TMI

[desh]

OK, yeah, I'm actually curious. And it's been way too long since my last poll.

[Poll #1462446]
(If you take baths often enough that they affect the average, please feel free to count them as well.)

I read once that the average is 8 for men, 9 for women. I think most of my friends are around 4-5. Full disclosure: I'm at 6. Poll prompted in part by this advice column question and answer.

EDIT: Most interesting thing about these results so far, assuming I'm correct on my friends' gender identities, is that 35% of the men (5/14) shower over once a week, but only 5% (1/20) of the women do. And the rest of the data also skew way higher for men (mean of 7.1 vs. 5.1, with a std dev of 1.9 for each group). Clearly what I heard previously about the average being higher for women is way off among my friends.

Comments

[outcastspice.livejournal.com]

i shower most days, but not every day. if i look like my userpic (well, other than not looking like mr bale) then i definitely shower ;p

[fweebles.livejournal.com]

Even if I don't quote-unquote "need" a shower, a shower is the best way for me to get wake up and motivated to actually be productive, so I have one virtually every day. Add onto that 1-3 extra showers a week post-soccer (when I'm doing soccer), and that probably averages out to 8-9 per week over the whole year.

[janinedog]

I shower once a day, before I get dressed, whatever time that might be at (before work on work days, and around lunchtime on weekends usually). I can't remember the last time I didn't actually shower on a given day, but I also can't remember the last time I took two showers in one day. So 7 for me! :)

[burr86.livejournal.com]

I usually skip Saturday unless I'm actually gonna leave the house or something.

[claire.livejournal.com]

I take a shower roughly once every 2 days. I'd love for it to be more often, but my skin really dries out if I shower daily.

Of course this is only a rough estimate, if I'm doing hard physical work or it's really hot, I'll just live with the itchy skin and shower more often.

[smarriveurr.livejournal.com]

I'm usually an evening-shower kind of guy. I can seldom wake up in time for showers in the morning when working - when not, I've gotten used to grabbing one mid-day.

If I get particularly sweaty or feel filthy, I might take a second shower in a day, but it's a rare occurrence - especially since I'm usually showering at day's end or a bit after midday. Generally, I don't live that active a life, I don't sweat that much, and I don't feel justified in wasting a whole bunch of potable water cleaning myself when I'm already mostly clean. I even skip a day here and there if I'm not out in the heat or getting dirty.

I guess if I showered first thing in the morning, as a wake-up ritual, there'd be more chance of my breaking 7 showers in a week... but the idea seems strange to me, with my schedule.

[desh]

I'd be basically the same way as you describe in your second paragraph, except that my hair gets really gross after about 36 hours. Even if I'm not sweating or anything. No idea why.

[smarriveurr.livejournal.com]

I can usually go two days without washing my hair, and it's only kind of icky by the time I do. If there's a lot of sweating involved, that speeds up the process, but generally I only wash my hair every other day, even if I'm showering daily - just too much of a pain in the ass to wash and condition and try to dry it, at this length.

[janinedog]

Oh, but I don't actually wash my hair every day. I do get it wet in the shower every day, but I only shampoo/condition it every other day. My hairdresser says it's better for your hair not to wash it every day, so I don't. :)

[twostepsfwd.livejournal.com]

I shower about every other day, more if I'm exercising / going to the gym or it's warm out or I sweated. I rarely get smelly, honestly no one would notice if I showered only twice a week. I wash my feet and other critical areas every day, though, before going to bed. I wash my hair twice a week, because otherwise it gets really dry and my scalp gets flaky. I can't shower more than 2-3 times a week in winter or I'll get horribly dry and itchy skin but I can take a bath if I put some kind of moisturizing oil in it. You would think from my response to this survey you'd think I"m a dirty hippie and really, I'm so NOT a dirty hippie.

[twostepsfwd.livejournal.com]

PS- 9 showers a week? That is horrible for your hair and your skin.

[nnaylime.livejournal.com]

As often as I need to.

