Alright, so, this is going to sound crazy, but I don’t like showering. It has nothing to do with the feeling of being clean (I love cleanliness and order), but just simply because I find it uncomfortable to shower. I have a whole bunch of fancy shampoos, nice-smelling body washes, etc to help encourage me to shower, but it still just feels freaking uncomfortable and annoying. And it’s so embarrassing to talk about it because of the stereotypes about people and showering. I end up showering on about an every-other-day or every-two-days basis, and I’d really like reducing that down to every day. I don’t like smelling, or desperately trying to avoid people because I’m insecure I stink. I just want to be motivated to shower without having to constantly force myself to do it for the sake of everyone else or picking up the pieces.
By the way, my psychiatrist strongly suspects I’m autistic. I’m being formally evaluated w/ the psychologists and stuff in late July. So that might be a reason why I have such an odd dilemma like this.
The problem for me usually lies in the temperature. I need it hot so I don’t shiver and I relax, but at the same time I get lightheaded when this happens. Also, I get tired of standing and maneuvering for the body wash part. Since I can wash my hair in the sink or just by sitting, usually that’s alright. There may be a slight gender dysphoric component to it, but I don’t hate my body, and I’m grateful for all that it does for me.
I mainly find all the tiny steps and actions I do exhausting, but I’m stuck doing them because it bothers me more if I don’t. I think that’s the TL;DR.
I think washing your undercarriage and pits goes a long way. If you can get a handheld showerhead or bidet you can do it without even taking your too clothes off. Just a tiny bit of soap between the ass cheeks and sometimes on the hairy bits, then rinse all of it with water. With a bidet you can do it while on the toilet, otherwise pop a squat in the shower after the morning pee/poo and rinse off.
For the pits you can use a tiny towel or washcloth and soap and water, and even do it fully or partially clothed. I like wiping off the neck and underboob at the same time to feel cleaner.
With this I think a full body shower including hair washing isn’t necessary more than once or twice a week (for some even less) depending on your lifestyle, age and body composition. It’d be good to recruit a friend or family member to do a smell check occasionally (when you have access to a full shower) and ask them to be truly honest on if you need a shower or hair wash. Your body changes over the years, and your funk levels changes with it.
A bathtub might suit you if possible, or at least a shower chair.
Shorter hair means quicker showers, if that’s something you’re considering anyway - go for it. Otherwise dry shampoo (or just flour for blondes or cacao powder for darker hair) can push a shower another few days.
You could also attempt to do the opposite and shower as cold as possible, at least for a set time period (I had no hot water for 6 weeks, it was torture, but also enlightening in how i could change my shiwer habits) - just to try to break your dependency on overly hot showers. It’ll also save plenty of water because you’ll naturally turn it off when soaping to not stand in cold water unnecessarily.
Thanks, but I can’t shower that little, since I’m still 16 and going through puberty (BO smells like death for me), and my hair is very oily regardless of dry shampoo (that can only push it a day). I have a bidet and use it regularly. I find it too uncomfortable to use beyond cleaning after no. 2.
I am making an appointment currently to buzz my hair off, so the added 10 minutes of pampering my hair will soon be gone (THANK THE SKY!). I’ll add a shower chair to my list of things to get (I already shower in a bathtub anyway); hopefully I’ll accumulate enough points to afford it quicker. Cold seems like a good idea, just need to get over the barrier of making myself actually do it lol.
Kindnessskills makes some great points. Bet they smell fresh as a daisy out camping!
We used to do outdoor music festivals and would camp for days so we could have a safe place to walk “home” to drunk and stoned. I learned some tricks from those party folks on staying fresh while young n sweaty and tent swapping. Just being able to get a lil fresh water with soap and/or wipes to the stinky triangle (pits to crotch) helps a ton.
You mentioned you already use a tub. How do you feel about taking a bath to get all soapy and sudsy and then just doing a shower rinse off? Even a quick soak ensures it soapy wayer gets in all the crevices.
Other folks mentioned wipes… might want to look into nursing home hospital stuff. Many things made for people who cannot shower or take a proper bath and still want to be clean (found lots of useful things for camping!) As said elsewhere, daily showering (especially hot water) is very rough on the skin.
Have you considered a hand held shower head and a shower seat?
a. Have one b. Considering one
Would a water proof stool help? That way, you just have to focus on balancing.