Bathing...

[Amee]

Okay so this is gonna be a bit awkward to write about, but yeah I would really need some answers on this..

How do you bathe?? Like, I've grown up only having a shower and we recently got a bathtub and I just don't know what to do. Like, how do you get clean? I mean, the water will get dirty... and shampooing your hair and stuff... I don't get it haha!

Please explain x)

 

[Randomperson]

Well, the bath tub is not for cleaning, it is for soaking, you can fill it up nice and hot and soak till you feel relaxed or the water gets cold. To avoid soaking in dirty water or being wet and dirty when done you use the shower first or after the bath, as it rinses you nice and clean after the shampooing and stuff. Does that make sense?

 

[Amee]

That does make a lot of sense. Thank you! ^^

 

[Daniel]

Well, the bath tub is not for cleaning, it is for soaking, you can fill it up nice and hot and soak till you feel relaxed or the water gets cold. To avoid soaking in dirty water or being wet and dirty when done you use the shower first or after the bath, as it rinses you nice and clean after the shampooing and stuff. Does that make sense?

Spot-on advice! Reminds me of the scene in the Tom Selleck movie Mr. Baseball, about an aging Major Leaguer who continues his career in Japan, where Selleck's character commits a faux-pas by going right into the bath without showering first. In Japan, he is advised, "first you shower, then you bathe".

I once heard of people (friends of my sister's) who shared an apartment, hippie-types, who, for the sake of conserving water, would fill the tub, and then each take turns using the bathwater! So each one would sit in the dirty runoff of the person(s) who bathed before them.

Enjoy the tub, Amee! All I have at the moment is a stand-up shower, so I miss the luxury of a nice, relaxing soak, especially with epsom salts.

 

[Peace]

The bathtub, just like the public bath, has a long history. In many places it is used exactly in the way the last two posts advised against. Back in the day that you were hauling water from the well, bucket by bucket, and cutting all of the wood by hand to make the fire to heat the water to have a warm or hot bath, before the days of showers. you used every possible resource you had. Everybody bathed in the tub with no before or after shower. They washed their bodies and their hair in the tub because that was all they had. Most people also filled one tub for several people to bathe in. The exception to this were wealthy people how had other people doing the work for them. At least this is the history of the tub in the US.
Bathhouses were common in many societies. A public pool or bathing area existed where people met to bathe or soak together.
No answers here are wrong, so choose which ever way is best for you, and enjoy.

 

[Rocco]

I prefer a shower twice daily. That said;
I don't always take a bath, but when I do... Epsom salts as it fills, enter, wash hair, soak, wash body, exit.

Definitely shower first or light rinse if dirty. I discovered using Epsom salts in December! It is amazing. Almost reminds me of natural mineral spring baths, without the sulfur odor.

 

[2aspirin]

I prefer a shower twice daily. That said;
I don't always take a bath, but when I do... Epsom salts as it fills, enter, wash hair, soak, wash body, exit.

Definitely shower first or light rinse if dirty. I discovered using Epsom salts in December! It is amazing. Almost reminds me of natural mineral spring baths, without the sulfur odor.

Epsom salts are amazing. It is magnesium sulfate which was traditionally also a versatile medicine. It is an anti-convulsant and is still used in intravenous form as the safest drug to stop pre-term labor and sometimes pregnancy induced hypertension.

 

[Rocco]

Well said. It also works for aches and pains when soaking a part or body in it. Packaging says laxative too

 

[May Black]

If you like that kind of stuff, you can lit candles around the bath, and use nice smelling bath oil or foam, maybe play some soft music. I used to enjoy reading in the bath back when I had it. Make sure not to overfill it, the water level will rise once you sit it in. Also, you might want to get the water a little warmer than what feels entirely comfortable at first, because it will cool down rather fast.

 

[GoofKing]

Does Schizophrenia prevent you from bathing daily or is because of depression ? I have trouble with this because I don't want to bathe and seems too much work or a troublesome thing ...

When I do get around bathing, I usually use a lot of soap and maybe to scrub with because of months worth of icky build up. If your concerned with um, hygiene problems like smelling, then I would suggest some liquid soap and a wash cloth or something. Also, remember to always check every nook and cranny and or double wash those places if your not sure how to bathe properly.

If your having trouble with washing your hair because it always ends up frizzy or dry, I'd talk to a hair stylist or maybe a dermatologist (if they do give out advice on hair and dry scalp and etc) because I have the same problem with frizzy hair and a flaky and dry scalp.

I would also advice maybe washing with soap first as liquid soap is more of a perfume than a cleanser I think and masks the bodily order rather than get rid of it. I hate how oily I feel after using body wash like Old Spice or Axe or even Dial ....

