now I’m grey in the front and dark brown in the back. So glad I did it. I don’t know that I could quit showering, I like that it helps wake me up, but I do believe that you’re right on all these points. Just don’t know that I could do it. Would be a great way to save water, esp here in California where we are in a drought.
I understand! I used to love showers to wake me up. I got used to it eventually, but it was definitely a help back when I was in school.
i dont shower everyday anymore either and yes i find i hardly stink if i drink my gallon of water (for migraines and also for acne and just general health), and i eat healthy. i take coconut oil, drink my ACV drink….i hardly dont stink! i love it, when i ate so much junk i was smelling like garlic even right after i showered? it was crazy…no more of that junk….liberation!
Hi, I shower less too and I never used to get BO…but I must be doing something to irritate my body because for the last few months i have been getting really bad BO, I have kicked the commercial deodorants and soaps and i use coconut oil for almost everything, as a cleansing wash for my ‘girly parts’, for oil pulling, as a deodorant and ever for dare i say it as a personal lubricant…(My husband agrees with me that coconut oil is one amazing product!) I have some bentonite clay to put on my armpits as a detox too, so I hope that sorts out my bad BO…I am also attempting to become stronger so now i play roller derby, weight lift and I’m a full time mum…Your article has shown so many that you don’t have to strip your body of it’s natural oils only to have to put more back on in the form of commercial moisturisers…Keep up the good work!!
Thank you so much, Xandra, and thank you for sharing. We use coconut oil for lubricant, too. It’s great!
OOps…i forgot to say that I’ll be trying out your idea very soon!!
I would like to get to this point, but I am a swimmer/polo player and am in the water virtually everyday, and if I don’t shower, the chlorine does a number on my skin and hair. I have switched to no poo and chemical free though, and the texture and overall health of my hair has improved so much! The only chemical free thing I haven’t switched to is deodorant, because I cannot seem to find or make a natural one that controls my BO, which I have always had problems with.
That is wonderful that no-poo is working well for you! I understand how important showering every day is if you are a swimmer. Chlorine is horrible on my skin, too. But every little thing helps. I unfortunately don’t have a good recommendation for deodorant if the natural ones you have tried aren’t working for you.
Thanks for sharing your ideas but these are not working for everybody. Without showering it’s true that I can save money and water but what about my mental satisfaction as well as my body. I can’t even think without a cool shower after returning at home from office. I think you got a beautiful body that smell like tea..Mine is not your type and I believe that using shampoos and soaps are harmful for skin and hair but showering never harm your skin and hair as well.
Everyone is different and needs to do what works for them. But let me tell you that before I detoxed my body from sugar and department store body care products, I definitely did NOT smell like tea! And when I was pregnant, I had to start showering more frequently because my balance changed.
Climate can make a difference too… I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and shower maybe 3 times every 2 weeks. I do wash my hair each time – with natural shampoos. I went to college in Southern California, where I discovered why people use body lotion regularly.
I lived in Cambodia for 3 months a few years ago and would shower every day to rinse of dust and dirt and cool off at night (no problems with dryness in that humidity 🙂 I still didn’t wash my hair every day.
Very true! I shower much more frequently in the summer than in the winter.