Bath vs shower: The age old question

This subject has been one of many eighth graders high school science experiments. Nonetheless, it is important that we address it. Not just in terms of its environmental impact but also the impact a bath or shower will have on your overall well-being and the effects it has on your skin.

Convenience

If you’re strapped for time, a shower is absolutely the way to go. You won’t have to mill around waiting for the tub to fill up and most obviously, showers aren’t necessarily best to lounge around in- of course, some will disagree. If you’re in need of a quickie, a shower is the way to go.

Now, convenience doesn’t always mean that time is a constraint and some folk may see sitting in a tub full of hot water more convenient. For starters, one doesn’t need to exert energy by standing around and moving about whilst the shower runs. In fact, some folk feel that just submersing yourself in a body of water, is enough to wash off a decent amount of dirt with little effort.

Skin care

A lot of people stress that bathing will dry out your skin. This can be true. If you dive in to a tub for an extensive period of time, you should be sure to moisturise afterwards in order to prevent your skin from drying out. It also helps to throw some essential oils in to the water or cover your body with coconut oil or olive oil.  This too goes for a shower. Depending on the time spent under the shower head, a pre-moisturiser will only work to your benefit. Also bear in mind that, naturally, your body produces its own natural oils that aid in prevention of your skin drying out.

Relaxation

For some people, lying in a bath of scorching hot water is all they need at the end of a long day. For others, feeling the water pressure spouting out of the shower head, is what brings the calm to the end of their day. This can also have a lot to do with the bathroom equipment in your home and the way your plumbing works. For example, if your bathtub is too small and is made out of materials that take a while to heat up, well you’re going to be quite uncomfortable and the backside of your body will be cold. If your shower spout is tiny and has little pressure coming out, it won’t be the relaxing getaway that you anticipated.

The environment

In terms of water consumption, a shower would appear to be more environmentally friendly. However, there are a bunch of actions to factor in when determining this. How are you going about your showers? Do you lather up, rinse off and jump out or do you turn the shower on, do a song and dance and then proceed to washing your body? The same goes for a bath. Some folk will jump into a shallow tub of water, wash and rinse off, while others will lounge about for an hour, whilst continuously emptying out and refilling the tub.

So, there is really no set answer to this question. You can enjoy either a bath or shower, guilt free! It depends entirely on the individual and the way they go about these two actions. Simply be reminded to look after both your mental and physical health whilst being mindful of the impact it has on the environment. Also pay close attention to your plumbing, what works best to support the aforementioned factors and what is cost effective and works to be more environmentally friendly.