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How Often People in Various Countries Shower
www.theatlantic.com ^ | Feb 17, 2015 | Olga Khazan

Posted on 06/25/2019 2:25:28 PM PDT by Red Badger

Amidst the no-shampoo revolution, a look at global hygiene habits

Cleanliness, it turns out, has been one dirty trick. One reason early-20th-century Americans ramped up their weekly baths to daily showers is that marketing companies capitalized on the insecurities of a new class of office drones working in close quarters. As Gizmodo wrote last week, to sell products like "toilet soap" and Listerine to Americans, "the advertising industry had to create pseudoscientific maladies like 'bad breath' and 'body odor.'"

Take, for instance, Gizmodo's description of the philosophy of the Cleanliness Institute, which was founded by the Association of American Soap and Glycerine Producers:

The trade association wanted Americans to wash quite unwittingly after toilet, to wash without thought before eating, to jump into the tub as automatically as one might awake each new day.

And so we did. A Reddit user recently polled 562 people and found that most men said they showered daily. Women's bathing rituals were more diffuse, but about 60 percent preferred to shower three, four, or five times weekly.

Now is the dawn of a new, more pungent era, though. People are snapping up dry shampoo and No-Poo and coating themselves in bacteria. Dr. Sanjay Jain recently told Jezebel that "showers don't need to be too hot, or too long, and you should always pat dry, rather than rub, to avoid irritating your skin." One family went six months without using soap and raved about the results.

But as it turns out, Americans aren't alone when it comes to having overdone it with too-frequent showers and shampoos.

(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Health/Medicine; Society; Travel
KEYWORDS: bath; countrylist; health; hygeine; showers; soap
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To: Verginius Rufus

I’m reading “Samurai William” now. (The basis for Richard Chamberlain’s character in “Shogun”).

The Jesuits only began to make progress in Japan when a new head Jesuit landed. He had them become more Japanese, which meant better hygiene, hiding the meat, including prep tools, utensils, cookware, and serving ware, since the Japanese could smell it.


41 posted on 06/25/2019 3:23:43 PM PDT by Calvin Locke
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To: dgbrown

Maybe they’re counting, or not, walk-in tub use some weird way - people that use handheld shower heads while sitting?

The few years of my father’s life, he needed one of those half-in/half-out tub benches for showering, and for getting in & out. As his fear of falling grew, he showered less frequently, and he’d occasionally reek.


42 posted on 06/25/2019 3:33:51 PM PDT by Calvin Locke
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To: Red Badger
no way do i believe 75% of the french shower once a day, no way...
43 posted on 06/25/2019 3:37:10 PM PDT by Chode (Send bachelors, and come heavily armed!)
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To: Flaming Conservative

[It was when I was a kid, at least in my family, but my folks were from the rural south, and grew up without running water.]


Without running water, wouldn’t every bath mean multiple trips to the well? Then there’s the gathering of firewood to heat up the water. Given these obstacles, it’s easy to see why a bath wouldn’t be a daily occurrence.


44 posted on 06/25/2019 3:39:07 PM PDT by Zhang Fei (My dad had a Delta 88. That was a car. It was like driving your living room.)
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To: DannyTN

“Negative 3 showers per week”

I’ve worked with those people.


45 posted on 06/25/2019 3:39:22 PM PDT by dynachrome (Build the wall, deport them all.)
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To: Kommodor

Interesting point. I’m old enough to remember when people only shampooed like once a week. It might have been the introduction of Herbal Essence that ushered in the idea of frequent use. Heck, anyone remember 5-Day Deodorant Pads? Wipe your pits on Monday and your good to go for the whole week.


46 posted on 06/25/2019 3:41:53 PM PDT by D_Idaho ("For we wrestle not against flesh and blood...")
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To: Responsibility2nd
Do not look at these photos.

