AARoads Forum

I know that many people have debated this topic over the years, so I'm interested to see what you all think.

As for me, it all depends on the context - I suppose I tend to shower in the morning, but on days when I'm feeling rather sweaty or sticky, I'll do it at night instead, because I want to be clean going to bed. (This means that during the warmer months, I shower at night more often.) Also, of course, weather is a factor as well - I'll take my shower at night if there's a storm predicted for the next morning.

Anyway, that's my preference as to when I shower (or bathe, if I have a bit of extra time) - what about yours? I've also created a poll.

I always shower at night. If I get dirty during a daytime activity I might shower in the afternoon but those times are rare.

Mornings for me.  Hair gets too oily just overnight.  If I get sweaty during the day, I'll take one at night before bed.

Before bed, for me.  Especially during the warmer months.  I can't get to sleep when I feel sweaty and sticky, and it takes forever and a day to dry after a shower in the morning.  Getting dressed while I'm still wet is not pleasant.  And I can sleep in a few minutes more.

Morning. Showering helps me wake up, and the corollary to that is that if I shower at night, I have trouble falling asleep.

On weekends "morning" becomes a flexible concept–I usually shower before breakfast on weekdays but after breakfast on weekends, for example, and I'll usually wait to shower until after I do the vacuuming or similar. If, of course, I'm doing something during the day that makes me especially sweaty, such as yard work, I'll shower a second time.

Depends on the time of year.  If it's cold, I'll do it at night because I don't want to go right out in the cold of the morning if I just took a shower.  It's a little more flexible in warmer weather; basically whenever I feel dirty. 

Interesting that you posted it yesterday – that's one of the very few days I took two showers. I normally take them in the morning, but I also took one at about 8 PM because some of the sunscreen from earlier was caked onto my legs.

I shower in the morning.  It ensures I start the day fresh, my hair neat (it tangles easily, so right after a shower is really the only time I can brush it properly), and it helps wake me up and decongest my nose.  I used to shower at night, and it was always hard trying to go to bed afterwards because I'd just feel hot and sticky.  Plus it felt like my deodorant would always fail by 8 AM.  Why waste my few hours of being clean when I'm asleep and nobody cares?

I do have a hard time getting dressed immediately after a shower, but that's part of why I take a 10 minute break between drying myself off and drying my hair.  Plus my hair takes forever to dry without that break, not only due to being wetter, but also because I use that time to run the HVAC system (regardless of what the temperature is in my apartment) and dehumidify the bathroom, since the fan doesn't do a good job of getting rid of moisture and it ends up like a sauna.

The main exceptions are when I'm visiting my parents, when there might be an hour or two between my shower and the rest of my routine, since they eat breakfast earlier than I would on non-work days (and because we have to coordinate bathroom time around each other), and Sundays when I'm home (or whatever day I'm using as a "recovery day" after a trip), which are they days I just stay home and therefore don't take a shower at all.

Night. I get filthy at my day job; if I were to transfer that grime to the sheets at bedtime, my wife would kill me.

Almost always in the morning after I run and lift at the gym.  A bath is a luxury I rarely get anymore.  So I guess none of the above poll options?

I generally shower in the morning.  When it is hot and humid like now and I have to be outside for part of the day, I often try to group chores that will make me sweaty so that I can shower after I finish them all, even if it means it's late afternoon or even early evening by the time I can wash up.  If I have showered earlier in the day and I then go outside, e.g. for my usual two-mile evening walk, I will take a sponge bath once I'm inside for good, since I will not shower more than once a day if I can possibly avoid it.  As a general rule, I like to have at least a few hours of feeling fresh from the shower before I go outside and start sweating again.

My sponge bath routine consists of a rough washcloth repeatedly soaked in warm to hot water and run over my face, neck, chest, flanks, back (as far as I can reach), arms from wrist to just below armpits, and backs of my knees.  It helps keep my skin from sticking to furniture upholstery and also avoids salt deposits and dye shift on indoor clothing.  (I change into a separate set of clothes to go outdoors.)

It depends on my schedule for the next day. The vast majority of my showers are when I wake up, but from time to time if I have to be awake significantly earlier than usual I'll do it at night so it's one fewer thing on my list for the next day when I'll already be fighting an uphill battle against fatigue and routine changes.

Morning and night, no exceptions. It is too hot and humid here to not shower at the end of the day, and waking up and going to work without a shower is cruel to coworkers.

Night, but a few hours before I go to bed.

Typically mornings, but occasionally at night, or mid-day if I'm going to be going somewhere.

Any routine in this area has kinda gone to shit now that I work from home, but, I guess "mornings," unless I plan to get sweaty, in which case, after I get sweaty.

Typically in the morning, unless I've done yard work or something that has made me dirty and sweaty. I tried showering at night for a while but it really wasn't working out for me - I had trouble sleeping at night because a good shower wakes me up.