 

[Grumpy Cat]

I only take bubble baths in the winter and I do shower really quick before jumping in the tub. I have candles lit, a bath pillow and even something that fits over that handle thingie so the water level can be higher. I put a whole bunch of skin softening oil in the water along with bubble bath then when I jump out I put on a whole bunch of lotion too. I also use bath stuff that has aromatherapy qualities.

When I lived at home with my parents we did take baths instead of showers and I did this for many years using bubble bath stuff and rinsing myself and my hair with water from the faucet. I much prefer showers now for cleaning and bubble baths to relax.

 

[bentHnau]

I only took baths if I wasn't too terribly dirty; the dirt spreads out in the water and is too dispersed to get back on the skin. I would wash my hair last as that was the dirtiest and left suds (I don't use soap on my body).

I once heard of people (friends of my sister's) who shared an apartment, hippie-types, who, for the sake of conserving water, would fill the tub, and then each take turns using the bathwater! So each one would sit in the dirty runoff of the person(s) who bathed before them.

My ex did that. Took me by surprise when she asked me not to let out my dirty bathwater, but then again, it wasn't that dirty. I don't know if she did it to conserve water, though.

 

[wyverary]

I'm told that in Japan, it is traditional for families to take baths together, but, as has already been mentioned, everyone involved usually cleans themselves FIRST...the bath is simply for relaxation. (See: the Studio Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro, which has a lovely scene depicting this.)

 

[Randomperson]

Public baths, are the reason they invented bathing suits, so there could be some decency when sharing the bath. Only later did people start wearing such revealing attire to the beach. I do not understand todays society though, running around on the beach with less then a foot of skin covered up but full nudity is taboo?

 

[GoofKing]

Public baths, are the reason they invented bathing suits, so there could be some decency when sharing the bath. Only later did people start wearing such revealing attire to the beach. I do not understand todays society though, running around on the beach with less then a foot of skin covered up but full nudity is taboo?

I have just the song for what you said about today's society

 

[Daniela]

Okay.... I used to clean my self on the bathtub .... So i did it like this first i would wash my hair and then i would clean my body ....so then when i moved houses i had only shower so .... I got used to it and now i dont wanth an other thing

 

[grapesicles]

Am I the only person who washes my hair whilst in the bath, then washes myself, then rinses my hair with the shower attachment? My parents have never had a shower in their house, so I only took baths for the vast majority of my life and that's what I did. I usually have baths where I live now too, since the shower is faulty and sprays water in different directions, stuck on the hottest temperature. Although I'd love an actual shower that works!

One thing I love about baths though, are Lush's bath bombs and bubble bars - might be too perfumed for a lot of people, but they smell so good. I also like putting my iPad stood up across the room (well away from the bath) and set it to play videos or music whilst I'm in there - makes it less boring.

 

[Randomperson]

Am I the only person who washes my hair whilst in the bath, then washes myself, then rinses my hair with the shower attachment? My parents have never had a shower in their house, so I only took baths for the vast majority of my life and that's what I did. I usually have baths where I live now too, since the shower is faulty and sprays water in different directions, stuck on the hottest temperature. Although I'd love an actual shower that works!

One thing I love about baths though, are Lush's bath bombs and bubble bars - might be too perfumed for a lot of people, but they smell so good. I also like putting my iPad stood up across the room (well away from the bath) and set it to play videos or music whilst I'm in there - makes it less boring.

If I had a good sized tub I would gladly fill it up and soak, and likely have a remote control battleship to drive around. But that is not going to happen

 

[icesyckel]

I bathe. I put about 5-10 pounds of epsom salt in the water when I do. That helps with a variety of problems including the issue with dirt staying in the water and not on my afterwards. I have noticed I have to clean the tub more often, as the salt causes the dirt to attach to the tub rather than me.

Also, you never really get completely clean even in the shower, but you'll be cleaner after a bath than you were before salt or no salt. The soap you use should help separate dirt from your body. I once read that soap and detergents just increase the efficiency of water's innate ability to remove dirt from people and materials. I've gotten in bathtubs absolutely covered in black ash (from campfires) and then emerge without it even when not using the epsom salt trick (which actually also helps with muscle aches, hemorrhoids, and a myriad of other things too). The bathwater will be grey or even black, but I emerge as pasty as ever

Besides, I like to lay in the tub with a beer and listen to audio books. It's like a poor man's hot tub. I suppose I should be concerned that I will inadvertently invent a poor man's hot tub time machine. Instead of taking me back to my youth, however, I'd probably wind up naked in the ice age. That would be awful, but I am willing to take the risk.