What is a reasonable length of time for a shower?
 

I've been the bad guy lately because I'm trying to get everyone to cut down on their shower time. Just trying to save a few pennies here and there, but also, the boys like to take 20 to 30 minute showers! They treat them like saunas. I take the shortest shower of them all...usually no more than 7 minutes. Now I start to get really ancy when their shower time starts to exceed 10 minutes.

I know my control freak is really showing here. What do you think is reasonable?

Mine's about 15 minutes.

Depends on how many people are waiting, how much time there is, and how big the tank is.

On the weekend, I'll take a nice long hot shower, maybe 30 minutes.

During the week, it's about 10-15 minutes.

I think once you get over 20, it's getting unreasonable.

When I was in high school, my brother would take long showers in the morning and use up all the hot water before I would get a chance, so I would go down into the basement and turn the hot water valve off on him when he was in the shower too long. I had to stop doing it to him though. He would return the favor when I was in there.

30 minute bath. That's reasonable for me...As for your boys...10 minutes sounds like more than enough time to me.

I don't bathe every day either. I bathe every other day unless I'm especially dirty.

Oh, um, how old are the boys? Some things in the shower take a little time. :sadsperm:

I probably take about ten minutes, not including the time getting dressed and stuff afterwards. It's longer on days when I shave. Mr. Clod takes more like 15-20 minutes, but he does a full scrubbing regimen on his face that I don't have to do, and he gets distracted easily. Plus, I've learned over the years that the morning shower is an important psychological time for him, where he mentally goes over the day and such, and if he's rushed the whole day is guaranteed to be off for him.

But the kids... well, the stepdaughter used to take at least 30 minutes, but it wasn't deliberate, it was because she's always had a really hard time staying on task. I'd go in to check on her and she'd be just standing there staring at the tiles or something. She's gotten a little better as she's gotten older, and now at age 10 she probably takes about 20-25 minutes. The 6 year old boy is probably about the same. I think it depends on the age of your boys, but realistically there are some things younger kids just can't do as fast. It really comes down to whether they're just slow, or they're purposely luxuriating.

I think it all depends on your motivation.

If you're trying to reduce energy use, water use and cost, you need to look at the shower time and the flow rate. I take a long shower, but use the shut-off on the shower head to produce a very low flow most of the time (e.g. when I'm shaving). My wife takes a much shorter shower but has the water blasting, so we probably use about the same amount of hot water.

Oh God I know. This is why my husband hasnt really been helping me in this fight. They're teens.

I knew it!! 10 mins.

Shower time vs bathroom time.
I am amazed - really, honestly amazed - that anyone can spend more than 10 minutes under a shower. I mean it's not like you can have a book and a glass of wine in there!

Bathroom time - meh. Ex HM used to disappear for two hours. I made a joke about laptop/ bathroom time/ wanking and he was quite offended that I thought he'd do it in a public space. So lord alone knows what he was up to!

Good idea with the shower head, but we currently have one that uses a filter in it to cut the chlorine. I hate taking a shower and it smells like Im at the 'Y'.

I think I would STFU and count myself as damned lucky they're showering at all! Imagine the alternative! :eek:

:lol: ;)

LOL! I've been tempted.

Ha! Not with my guys. D started taking a shower on his own everynight when he started getting interested in girls. G is a water baby, he loves it for its own self.

Five to ten minutes, depending upon whether I forgot if I washed my hair or not and do it a second time just to be sure.

Maybe you should install a coin-operated shower (like the quarter car wash).

lol

Can you put a timer on a shower head? :p

They certainly used to have them on camp sites! You bought credits at the camp shop and got a finite amount of time.
Me, Mum & my sister used to take turns, Dad and my brother (he was young enough to actually share) in the other one.

Thing is, it was a luxury. Most Brits didn't have showers in those days, certainly not people who went camping on holiday. And then (as now) the showers at home were never as powerful as the camp ones. Just a shame your sister was outside counting down how much time you has left and you were facing a chilly walk back to the tent...

Yeah, what is it with English showers? The worst shower I ever had in my life was in an apartment in Eaton. The water pressure was barely enough for the water to make it up to the shower head, where it then dribbled out. Are the pipes in England so old they have to dial down the pressure to keep them from rupturing?

I honestly don't know.

