What's the longest you've gone without...

[Corie]

a shower or bath??



Just curious.

[hillview]

At home, probably 5 days when I was sick but when I was in Africa I was in the bush with Earthwatch and I went 7 days (EWWWW) I was so dirty.
/hillary

[Dr C]

Met DH while doing paleontology field work in the middle of nowhere Montana. We made it into town to shower about once a week but sometimes it was longer. Those showers felt soooooo good!!
DH and I reasoned that if we could share a two person tent for a summer with weekly showers, we had a pretty good shot at being able to tolerate each other for the rest of our lives. So far, so good!

[trales]

Sailing from Martha's Vineyard to the Carribean, the first 10 days were way to cold to take a salt water shower from the hose on deck.

Once on a long backpacking trip, about 7 days.

[LMPC]

At home, probably 3 days but when I was in college, I took a sailing class in the Caribbean. In 3 weeks, I only took 1 real shower (cold shower on land)...I did manage a couple of hose-offs and some swims during the trip, but no real shower (read: with soap) other than that one. It didn't matter since everyone was doing the same thing.

[TwinFoxes]

Everyone else was doing something cool! I was in the hospital on bedrest because my water broke at 26 weeks. I think they wouldn't let me have a real shower for like the first 10 days. Yeah, it was bad.

[KrisM]

I went 7 days a couple times when I was backpacking in Alaska.

[Melaine]

Everyone else was doing something cool! I was in the hospital on bedrest because my water broke at 26 weeks. I think they wouldn't let me have a real shower for like the first 10 days. Yeah, it was bad.

Ooooh see I wasn't even thinking about that! I wasn't on bedrest but was in the hospital for a week with the girls. That means I probably showered Tuesday and then on Sunday. Showering was the least of my worries at that point so I just didn't even think about it.

[ett]

About 7 days in China when I was in an area without running water.

[MamaMolly]

I'm going to have to say stinky pits because I don't even really know. I've never kept track, but I guess less than 5 days. :shrug:

[KHF]

I voted 3-4 days, but that was only after my c-section. I take a shower every day...can't stand it if I don't.

[Cam&Clay]

I just beat my record when I was in the hospital the last week and a half. I went about 6 days without a shower. Even though I was sitting on a bench with a nurse helping me, it felt amazing.

[JoyNChrist]

7 days when I was in the jungle in Panama doing humanitarian aide. And even then it was in a muddy river, so I'm not too sure how "clean" I was after I finished.

When I was a junior in high school I got in a horse-riding accident and lacerated my liver. I was in ICU for two weeks, and could only have sponge baths in bed during that time (they didn't want to move me for fear of damaging my liver more). Not sure if that counts.

I regularly take a bath every night and a shower every morning, so these were really tough for me!

[crl]

As an adult? Two days.

As a child I took baths once a week. And I'm pretty sure I went two weeks without washing my hair a couple of times when I was so sick I was hospitalized.

Catherine

[Fairy]

I know there have been a couple of fours that I remember in life, but I am nearly sure there was a 5 in junior high, so I voted that! I have to say, I get nuts if I can't be clean. I'll skip a day alot for various reasons, but it is rare that I go two solid without a shower. Bedrest, hopitalizations, backpacking in the wilderness, being without running water, all very good reasons, tho!

[NN317]

3 days, from when I was on bed rest after the embryo transfer during our IVF cycle.

[MontrealMum]

I voted 5-6. The first time was when I went to Girl Scout camp when I was 12 and they only let us have showers once a week. Granted, we were swimming in the lake but there was no soap or washing and I had waist-length hair then. It was awful!

The other times were when I've been camping/backpacking/canoeing with DH. That first shower upon coming home felt like the most luxurious spa experience in the world :D

Even when I had my knee surgery I didn't go more than 2 days...my mom got in the shower with me the 2nd day to help support me and keep my leg out of the water ;) I'm serious about my showers!

[Indianamom2]

Well, I voted 3-4, but I'm not sure. I really needed a 4-5 option!

