Did adults bathe weekly in the old days?

[Anonymous]

I only bathed once a week years ago, but I wonder if it was normal for adults to do the same.

[Anonymous]

Depends how old the old days are. 1920's? Probably weekly. Earlier than that.. even less regularly.

[Anonymous]

My mom is 68 and grew up bathing once a week

[Anonymous]

I barely bathe once a week now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I barely bathe once a week now.

Eww. Yummy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I barely bathe once a week now.

Okay.

That is gross.

Really, really gross.

[Anonymous]

Laura Ingalls' family bathed once per week in the Little House books, mid to late 1800s

[Anonymous]

In the 18th century, it was once or twice a year, at most. Otherwise it was just a sponge bath kind of thing. Imagine the smells...

[Anonymous]

My mom is in her nineties and always bathed daily. In areas with out indoor plumbing they put water in a bowl from a pitcher and hand washed themselves usually daily.

When I was young we visited people without indoor plumbing. There were chamber pots in the bedrooms and an outdoor toilet. The kitchen had a pump at the sink and there was a large pump outside.

So the answer is no- all people didn't just be filthy. Remember it was hard for them to do laundry so clothes were brushed off and even spot washed.

[Anonymous]

People really do start to stink after a few days. Please don't go more than a day without bathing. You begin to smell, you really do.

Dead skin cells need to be washed away. Need to get into the creases and fat folds in your body. Sweaty buildup and human funk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom is in her nineties and always bathed daily. In areas with out indoor plumbing they put water in a bowl from a pitcher and hand washed themselves usually daily.

When I was young we visited people without indoor plumbing. There were chamber pots in the bedrooms and an outdoor toilet. The kitchen had a pump at the sink and there was a large pump outside.

So the answer is no- all people didn't just be filthy. Remember it was hard for them to do laundry so clothes were brushed off and even spot washed.

the chamber pot was to pee in.

[Anonymous]

OP here, I am really referring to the 60's and 70's. Were people (adults) bathing less frequently?

[Anonymous]

Oh, the olden days of the 60s and 70s. American adults bathed daily, just as they do now. I was a kid in the 60s, and we kids bathed daily too.

Some of the elderly back then didn't bathe as often, but that was because they held onto habits of their youth. Hence the dreaded "old-people smell."

[Anonymous]

My dad always said he bathed once a wee whether he needed it or not!

[Anonymous]

I grew up in the 60s and 70s and bathed/ showered daily as a kid. My parents did too. Weekly is gross.