Some places are just fine. But here (in this house) and at my parents', the water pressure is too low to wash the fallen-out hairs off my body when I wash my hair. I am constantly twitching and fidgeting from the itchy sensation of them, until I locate them and take them off manually.

There's something to be said for baths!

10 minutes max! They're boys! They don't have really long hair to wash or legs to shave.... Get in, get clean, get out.

We took the lock off of the bathroom door. You're in the shower too long, you might have company in the bathroom. It was necessary when we had five showerers in our one bath home, now we're down to three showerers for the one bathroom. Didn't see the need to reinstall the lock.

When the mental timer goes off, I go in and say time to get out. Most of the time, he's already out and towelling himself dry. Time? 15 mins minimum.

I can shower quickly, but usually take 10-15 minutes. After a camping weekend they're longer. I'm dirtier, but that's not the reason they're longer, it's really just luxuriating in the hot water. Tink's fast in the shower all the time.

2-3 minutes if I'm in a tear-ass hurry. 10-15 if I'm relaxing. 20-25 if "extra" activities are taking place.

My girlfriend and I often shower together. That takes about 30 minutes unless we get distracted.

Hmm... I must be slow... I usually take twenty minutes unless I'm shaving in which case it's closer to thirty minutes. I CAN do it in ten minutes if I HAVE to, but that's... highly unusual.

20 min max, 15 is more appropriate. We had an 80 gallon hot water tank because when the house was built we had 5 here. Now we are down to 3. It is not so much an issue anymore as my big worry was the electric bill but we beat that as well with the installation of a hot water reclamation device that passively gets heated water from the air conditioner, so in the summer time the cost of heating the water is nil. In the winter it is a different story as the heat exchanger does not work so well in the cold. Now the wasting of water is a different subject entirely. It really is wasteful. We were amazed that in the UK, most of the people we know and met, rarely take showers. The bath is the key, and in some places they even share the water. Sounds a bit gross to me but I am not going to question it that much. Water is going to be the new resource to gain in importance in the near future. Esp down in the South and hotter regions of the West and Mid West.

In the summer , 10- 15 minets , in the winter closer to 25 ish
thats in the morning
If I get home Nasty from work , well as long as it takes ,
And Carol Still has to 409 the Back of my elbows !!!

Worst shower was in Oki Jap , No hot water in the Whole Quansit hut , we lived with it till the Maint dude asked why we had turned Off the hot water , Off ?? Its Soo hot and Humid we diddnt even notice !!

Bloody good for you Merc (re the reclamation device)
Another reason to love the Cellar - it's a racist stereotype myth buster (Merkins are often portrayed as globally conscience-less)

BTW everyone I know showers. Every day.
When I lived with HM I was really annoyed that I couldn't use the shower (because it leaked into the living room) and had to bath. I love baths, but they're not ecologically sound. Then again I bathed every other day and had a whore's wash on the other, so it probably balanced out :)

This touches one of my sore nerves.

I love long hot showers.

My country is in a prolonged dry spell/drought. We are supposed to be saving water.

The govt. is pushing a 4 minute shower target. I'm lucky to be done in 10, but if I could it'd be 30. I make up for it by not showering everyday, at least in winter or if I am otherwise feeling pretty fresh.

I love the Japanese style hot springs (onsens) especially with an outdoor bath. Wash and rinse spotlessly clean under the shower first, then, into the giant tub and rellllaaaaaaaaxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Try not to drown.

at least when they're in the shower you know where they are and what they are doing.

in the abstract.

Oh I hear you. my 7 year old would play in there forever.

- - - -

Brit plumbing is completely different from American stuff, and Brit culture is to be much more conservative with utilities. This leads to crap showers, unless you pay a fair whack for an electric one.

Water pressure is mostly derived through natural gravity and is generally much lower than here, or at least seems to be by the time it makes it out of the tap (faucet). The good side of that is power cuts don't mean your water is unsafe to drink. the bad side is that the showers are crap. Those who do store hot water have tiny tanks upstairs (not in the basement, it'd never make it upstairs and most houses don't have basements....)

On the plus side, at least Brits have reasonable sized bath tubs, ones you can really lounge about and have sex in without accidentally inserting something up the tap :lol: ;)

However, I am a shower person and I think that would be one of the hardest things to deal with if we ever had to move back.

Do you have a hard water issue in the States at all?
My parents and my landlady have electric (power!) showers. Half the holes don't work, and those that do squirt in unexpected directions.