The only reason I went so long was because we had a major ice storm about a year after we got married and we had no electricity and thus no heat or hot water (we did have water, thankfully). We stuck it out for 4 days, IIR, and I think on the 5th day, finally gave in and got a hotel room because we had no idea how much longer we'd be without power.

I cannot stand to go that long without washing my hair. I think we might have cleaned up a bit with cold water and a washcloth, but there was definitely no hairwashing happening. It was COOOOLLLDDD....

[hannah]

The longest I have gone without a shower is 7 days while rafting through the Grand Canyon.

[wolverine2]

9 days while backpacking.

[StantonHyde]

I've never gone longer than 4 days or so without a sponge bath--using water from a stream to soap my hair and wash me off while far away from the stream--Backpacking. But from beginning to end without a real shower, it has been 9 days. I always think I have this great tan and then I get in the shower and watch all the red dirt wash down the drain!!!! Fortunately, I am so tired at the end of each day that I am ok laying down in my sweat to sleep. Plus I use a couple of baby wipes each day to keep the smell down. Needless to say, a shower and porcelin under my butt feels great. The idea that you can turn a faucet and water just comes out--that it even comes out hot. The miracles of modern plumbing.

[kijip]

I have been on several 4 week backpacking trips. So yeah, nothing but sponging off or "swimming" in a river for about a month.

[Simon]

:waving4: Can I still become a member of this board if my answer is closer to 20 days? :bag

I may have swam once or twice, but this was a fall backpacking trip and it was cold! So, from one real shower to the next it was close to 3 weeks. Even then, I was one of only a few people on the trip who paid to take a shower when we first reached a town. I thought I had gotten a tan from being outside but it was just a thick layer of dirt

[Fairy]

I have been on several 4 week backpacking trips. So yeah, nothing but sponging off or "swimming" in a river for about a month.

You win.

[kijip]

You win.

Or lose, depending on how you look at it.

Showering after that long takes awhile. I think I washed my hair 3 or 4 times before it felt clean. :wink2:

[AnnieW625]

I think since the age of 11 or 12 probably 3 to 4 days max. As a child I think my parents required we bathed or showered at least every 3rd day.

[Jo..]

What if I am just lazy and have no cool reason for being smelly?

[crl]

What if I am just lazy and have no cool reason for being smelly?

You can still hang out here. :wink2: We can't smell you on the Internet.

Catherine

[SnuggleBuggles]

\ I thought I had gotten a tan from being outside but it was just a thick layer of dirt

Ewww...and :rotflmao:

~Beth

[boilermakermom]

10 days. In college DH and I used to backpack through the Boundary Waters and Canada at the end of every summer.

I loved the shower and steak dinner at the end of the trip!!!

Otherwise 6 days after my c section with DD

[twowhat?]

Ooooh see I wasn't even thinking about that! I wasn't on bedrest but was in the hospital for a week with the girls. That means I probably showered Tuesday and then on Sunday. Showering was the least of my worries at that point so I just didn't even think about it.

Haha, my longest stretch was also related to the girls - after my c-section I refused to get up from the bed, I was in so much pain. They finally forced me into the shower on Day 4.

[KpbS]

The longest I have gone without a shower is 7 days while rafting through the Grand Canyon.

Same here :)

[MoJo]

When I was growing up, baths were once a week, so I voted 7-8 days. . . but it may have been longer.

I think 4 days is the longest I've gone as an adult, and those times were all related to childbirth or surgery.

[dec756]

probably csect was the longest i went without a shower cause my son came before the scheduled one (which i was going to shower for, promise!!!).

[ThreeofUs]

It depends if you mean "full immersion" or if bathing ones pits and tenders in water (salt or not) counts.

If not, I've been on VERY long backpacks, sailing trips, etc., where bathing was not an option. If this does count, then five days after an emergency C was it.

[LexyLou]

I really need to shower everyday since I teach fitness classes 6 days a week. But when the kids were infants, I was known to go 4 days.

Now if you ask how often you wash your hair.....