5-min shower challenge

[baking23]

This is going to freak a lot of people out but I only tend to shower once a week or so. I don't sweat a lot, get greasy hair, or smell generally and I have really dry/sensive skin. One of the upsides to this is that my not showering is saving $ and water for everyone else. Even more frequent sponge baths don't use up that much water.

[PRICEPLUS]

I have timed it and you can shower in less than five minutes. Shave and brush teeth over sink and you can pretty much do what you need to do in less than five minutes. It is also a must to use a cloth or brush to expedite cleaning!

[tarah86]

I personally like to cut the water on to wet my body, my rag, and soap then I cut it off and lather myself up. Then repeat. I also do this when I wash the dishes in the sink.

[kimiko]

Can't do it. Not only must I shower every day, the showering itself takes at least 15 minutes. If I shower shorter than that, I can't wash away all of the soap/shampoo.

[getforfree]

I try to take a shower right after the kid's bath. I can use their water and use the clean one only to wash off the soap and shampoo. In that case I use the hot water for less than 2 min.

wow my hair is so thick it takes me five minutes just to wash and condition it.. I can't imagine a 5 minute shower, I usually take baths though.

[boomeyers]

I always hit about 5 minutes in the shower, maybe 6? Finally a challenge I can do!

[mom-from-missouri]

well, my shower this morning was about 60 seconds. Seems the hotwater heater went out. Turned it on, got wet, turned it off, sudsed up, turned it on rinsed and was done with it. I am now a nice shade of blue.
It has 2 burners, I think just one went out. But, we had been talking of getting a bigger one, so i think this is the time.
I will have to heat water on the stove tonight so I can wash my hair at the sink.

[leggzz66]

When you shower also, what i do, because of my health, i plug the floor and let the water soak my feet too. just throw down a washcloth and let it rise up and soak your feet. Caring for our feet is a top of the list for diabetics. as my dr explained it, the feet are the farthest from your brain, u gotta care for them so you dont lose them, im supposed to soak, wash, dry thouroughly. i hate socks tho.lol. they leave marks on me. even the guys big ones leave marks on me. i guess i need to try anklets. any other suggestions?

[getforfree]

Originally Posted by leggzz66

When you shower also, what i do, because of my health, i plug the floor and let the water soak my feet too. just throw down a washcloth and let it rise up and soak your feet. Caring for our feet is a top of the list for diabetics. as my dr explained it, the feet are the farthest from your brain, u gotta care for them so you dont lose them, im supposed to soak, wash, dry thouroughly. i hate socks tho.lol. they leave marks on me. even the guys big ones leave marks on me. i guess i need to try anklets. any other suggestions?

Maybe you can wear slippers instead of socks in the colder part of the year.
I love socks in the winter time, I can even sleep in socks, my DH makes fun of me for that, I would take anything off but sock. And I do plug the floor in the cold season to have more water in and make bathroom to be more warm.

[Aleta]

A couple of years ago I bought a tube of Kerasol cream and it had an offer for a free pair of socks to wear at night with the cream. They are extremely light and comfortable and would be good for someone with cold feet. I wish that they sold them in the stores. The socks really excelerate the healing process of the product.

[cicy33]

If I wash my hair it is a max 15 minute shower. If not about 5-8 minutes. But at least 2 minutes are spent getting the water the right temp. I don't like it too hot or too cold and turning it off and on would only make that worse. first I wash my hair, rinse it out, then put on conditioner, let that sit while I was myself. then i rinse out conditioner and get out. My hair is also thick and takes a minute or two just to wash out the soap and conditioner. If I was in the military I would cut it off to save the time! I really don't feel that this is a huge issue for savings as long as you are not spending hours in the shower. Actually I noticed a big difference when I started washing my dishes by hand. I think I save about $25 a month or more on my light bill by doing that. The water stays pretty much the same. about $15 a month. no matter what I do.

[sparkysgirl]

I did it today and it wasn't too bad.. not something I would want to do everyday though.

[mekish]

i normally take 20min, i'd try this challenge, although i wonder how much energy i can save over a month doin this.

[leggzz66]

If your cutting 15 mins from a typical shower, lets break it down.
15 x7=105 thats one hour and fourty five mins a week your saving.
105 x 4=420 thats seven hours a month off your water bill/electric bill.
Thats is you have an electric hot water heater. If you do, thats 14 cycles, based on it taking a half hour to fill/heat. So im sure with that the savings are enormous. I know since i started cutting back on showers timer, lowered tank one spot, wash in cold water only, replaced bulbs with the 3 packs special for 8 dollars at walmart, my typical summer bill, went from 250a month, to 100. Although that may still seem high, im in a co op district, that dont have peek hours either. I just called again other day to check, still no peak hours, theres a base price for first 1,000 kw used, then a cost per kw used after that. I use central air too. I saved 150 a month just doing those few things. One of my kids changed my water temp and i didnt check, so for 3 weeks approx, i been washing in warm, which put my bill up again this month to 200. So i would assume, that you could save up to 50 a month with a regular electric/ 100 co op per month if you did that alone, just based on electric hot water heater. Thats just a guestimate tho. You would have to try it and see. Even if you did that 5 min one, every other day instead of everyday, that would still be 3 1/2 hours saved a month. You should at least try that and hit us up with the information here, we would love to know.

[seanof30306]

I'm suprised no one's suggested a Navy shower valve.

It's a simple valve you screw in behind the shower head; anyone can do it. You just get in the shower, wet yourself, then turn the valve off while you wash. It keeps the hot/cold mix constant, so you don't have to readjust to find the right temperature, or risk scalding yourself.

I LOVE showers, and I love being squeaky clean. My old showers lasted 10-15 minutes or so (I shave in the shower, as well).

I get in the shower and wet myslef

Then turn the valve off

I wash my hair and wash my beard with the shampoo (it softens it for an easier shave).

I turn the valve back on and wet my washcloth.

Then turn the valve off.

I wash the top half of my body, then turn the valve back on and rinse the washrag.

Then turn the valve back off.

I wash the lower half of my body, then turn the valve back on and rinse the washrag, wring it out, and hang it up. I then wet the back-scrubbing brush.

Then turn the water off.

I wash my back, then lather my face. I turn the water on, rinse out the back brush, and wet my razor.

Then turn the valve back off.

I then shave, turning the valve back on two or three times for a second or two to rinse out the razor.

Then, I turn the valve back on and rinse off.

Using the valve probably adds 2 or 3 minutes to my shower, but, I've been using it for over two years, and have literally cut my water usage in half.

You can get them for less than 15 bucks at any Wal-Mart, Home depot, or Lowes.

[kngavl]

You can save a lot of money by reducing the amount of time you spend in a shower. Try Navy showers, only use the water when your wetting yourself or rinsing yourself off. You use barely any water and still save money and water.

[leggzz66]

ive never heard of a navy shower, where do you find one and is that what they are called in the stores?

[seanof30306]

it's all there in my last post

[Fred333]

Wow i never heard of a Navy shower. It makes sense though, I will have to try it next time.