Which varies based on physical activity, temperature, relative humidity (cuz I don't like to dry my hair & skin out in the winter by showering more), and whether we're in a water shortage.

[sen-ichi-rei.livejournal.com]

Even if you're not sweating, your hair follicles (or the skin around them or something) secrete oil as part of their natural functioning. My hair also gets sad if I don't wash it daily. This is why I'm glad I shower on Shabbat and yom tovim, because 48-72 hours without a shower would not be fun.

[ferrell.livejournal.com]

I take at least 1 shower a day, generally after I've gone to the gym. Past that, I find myself hitting the pool a few times a week which leads to a second shower to wash the chlorine off.

[curlybopbop.livejournal.com]

The article you're responding to is hilarious! Thanks for sharing it.

[metalphoenix.livejournal.com]

AVERAGE is higher than once a day? I've don't think I've met anyone who showers more than once a day often. If they've done a particularly sweaty activity, maybe. But for the average to be above once a day, some people have to be showering way more. Odd. I guess also it depends on when you shower. If most people shower in the morning, they may feel dirty more often after the day is done and go for another. I tend to shower only at night.

This obviously is a far more interesting topic than I first thought! Haha ^_^

[desh]

I don't know where I read that; it could have been way off. But yeah, I could see getting to 8 or 9 if I worked out a lot more than I do, or played sports, or had a blue-collar job, or whatever; but otherwise it seems nuts as a way of getting clean. (Standing under the water for 5 minutes to wake up, on the other hand, makes a lot more sense.)

[desh]

I love Carolyn Hax. She does 3 new columns and a live chat online each week. I never miss any of them.

[curlybopbop.livejournal.com]

I think I'm jumping on that train! :)

[desh]

Start with today's chat transcript? (The chat's ending now, but they're at least as good afterwards as live.)

[smarriveurr.livejournal.com]

I could see it, for people who who have the wake-up shower ritual going on. They get a minimum shower total of 7/week, and if they go to the gym, or a pool, or do yardwork during the day, that can only bump it from there.

It's funny, because my first reaction was "Nine showers a week? No human being could survive that level of cleanliness!" Then I realized my GF showers when she gets up, every morning, like clockwork, and sometimes feels the need to grab another in the evening as well. QED, and it was right under my nose.

As a fellow night-showerer, the number seemed ridiculous to me at first, too. But, hell, one of the reasons I shower when I go to bed is that I feel more dirty after the day is through than before. That morning shower seems wasteful unless you're a sweaty sleeper.

[peneli.livejournal.com]

Every other day. If I'm sticky and feel the need to shower more often, I still only wash my hair every other day. When my hair was still long, it could go 3 days between washings before being noticeably ugh, but now it really needs that washing by the end of day 2.

[evr1bugsme.livejournal.com]

yesssss, it was so great!

also, i was just reading the hax facebook community today, http://www.facebook.com/carolyn.hax apparently there is now a hole in the archives. oh noes! but, if you are ever absurdly, ridiculously, unbelievably bored, you can read years and years and years of chat transcripts. it's great fun and it holds up pretty well. it's also nice to see the evolution of some of her views.

i may or may not own a hax pack tshirt from donating to ALS... lick als!

[dorchadas]

Every day, and sometimes in the evening as well--mostly in the summer if it's really hot.

[kazulrw.livejournal.com]

As one of the people who showers a seemingly unfathomable amount, I just want to point out that shower does not necessarily equal soap. I probably wash my hair five times a week.

[krisispm.livejournal.com]

Similar to Rabi, my shower count is not really representative.

I have my crazy giant hair and a fun array of sensitive skin. So, sometimes I just stick my head into the shower and wash my hair, or sometimes I get in the shower with a hairnet on. For the poll, I only counted actual body/hair combo showers.

But, if we count times my body enters into the shower in some capacity, it's probably about 10.

[meganruth4.livejournal.com]

Actually, my husband averages one which looks like it may be the lowest on the list. I take about two a week. I think I used to take one almost every day before I had a kid. Now that seems really wasteful.