How Often Should You Shower?

Everybody should bathe or shower regularly. The downsides to not showering enough are pretty gross, so do your part (for your sake and ours) and make sure you’re cleaning yourself — but not too much. It’s possible to shower too often or too much!

While you may not smell bad or get really sick from overshowering, there are drawbacks. So, how can you tell if you’re showering too often or too much?

The Ideal Number of Showers a Week

Most people shower somewhere between every day or every other day. Some even shower twice a day. The ideal amount of showering is different for each person, since our skin and hair react differently to the heat and cleaning in the shower. This is why it’s important to know the signs of showering too often.

The goal should be showering enough to stop from being smelly, which for many people is between five and seven times a week.

We can’t give you an ideal amount of times you should shower a week because only your body can tell you that! How often you shower will largely come down to you and trial and error. How active is your lifestyle? Do you tend to get hot or sweat in your sleep? The goal should be showering enough to stop from being smelly, which for many people is between five and seven times a week. You should shower after a workout or outdoor work to clean any dirt and sweat that may have built up.

Signs You’re Showering Too Often

The biggest risk of showering too often is stripping away the natural oils on the skin. When you clean, you can scrub off more than just dirt and dead skin. Do that too often, and you can get rid of these important oils that form a protective layer on the skin. Similar issues can occur with your hair and its oils.

Not only can dry skin be unpleasant, but it can result in skin infections or flare-ups of psoriasis or eczema.

You may be showering too frequently if your skin is dry, itchy, or cracked. Not only can this be unpleasant, but it can allow bacteria to get under your skin through those cracks, resulting in skin infections. It may even cause flare-ups of psoriasis or eczema. Overwashing your hair can leave it dry and brittle, which could exacerbate its thinning.

Signs You’re Showering Too Much

Even if you’re showering the right number a times a day or week for you, you could still create problems by washing with too much intensity — showering for too long with water that’s too hot and washing too vigorously. Even if you’re showering every other day, you may still experience the same symptoms as showering too often — dry, itchy, cracked, or infected skin or dry, brittle, or thinning hair. A forceful showering will become too much for your skin.

If you’re getting out of the shower with irritated, red skin, you may be overdoing it.

The length of time you spend in the shower also matters, because whether you’re taking two quick showers a day or one long one, you’re still exposing your skin and hair to the same amount of hot water and washing. Finally, you could be scrubbing too hard, which scrapes away more of the protective barrier on your skin. This is more of a problem if you’re using harsh soaps, exfoliants, or a scrubber. If you’re getting out of the shower with irritated, red skin, you may be overdoing it.

Healthy Showering Tips

When actually in the shower, there are a few healthy showering tips you should follow. Try to keep your showers shorter to prevent water waste and overshowering. Generally, five to 15 minutes is a good amount of time. That should give you enough time to wash and rinse without feeling rushed. You should also make sure that the temperature isn’t too hot. The ideal temperature is somewhere between 95° and 101°, but unless you have a thermometer in the shower, you’ll need to base it on how it feels. If it feels too hot at first, it likely is. The water should be warm, not hot. A cold shower is also an option. Finally, you should be aware of how hard you’re scrubbing. Be gentle because you don’t need to scrub hard to clean yourself.

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Regular bathing is an important part of personal hygiene but showering too often or too much can produce a different set of issues. By following our tips and knowing what to watch for, you can make sure your showers are cleansing and relaxing.