I imagine they mean without a cloth, poof, or loofa. As a kid I would put body wash in my hand, lather, and rub it over my body. But it tended to use up soap quickly so either I had to add more soap part way through or the things I washed last didn’t get washed well. Which is why I switched to a poof.
a washandje
That sounds like something you ask for at an unlicensed massage parlour
I have some stupid questions from someone who rolls barehanded...
How do you get the soap to lather well when using a wash cloth? I tried it once but it didn't work all that well.
Are you supposed to use a new washcloth every time you shower? If yes, how many washcloths do you go through a week and how much does this add to your laundry bulk. If no, aren't you kind of grossed out by a used, wet, bacteria filled rag being rubbed all over you?
I once saw a post from someone not understanding how bare handers could possibly get clean from only using their hands. But...it's not like you use a washcloth when you wash your hands and no one is grossed out by that. Why are people then randomly grossed out when you apply that to showering? The action of soap with mechanical disruption, be it with your bare hands or a washcloth, does well to remove grime and bacteria.
To the OP, I lather in my hands with a bar of soap and then wash my body with my sudsy hands...going back to the bar of soap and even "washing my hands" often enough when necessary.
How do you get the soap to lather well when using a wash cloth? I tried it once but it didn’t work all that well.
It lathers better than soap/hands for me.
Are you supposed to use a new washcloth every time you shower? If yes, how many washcloths do you go through a week and how much does this add to your laundry bulk.
Not I. I change mine weekly. Even if I did daily, they're tiny, so 7 would be about the same mass as a shirt.
If no, aren’t you kind of grossed out by a used, wet, bacteria filled rag being rubbed all over you?
Not anymore than rubbing a used, wet, bacteria filled bar of soap being rubbed all over you. Or used, wet, bacteria filled hands.
First time I heard of that. What is the advantage they have compared to just using your hands, besides the lathering abilities mentioned in one of the replies to this comment which is something I never had a problem with?
That's the way all our great-grandparents did it. But with a bowl of warm water.
Uses just a fraction of energy & water. With the abundance of cheap energy, affordable piping and heating became affordable for the masses.
I mean, I also use an actual shower for the rinsing and hair, I just use a washcloth instead of my bare hands or a bar for soaping everything up.
That's what I thought, hence I mentioned the bowl of water. Which was heated with wood or coal which had to be carried manually... in buckets... Imagine that :-)
What? What kind of heathen doesn't have a pair of heavy duty work gloves for showering? Am I the only civilized one among us?!
I shove the bar of soap strait up my ass and just express the foam into my hand from there until I'm done.
I do this too, but I use the moves I learned during my breakdancing days to spin on my head and evenly distribute a layer of suds all over my body. It's super efficient!
I mean, yeah?? I just put the soap wherever it needs to go??
The soap isn't dirty folks. Half of the time all I'm showering off is sweat and dead skin cells anyways. And if any bugger dares reply to this with some clever comment about taint smears, I'll inform you beforehand I do not speak with bidet-less miscreants.
I used to wear mittens in the shower but I changed to fingerless gloves around 2014 when it became the new trend. You gotta know how to stay cool despite standing in a hot shower. Go with the flow.
I remember watching a black comedian many years ago and his bit started "Why don't white people use washcloths?", and it got me thinking. I started using washcloths and noticed I came away cleaner, soap on a hand doesn't cut the skin oils and dirt like soap and gentle abrasion can. I also noticed, because I'm hairy, that I get lots of ingrown hairs, especially on my legs. Switched to one of those "poofs" and now I vigorously scrub my hairy bits and no ingrown hairs. Exfoliating helps.
Use a washcloth and don't forget to brush your tongue, you filthy animal.
How can you tell that you "come out cleaner"? I don't exactly have motor oil all over my body or anything when I shower.
How do you clean your ears, bellybutton, toes? And hopefully in that order. Some stuff needs extra attention, and some people have different skin types than you. Go scrub out your toes.
I actively try not to get soap in my ears because it will clog them up. I use an "ear syringe" to occasionally rinse out my ears with slightly preessurized water only.
I don't exactly have motor oil all over my body or anything when I shower.
Then you're not doing it right! I know the vegan motor oil is supposedly the best for your skin but I prefer the synthetic stuff. The process is Exon, Exoff.
Huh... I'm a huge proponent of brushing your tongue (it doesn't take much, just a brush with a scraper on the back makes a big difference). I've never really tried washcloths, but now I'm going to give them a shot
On the flip side, my skin is weird. I get hives for literally no reason, I tried one of those plastic poofs and it makes me itch like crazy.
🤞
A lot of mouth bacteria lives on your tongue. Any dentist will tell you that cleaning your tongue is an important part of oral hygiene, even though it's often overlooked. Doing it really helps with keeping bad breath under control and generally healthier teeth.
The Asian body scrubbers are next level exfoliation. The best part is they dry super fast and are washable. I used to use the poofs but they retained so much dang water and weren't washable.
This Arrested Development/Always Sunny cross over is exactly what I needed today, thank you both.
Someone out there is rubbing the bar all over each hand and then just rinses. Knowing humans this has to be true for someone.
What I do is I take several guns and a baseball bat with me when I shower so that I'm never caught barehanded ever.
It's like interdimensional cable but for internet forums. In my version of reality, we get completely naked when taking a shower, not just our hands. We have these kind of lay-down-showers called baths too, but that's a whole other thing. Also, the chemical element with atomic mass 207.2 g.mol ^ -1, which may seem like a useful building material, especially for shower pipes, is actually dangerous to life that is based on the chemical element 12.011 g.mol ^ -1. Figured I should include that in case OP's reality hasn't figured that out yet. In exchange, consider sharing something dangerous your reality has discovered that might not be obvious to us yet.
doesn't everyone use shampoo?? who tf uses a bar of soap for anything else than washing hands??