My son's wife's stepfather is Indian. He took them both for a visit a few years ago. Son got deathly ill. They cooked meals in a filthy room, and had the disgusting habit of everyone touching their food after being served. Open sewers right outside luxury hotels. Never a place I'd go.

47 posted on 06/25/2019 3:42:52 PM PDT by FatherofFive (Islam is EVIL and needs to be eradicated)
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To: Calvin Locke

As his fear of falling grew, he showered less frequently, and he’d occasionally reek.


That’s what’s so great about living alone.
You reek but the dog don’t mind.


48 posted on 06/25/2019 3:43:49 PM PDT by sparklite2 (Don't mind me. I'm just a contrarian.)
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To: Red Badger; SaveFerris; PROCON; FredZarguna; mylife; Lil Flower; Corky Ramirez; CopperTop; ...

Serbs are fanatic about their showers.


49 posted on 06/25/2019 3:48:31 PM PDT by Gamecock (In church today, we so often find we meet only the same old world, not Christ and His Kingdom. AS)
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To: Red Badger

In some Mexican villages, a shower consists of dumping a bucket of water over your head.


50 posted on 06/25/2019 3:48:45 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: Salamander
A lot of these methods work when you have really short hair.

Regular baking soda does work to clean your hair but it leaves it kind of thick and heavy feeling.

A daily combing with a very fine tooth wooden comb does get a lot of the oils out and means you have to wash it less often.

51 posted on 06/25/2019 3:49:53 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Human beings don't behave rationally. We rationalize our behavior.)
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To: D_Idaho

Some scientific type pinpointed the bacteria that produces body odor. Then he developed a wipe that knocked them right out. He went, undoubtedly in Birkenstocks, for several years without bathing or smelling bad.

From what I read elsewhere, though, eradicating underarm bacteria isn’t the end of the story. Bacteria from other parts of the body will eventually take over the vacated real estate and you don’t want that.


52 posted on 06/25/2019 3:53:46 PM PDT by sparklite2 (Don't mind me. I'm just a contrarian.)
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To: Red Badger

Twice a day is minimum. When i wake up and before bed. It’s just being civilized.

Yes i am shocked at other people’s lack of consideration for others.


53 posted on 06/25/2019 3:55:52 PM PDT by DariusBane (Liberty and Risk. Flip sides of the same coin. So how much risk will YOU accept? Vive Deo et Vives)
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To: Red Badger

“Olga Khazan “

Just another smelly foreigner trying to tell us how to live.


54 posted on 06/25/2019 3:56:37 PM PDT by CodeToad ( Hating on Trump is hating on me and Americans!)
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To: Red Badger

I notice the frequency of bathing correlates with average temperature. The hotter the country the more often they bathe.


55 posted on 06/25/2019 3:57:52 PM PDT by TigersEye (This is the age of the death of reason.)
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To: BenLurkin

Classic freeper response right there.


56 posted on 06/25/2019 3:58:22 PM PDT by CJ Wolf (Free)
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To: Salamander

Not to mention the swarms of flies and bees attracted by the honey. I don’t think the vinegar would discourage them much with that kind of bait.


57 posted on 06/25/2019 4:01:28 PM PDT by TigersEye (This is the age of the death of reason.)
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To: DannyTN

Perhaps it is taking into account the many people who shower twice a day?


58 posted on 06/25/2019 4:06:09 PM PDT by Teflonic (tt)
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To: Red Badger
Me about twice a day, my friend once a month...😀
59 posted on 06/25/2019 4:07:30 PM PDT by ConservaTeen (WFLA's Jack Harris: Brooklyn is missing their village idiot. Right you are, Jack.)
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To: DesertRhino

“Body Odor”

I remember the LIFEBOUY soap radio ads of the 1940’s using in their radio ads chanting “B.... O.....” while someone talked about the use of their product. Not sure if that soap is still available today. Will have to look for it next time at the store. It had a distinct smell.

Have a good day...


60 posted on 06/25/2019 4:10:18 PM PDT by LaMudBug
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