I'm sure I'm the oddball, but more days than not, I shower in the late afternoon. Once I get most of my work obligations done for the day, I'll shower after I eat lunch.

Gotta be night for me.
I like to say, I sleep better on a clean ass. :-D

Quote from: triplemultiplex on July 17, 2023, 05:10:46 PM
Gotta be night for me.
I like to say, I sleep better on a clean ass. :-D

If you're regular with the AM/BM, night doesn't matter as much. :)

I prefer showering in the evening. Before dinner is ideal if I'm working outside and it was a hot day, otherwise sometime after dinner is fine. Main reason I don't shower in the morning is to save time, but I do quickly wash my hair in the laundry tub every morning. In the span of one night, my hair already starts looking greasy if I don't wash it again.

Mornings are when I do it; they're the ideal time for someone who works indoors. For outdoors workers (construction workers, food truck vendors, longshoremen, etc.), I'd say evenings are more ideal because they'll need to wash the dirt and sweat off just before going to bed.

I always do it in the morning.

So... anyone else shower morning and night, or just me? I'm starting to think it's just me.

I always shower in the morning as part of my morning routine (especially for skin care), and the water helps wake me up. And I shower at night to get all the day's sweat and dirt off me, and finish off my skin care routine.

Quote from: jakeroot on July 19, 2023, 01:02:13 AM
So... anyone else shower morning and night, or just me? I'm starting to think it's just me.

I always shower in the morning as part of my morning routine (especially for skin care), and the water helps wake me up. And I shower at night to get all the day's sweat and dirt off me, and finish off my skin care routine.

Every morning and night?  Nah, that's just you. :D

The only times I regularly shower more than once a day is when I'm visiting a tropical country and have been outside most of the day.

Showering multiple times a day (even more than two) is common in northern Brazil.

Quote from: Molandfreak on July 19, 2023, 09:19:47 AM
Showering multiple times a day (even more than two) is common in northern Brazil.

It is also the norm here in Okinawa, everyone showers twice a day, including the Americans that move here. It's just way more hot and humid than most of the US, spending even an hour outside gets you unbelievably sweaty and you gotta wash that stuff off.

Quote from: Rothman on July 19, 2023, 07:06:50 AM

Quote from: jakeroot on July 19, 2023, 01:02:13 AM
So... anyone else shower morning and night, or just me? I'm starting to think it's just me.

I always shower in the morning as part of my morning routine (especially for skin care), and the water helps wake me up. And I shower at night to get all the day's sweat and dirt off me, and finish off my skin care routine.

Every morning and night?  Nah, that's just you. :D

Bunch of smelly nerds in this thread!

Showing twice a day seems like a huge time suck to me.  My actual time in the shower is 20 minutes, but add in drying off, my dehumidifying break, and drying my hair, the whole shower process takes an hour.  I hate that hour as is, having to make it two would really suck (unfortunately my hair gets REALLY frizzy when exposed to humidity, especially shower steam, so washing it is not optional).

Quote from: jakeroot on July 19, 2023, 06:37:57 PMIt is also the norm here in Okinawa, everyone showers twice a day, including the Americans that move here. It's just way more hot and humid than most of the US, spending even an hour outside gets you unbelievably sweaty and you gotta wash that stuff off.

Okinawa has a Cfa climate, like the vast majority of the South as well as segments of the Midwest.  I checked the weather there and it seems the dewpoint is about the same as here in Wichita (77° F).  It's definitely not the Pacific Northwest, but it's weather well over 100 million Americans are accustomed to.

How extensive is A/C provision?  That might be what makes the difference in terms of showering habits.

Quote from: J N Winkler on July 20, 2023, 02:40:16 AM

Quote from: jakeroot on July 19, 2023, 06:37:57 PMIt is also the norm here in Okinawa, everyone showers twice a day, including the Americans that move here. It's just way more hot and humid than most of the US, spending even an hour outside gets you unbelievably sweaty and you gotta wash that stuff off.

Okinawa has a Cfa climate, like the vast majority of the South as well as segments of the Midwest.  I checked the weather there and it seems the dewpoint is about the same as here in Wichita (77° F).  It's definitely not the Pacific Northwest, but it's weather well over 100 million Americans are accustomed to.

How extensive is A/C provision?  That might be what makes the difference in terms of showering habits.

A/C is everywhere, I don't know of anyone or anywhere that doesn't have it. That may not have been the case 40 years ago, but it's certainly the case now.

Okinawa is in the Cfa climate zone, but looking at temperatures and relative humidity, it is much closer to Tampa, though much rainier. There is a very similar "warm weather culture" that you don't see in places like Wichita or Little Rock, but might see in Tampa, Miami, Orlando, etc. It's instilled in you pretty quickly that you are living in a warm to hot place and need to live like it: make sure your AC works, always have sunscreen nearby, wear the right clothes (sun sleeves are very common here), and prepare to shower twice a day especially in the summer.

Okinawa is very nearly *Af, similar in climate to Miami but wetter.