In England: As Rivers Run Dry, Government Says, "Four Minute Showers"

I can't figure out why people need to take showers longer than four minutes?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2103809/UK-weather-South-east-England-officially-DROUGHT-driest-winter-decades.html

Are you taking a shower every day, or twice a week?  Washing long hair, short hair or no hair?  (Guys and the sometimes women on submarines have 45 seconds to take a shower, thus the almost shaved heads).

I probably take 10 minutes to take a shower but have to suds my hair 3 quick times to really get it clean, but then it lasts me several days to almost a week with occasional errr... touchups.  When I was a teenager, I HAD to shampoo my hair every day, several suds and rinses, to get the oil out, but I'm reaping the benefits now in no wrinkles at 58.

I shower every other day.  Don't particularly need to, I guess.  But I learned a long time ago that hitting the "high spots," as it were, is plenty.  Keeps the natural oils on the skin.

Like the commercials that show us a big blob of toothpaste on the brush, in order to sell more toothpaste, the head full of suds, and tons of lather, and bubbles galore, is just to sell more junk.

I use castile soap, head to toe.  Although there is a "no poo" movement; meaning, of course, one uses no shampoo.  ;)

It takes about a week for the scalp to recover from chemical useage, and then it works just fine, oddly enough.  Although Americans are obsessed with cleanliness, so this isn't for everyone.

I tried it for awhile, it worked just fine, and then I started using castile soap again.  Don't really know why.

But I know scads of people who think nothing of taking twenty-minute or more showers.  I don't know how their skin doesn't fall off.  

The water hogs like hanging out in the shower, hot water is nice on sore muscles, and for them bathing is not a chore.

 But I wouldn't know about that. 

I could never figure out what people were doing in the shower for 20 to 30 minutes (except guys, of course).  I would get bored.  I tend to astonish people when I announce that I'm taking a shower and 10 minutes later I'm completely done and dressed again.  Now, hot baths . . . that's another story entirely.

My father spends half an hour in  the shower every day,  He's in there forever.

I'm like Enigma.  I basically find a shower boring and tedious so I don't hang around longer than I need to.  Now a BATH.  Oh I could stay in a bath for hours....

Hey did any of you guys ever used to drop books in the bath?  When I was a teenager I'd often run a big bath and go in there with all that beauty stuff, you know how girls are, cucumber face masks, mud packs, hair treatments...and I'd take books to read while I was in the bath while my parents were yelling at me after about two hours, "GET OUT OF THE BATH!" but the worse was when you got to a really good part in the book and then dropped it in the water....

Teenagers are so dumb sometimes.   Or maybe it was just me.....

Oh yeah and I even tried that washing your hair in beer thing.  Girls, don't try that at home.....it was icky. 

I have exactly the same routine for every shower, so get it out of the way very quickly. I put the plug in while showering so that there's a good push of water at the end to stop our old drains blocking up, but it never even gets to ankle depth.

If a lot of people do actually cut down on showers/baths, I wonder how that will affect the drainage system? 

I shower every other day. 


Me too. Sometimes I leave it longer, because I frankly can't be bothered. Even if I smell a bit. That's probably some sort of sin these days, isn't it 

It's a sin in the days of massive over-use of antibacterial everything.

I find the whole toiletry thing to be a massive waste of time myself.  Of course, in my younger years I spent hours primping and preening.

Then I had kids.

But, again, I know people who spend long, long, long minutes in the shower, just standing there.  ?????

Actually, just to add to the toiletry thing: I cut my own hair.  Have for years.  One morning I got out of the shower and looked in the mirror and thought, "I'm going to spend twenty more minutes in here, just drying my hair and making it look presentable.  I took the scissors, cut it SHORT, and now I don't have to think about that.

I've also given up zippers, buttons, and tie shoes.    Any other short-cuts anyone knows about, let me know.  I'm all for getting it down to the essentials these days.

Did anyone look at those pictures? If they don't get more rain they won't have the luxury of 4 minute showers for much longer.

My short showers have everything to do with the ambient room temperature. This time of year, I'm in and out of the shower in less than 3 minutes - and that's with very long hair. This house has two rooms. One room is a foot lower than the other room. It is simply astonishing to me how the principle of heat rising has so much impact on this house. There's a wood stove chimney in both rooms, but currently a stove in only one of them - the higher one. For one winter, the same stove was in the other room and the slightly higher room was never really all that uncomfortable. But now, with the stove in the higher room, the lower room is always about 15 degrees cooler than the higher room, even though the stove is right next to the open door between. The shower is at the far end of that cooler room, and is even cooler. There's a wand shower head in there, which means it's much faster to get rinsed off - and I utilize it very well these days. In, Soap, Rinse, Out. Get into the other room and sit in front of the stove to brush wet hair. Fast.

I'm betting the Industrial and Commercial water consumption hasn't dropped, nor will they be asked to decrease usage.

As for showers, I can get down to four a week, in winter. Showering is a chore I'd rather not spend too much time on, but still find necessary. I've found that less showering = more laundry. YMMV.

I'm betting the Industrial and Commercial water consumption hasn't dropped, nor will they be asked to decrease usage.

-powerdown

I believe the farmers are asked to cut down watering, which seems beyond stupid. 

From what I've seen, some rivers are lower than in '76 so unless we get lots of rain very soon, we'll be looking at stand pipes this summer. 

I'm betting the Industrial and Commercial water consumption hasn't dropped, nor will they be asked to decrease usage.
As for showers, I can get down to four a week, in winter. Showering is a chore I'd rather not spend too much time on, but still find necessary. I've found that less showering = more laundry. YMMV.

-powerdown

I'll bet you're right about that, PD!  Gotta keep that economic growth going, even if it means nobody has a glass of water to drink this time next year.

How insane is our system?

I live in the country and want to know why the gray water drainage (sinks, tubs, showers, laundry) doesn't go right to the back yard to water plants.  Seems ridiculous for gently used water to go directly into the sewer system.

I know what you mean about the cold bathroom, quick shower scenario.  I use a washcloth to plug the drain and the warm puddle on the floor heats up the area around me rather nicely as long as the water's running.  Once I'm out of there it *is* kinda invigorating to dry off quickly in front of the heater, though.  One of the pluses about getting older is not having to take so many showers.  Yay for old skin!

Right about now is the time to introduce fracking to the UK, so they can contaminate the water they have left.

I've also given up zippers, buttons, and tie shoes.  [image]  Any other short-cuts anyone knows about, let me know.  I'm all for getting it down to the essentials these days.

-mtlouie

Not dressing saves a shitload of time..

More comfortable, too..

LOL!  Indeed.