There is shampoo as soap bars in Europe.
I use it since it brings better cleaning results. There are also environmental reasons not to pack everything like shampoo into plastic. A soap bar comes with just a bit of paper around.
Me too. I kinda do it in parts. Like arms, torso, legs and fave. Then lastly is use a nail cleaning brush to scrub my butt. I like to think I have the cleanest butt in town.
There's liquid soap, you know. Didn't need to shove anything inside anywhere to stay clean.
Liquid soap/body wash is a sham. It's just the company selling you less soap by diluting it with water. Bars of soap are more economical.
I'm old enough to remember when body wash was not the normal and now soap bars seem to be used less than body wash.
This is a common problem... You need to buy "body wash" from the supermarket or pharmacy. Not the "wash" from the body shop.
I actually wasn't aware of soap bars before today. I only see those for hands, not the whole body. Reading these comments, I'm not sure if it's more of a generational or cultural difference.
Anywhere skin-on-skin contact occurs (butt, balls, armpits), I use a small amount of benzoyl peroxide facewash. It kills the bacteria responsible for BO and for 24-48 hours body odor is impossible.
You apply it, wait 5 minutes and rinse well. If you don't rinse well you can bleach your towel or clothes.
As far as body soap goes, I use a a fragrance free body wash with salicylic acid. Heavy mechanical exfoliation is not necessary when using a chemical exfoliant. Also, loofas are just a bunch of plastic waste.
After the shower, I use a lightweight gel moisturizer with cerimides. I use a thicker moisturizer on my hands and weenis.
That's just the body. I--of course--have a completely seperate routine for my face.
Hair makes good lather. I just lather my head with Neutrogena Healthy Scalp Moisturizing Shampoo, then rub the lather everywhere else, and rinse. Scalp and skin are different words for the same thing. (And no, it doesn't sting on mucous membranes either. )
I use a bar of soap that is exclusive to me. I lather somewhere hairy, like my stomach, to build up some suds.Then, I soap everything with the suds and soap.
It wastes a ton of soap compared to a washcloth. And when I'm done I wash the bar off and wash my hands one last time. It's the quickest way I have found to shower. I am usually out in about 15 minutes.
I legitimately don't know how people shower quicker than that. Like, if I'm in a rush I can, but I know I'm missing areas and not getting as clean as I could be.
But to be honest I have OCD that mostly manifests as germaphobia/obsessively sanitizing. I'm not good about understanding how normal people clean themselves.
Seriously! A regular shower for me takes around five minutes. With a face shave, it's still less than ten. Wtf else is there to do? Standing there staring at the wall?
Earlier today i had a shower vodka pink lemonade. It's 100f outside and my 'cold' water is about 85°. Shower cocktail = 👍.
"Regular" shower, boss. I'm not talking about extracurricular showers. The other commenters were amazed that anyone ever takes a less than 15 shower. Which is ridiculous that their bar for a normal shower is that long.
Some people shave other parts of their bodies, some have skincare routines, some have special hair products. If you are just washing with soap and using shampoo it is going to be quicker than someone who has different face and body washes and multiple hair products.
It's like different people have different needs or something.
I hear you there. Personally in the shower I use a water activated gel cleanser, then a honey almond body scrub, and on the face an exfoliating gel scrub. Then I apply an herb-mint facial masque which I leave on for 10 minutes while I prepare the rest of my routine. I always use an after shave lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older. Then moisturizer, then an anti-aging eye balm followed by a final moisturizing protective lotion.
I have really long, thick, curly hair. My showers can easily take 45 minutes to an hour because of everything I need to do to wash, detangle, and finish my hair routine.
Me too, I always assume it’ll take at least 30 minutes, but only 5 if I don’t wash my hair
Dissociating, executive dysfunction and general existential dispair is a bitch. So yes, to answer your question, staring at a wall indeed. It's really hard to get in the shower and when I'm there it's hard to leave. But reading all of this has given me some encouragement. I'm gonna take a shower. :)
I don't spend 15, but I do spend more than 5. In my case most of the time spent is lathering up, i.e. the time when the water isn't running. Do you count that in your five minutes? And how do you shave in the shower? Do you have a mirror in there? How doesn't it get all fogged up?
Edit: Now that I think of it, a small mirror in a shower could work, you simply have to pass it through cold water when you want to shave.
Amateur. With the power of the Seifensäckchen, I manage to shower within 2-3 minutes.
I raw dog bar soap all day ery day. I don’t lather it up, just rub it on my body. Wash clothes are a PITA and I honestly don’t see an exfoliating benefit. Loofahs are gross. I prefer dove. Very cost effective and leaves me smelling fresh.
Do you wash loofahs like you can a washcloth? If no, it just sounds like it could get gross like using an old dirty sponge.
I don't have the time or patience to wash a washcloth after every use. Loofahs dry out more quickly than washcloths or sponges (I'm talking the plastic artificial ones). I'm sure it could get gross, but I throw them out before they get too bad. You can wash loofahs in diluted bleach every few weeks to keep them clean.
You mean the plastic ones or the real ones? The plastic ones you can hand wash but I wouldn't stick it in a washing machine (you probably could if you used a laundry bag and put it on low spin)
Well the little card that they come with says to replace it every two weeks... And you can very clearly tell when they're getting to the "old gross sponge" feeling that the other person mentioned.
Barehanded as opposed to what? I just rub the bar of soap all over and Robert's your mother's brother.