5-min shower challenge

[mariec99]

Personal hygiene is the LAST thing I would ever skimp on to save a few pennies. Projecting a professional image (meaning super-groomed and well dressed) is economically advantageous in Western society.

[Marcymox]

Originally Posted by mariec99

Personal hygiene is the LAST thing I would ever skimp on to save a few pennies. Projecting a professional image (meaning super-groomed and well dressed) is economically advantageous in Western society.

absolutely- but MOST of that professional image is obtained outside of a 5 minute shower. clean pressed clothes, styled hair, make-up, polished shoes, deoderant and brushed teeth is all done outside of the shower.
You don't get any cleaner by washing your body for 20 minutes than you do if you scrub for 3 minutes- unless of course you've been working in the mines, digging ditches, construction, ect.

( you meaning general you)

If you develop a streamlined shower system, you can be in and out in 5 minutes or less. The second the water is warm enough, wash your hair. Don't stand there all day and lather up.- if you feel the need to scrub your scalp for 20 minutes, turn off the water.
apply conditioner, while that is soaking, soap up, and then rinse the conditioner and body soap all at once. done. if you shave in the shower add 1 minute. if it takes you more than one minute to shave, you should be doing it with the water off.

It's hard for me to understand what people are doing in the shower for a half an hour. I suspect most of the time just standing there. I was in the military and the water is on a timer- it comes on for exactly 3 minutes. if you are too slow and it shuts off with a head full of lather- too bad. you are sticky and soapy all day. move faster next time.
guess that's how I got good at fast showers.

[mariec99]

It's hard for me to understand what people are doing in the shower for a half an hour.

It is not as long as 30 minutes, but here is what takes me more than 5 minutes: shaving my legs and underarms, washing and conditioning hair, full body exfoliation; using an exfoliating facial mask; pushing back cuticles; cleaning nails (hands and feet); extra scrubbing of knees, elbows and feet; plus all the regular washing done in a shorter shower. I am very busy!

[b4freedom]

I am one of those people that takes ½ hour shower. I just stand there, I don't even wash myself. I let the water beat on the back of my shoulders. I enjoy it. And, for $3.90/month, I'll continue to enjoy it. If it was $30/month, I'd still enjoy it. I'd rather skimp someplace else and enjoy a long hot shower. On hot summer days, I'll work outside, get all gross, and go take a hot shower, and slowly make it colder and colder until the hot water is completely turned off. I'll just let it beat on my head. I'll get out, and go work outside again so I could get all gross and take another shower. If I could, I'd take 5 showers a day in the summer.

I guess I just like showers. I like to think in the shower. It's where I block out everything and just think random thoughts. It's where I find my zen moments.

But, I also like to lay at the bottom of the pool in the deep end and just look up at the world. If I had scuba gear on, I'd stay for as long as I had air. I find water relaxing and I enjoy it.

[PRICEPLUS]

I wonder where one can get a pull chain for the shower. You pull the chain to allow a stream of water. No constant running of water. You wet up. You soap up. You rinse off. I think the savings might be substantial. It may be impractical for some though!

[b4freedom]

Originally Posted by PRICEPLUS

I wonder where one can get a pull chain for the shower. You pull the chain to allow a stream of water. No constant running of water. You wet up. You soap up. You rinse off. I think the savings might be substantial. It may be impractical for some though!

A quick look found this: http://www.plumbingsupply.com/speakm...rs.html#valves or even cheaper: http://www.kingssupply.com/item35.htm

[seaar2000]

I already take five minute showers. Our water bill in our city thinks they have to increase our water every 6 months.

[b4freedom]

Originally Posted by seaar2000

I already take five minute showers. Our water bill in our city thinks they have to increase our water every 6 months.

What do you pay for water? We pay about $25/quarter. It works out to be about 1/10 of 1¢ per gallon. Maybe that's why I like long showers.

[getforfree]

I don't really like taking showers. I only wash because I have to, not because I like it. I don't like my hair being wet after the shower. I don't like hairdryer because it's noisy, so I never use, I just keep my hair wrapped in the towel for the next 10 min after the shower. Maybe I should get a short haircut, then I will like the showers better.

[getforfree]

The water cost is 1.4c for every 10 gallons here. So 10-min shower costs you 3c for the cold water alone, if you use like 2 gall a min. + the cost of heating the water.

I try to use water on low, where it flows slower, maybe 1 gall/min, I increase it a little more for the last rinse, then turn the hot water off, and get 7 more seconds of warm water, then I turn the cold water off too.

[januarymarch]

This poses an interesting side question. How many different ways can you save on one thing.

Here we have a choice: take shorter showers or install low flow heads seem the most obvious and do-able.

My dh installed water savers on all our facets so I wouldn't have to be so strict about timing.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Why would you want to take a 5 minute shower? Um, did you ever think that there is a line between cheap and frugal?

[Aleta]

I think that it's not just being frugal; it's also being conservative on our natural resources. LIving, in Florida, we use more water than anyone in the world. We all can conserve. Sometimes, I observe at the fact that I turn my faucet on full blast, or that I turn the water on to wash a pot without turning it off. How much water in the pot do we need to clean it. I know that we can turn the water on a lower force and probably get the same job done. I just think that it's more about conserving our natural resources and in return watching our hot water and the flow water bill.

[pjmama]

What I've noticed is that my gym membership benefits me in 2 ways: I work out (excercise obviously good) and I always shower when I'm at the gym, so I use THIER hot water, and not mine That, and I get a *fantastic* discount on my YMCA membership... yay!

[cptacek]

Our showers at school were gross when I was in high school, especially during track...sand from the long jump pits on the floor and mildew in the showers with janitors just waiting for the end of the school year to get here. But, dad made us shower there because:
1. The car would smell pretty icky with three sweaty high school girls driving 30 minutes home after a 2 hour practice.
2. The school would pay for the water, and they used to provide towels and wash them for us too.
3. With 9 of us living in a one bathroom house, taking a shower at night would cut down on the congestion in the morning in the bathroom.

[starving_student]

Originally Posted by Ima saver

I weigh 800 pounds, it takes a long time to get all of me wet!!

[thebetterlifenow]

My trouble is if I don't take a shower in the morning, I don't feel awake until about 10am. But one side effect is, I am sleepy when I first get in the shower in the morning so it takes me about 20 minutes (or until the hot water runs out).

I am going to try to get better about this. I would like to get it down to about 7 minutes if I don't have to shave, 10 if I do.

[motherof1child]

And it also depends on the amount of OCD one has. I have to take long showers so I save my money by using Big blankets and not running the heater. North west arkansas here!

[th_tan]

Originally Posted by getforfree

I want to challenge myself and limit everybody's shower time in my family. I curently use 10-15 min when take shower, and about 10 min of running water for both of the kids.

I don't take shower every day, so, if I skip 1 day, the next day I have 10 min accumulated, and so on. Or, if you take 3 min instead of 5, you have 2 extra min. For evey 10 extra minutes accumulated, I will pay myself $1 towards extra on my mortgage. Lets see, if I can come up $20 this month just for me and kids. I am not sure if Dh wants to count the minutes.

I take about 10 minute showers, I have a bad habit of just enjoying the shower and not wanting to get out. Its going to be a hard habit to break, but I'll give it a shot.

[JanH]

Hubby is one that wakes up in the shower. I just like the relaxing hot water. But I can see that it would save water and the gas heating of same. Since summer is coming on and the humidity factor plays in at that time, I think this would be a good time to first time how much I spend in the shower and then decrease it down. I don't think I can get Hubby to change, but it would be really interesting to see how much I can affect the water/gas bills! Good challenge!