In defence of my country, the best showers I've ever been in have been in the UK. Sadly, the worst have been too.

I can't believe you all take such long showers. As Zen said, we are all expected to take short showers over here which we do in our household. Even washing my hair I only take a few minutes in the shower. My dad always made us take short showers when we were kids though, so I've pretty much always been in the habit of taking quick showers. Probably because Australia is the driest country on earth and some of us are actually conscious of that (ZEN!!!) it makes it easier to do it.

That being said, I do like to have a bath on Saturday arvos and relax. With this in mind, I try and take super quick showers during the week to 'save up' my own personal water allowance. Also, now that we've moved, we're on tank water anyway, so if we run out, we have to buy it. I'd rather not run out of water, so being frugal is just part of our lifestyle.

If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd never left there.... ;)

Some places have hard water, some soft. it's a BIG place :lol:

And many people don't have mains water. That surprised me when I first moved here.

It's my soap and my dick.

I'll wash it as fast as I want.

I only ever shower at the gym, for up to 20 minutes. I take baths at home.

Fill a plastic bag with white vinegar and tie it up so the shower head is submerged. It shouldn't take more than a half hour to unclog the holes, then take it off and turn the shower on to clear the holes. Repeat as necessary. ;)

Pico--not sure what is bothering you about this. Are you worried about conserving water? Using up all the hot water? Having the bathroom available for other people?

Your remedy or course of action may be dictated by your reasoning.

E.g., if other people need the bathroom in the morning, you can ask them to shower in the evening; if it's water conservation you're concerned about, teach them to soap and rinse a la japonese.

If it just bugs you they're in there that long and it's not inconveniencing any one else--let it go.

About 3 minutes at a low temp, my skin can't take any more than that.

:p Actually the best shower I ever had, ever was in a millionaire best selling author's house in London and it was a Jacuzzi (which like Portaloo and Terrapin is a brand name). Glorious.
I know that you plum. I was asking about whether it was a problem, but I take it from Bruce having the solution that it is. Although I suppose it was obvious that hard water is the same worldwide :blush:
Now that's something I wasn't aware of. I once stayed in a cottage in Scotland that only used the mains in the kitchen sink - the water in the toilet & bathroom ran brown til you'd left it a while. It was gorgeous to bath in though.

anywhere from five minutes (alarm didnt go off and i need to get to school!) to half an hour (tired and really just wanna rest and chill in the soothing hot water).

Griff, you must be like the princess and the pee.

I introduced my husband to the "indian" shower method back when we were camping last year.

Put ~3 gallons of whatever-temp water you get from the pump in a bucket. Add one smallish pot of boiling water, heated on your camp stove. Using a plastic measuring cup (or your tin coffee cup, or whatever is handy) pour enough tepid water over your person to get wet enough to lather. Soap and shampoo (biosoap, please!) then rinse with tepid water. If you have long hair, condition and rinse again.

All in a 3'x3' tarp enclosure hung up in the woods back behind your tent.. Oh yeah, and do this wearing flip-flops standing on a plastic milk crate or suchlike so you don't end up standing in the mud. Fun!
:ivy:

Its about conserving...on the gas and water and sewer bill. For the last year I have been cutting back on everything I can. In March I got rid of the expensive cable bill ($110 a month!) by eliminating cable internet and going to basic tv cable...I now have DSL for only $10 a month and basic tv for only $26). I put timer switches on some of the downstairs lights that the boys can't remember to turn off. I kept the thermostat on 82 this summer. We've cut back on eating out and going to the movies.

We take at least 4 showers everyday but often (sometimes 4 times a week) that number goes up to six because D and my husband often take two showers a day. When those showers are long it just adds up. Maybe not a whole lot...but I'm pinching wherever I can.

Not golden showers, the regular kind.

so teach 'em to rinse and soak; or buy a shower clock and institute a limit. Even a 10-minute limit sounds like it would reduce your bill.

I guess my time in the military got me taking quick showers. Average is 10 minutes, and a long shower is 15. My wife camps out in the shower.

Pico, make them take baths... and share the water :D best behaved gets to go first :lol:

Personally, my shower time is my alone time so I can take anywhere from 10 minutes (just to wash hair and rinse off) to probably close to an hour of relaxing in the warm water...the really long ones are usually at night or after everyone else has already had a go though, I'm not THAT much of a jerk

oh, and when they're done, the water will most likely make an excellent fertilizer....