This Is How To Pick The Best Shower Time For You

Unsplash/Jay Cee

There are two camps of people when it comes to showering, and rarely do they overlap. There are the morning showerers who believe there is no better way to start the day, and there are the evening showerers who insist on washing the day away before snuggling up in between those sheets. But who’s really doing the whole shower timing thing right?

Well, they all are.

Morning and evening showers both come with lists of benefits and advantages. On the early end of the spectrum, morning showers can really help out the people who struggle to wake up so they can jump right into the day. That rush of water stimulates the nervous system and leaves you feeling more alert and ready to go. Conversely, people who struggle with insomnia fare well with evening showers, since they can help the body unwind by physically releasing muscle tension and thermoregulating before bedtime.

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If your main concern is cleanliness rather than just feeling your best, both shower times get this job done, too. Throughout the day, you sweat. While you’re sleeping, you sweat. So, actually, if you want to be the squeakiest clean version of yourself, you should consider rinsing off quickly in the morning and leaving the day’s grime behind at night.

Now, that then begs the question of how big of a footprint are you leaving on the environment with this seemingly excessive water usage, right? It’s key to limit your showers (no matter the time of day) between five and 10 minutes — and aim for shorter if you go the double-shower route to keep your total water expenditure reasonable.

And don’t forget your skin health here! It might feel glorious to turn that heat dial all the way up and bask in the steam for as long as you can stand it, but that’ll end up stripping important oils from your skin and increasing the likelihood of skin irritation. It just so happens that brief, lukewarm showers are ideal for your body as well as the environment.

So there you have it, folks. Shower in the morning if you want, shower in the evening if that’s your thing or take two a day and leave all of your cleanliness worries behind. In the end, the water temperature and shower duration matter a lot more than your timing preferences.

[h/t The New York Times]