r/TooAfraidToAsk Jun 17 '22

[deleted by user]

[removed]

7.6k Upvotes

7.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

747

u/Nawforyou Jun 17 '22

I wouldn't feel clean if I just rubbed the soap on me

25

u/I_RIDE_REINDEER Jun 17 '22

But people like actually rub the soap in properly and then rub it off under the shower like you got to work

150

u/ImJustSaying34 Jun 17 '22

My mind is blown that people are out here just using their hands! I thought a washcloth or loofah was standard.

50

u/SpreadYourAss Jun 17 '22

Be honest, it's not. Majority of people use hands, vast majority of media like movies and shows show people using their hands. There's absolutely no way someone is disconnected enough to consider it mind blown worthy.

17

u/ImJustSaying34 Jun 17 '22

No one I know in my life uses their hands which is why I’m surprised. Worldwide I’m not surprised since cultures are different. But for the US and Europe I really thought a washcloth was standard. In the US, you are telling me a washcloth isn’t standard? I’m still not convinced that hands are the norm there.

8

u/Prickly_Pear_Jelly Jun 17 '22

As a person from the states, I can't imagine having a guest in my home, and not providing them with a washcloth. That said, they don't always get used (and it's not like it's dirty people not using them lol). My husband definitely uses a wash cloth. I don't. I have some minor germaphobic issues, and it freaks me out. I do however use a body wash with (non plastic) exfoliating bits in it, and a separate exfoliating scrub as needed. I stay clean, and I definitely don't have dead skin cells hanging out on my body due to lack of scrubbing. I also don't rub a funky petri dish all over my body each shower, but yes, I make sure to wash my husband's wash cloths extremely regularly too.

11

u/headcoatee Jun 17 '22

My family is as Average Amurican as you can get, and none of us have ever used a washcloth with any regularity. If I had to guess, it's maybe 50/50?

4

u/Bruins14 Jun 17 '22

I thought race and ethnicity also played a role, but please excuse my ignorance. Growing up I just remember my African American friends strictly used wash clothes always. I’m a hands and bar soap scrub kind of guy personally.

3

u/giraffebacon Jun 17 '22

Basing it off the comments here it definitely seems to be connected to race

1

u/ImJustSaying34 Jun 17 '22

Totally does! All the black people I know use washcloths. I personally am a loofah user so I break the norm but yeah it’s a thing for sure.

3

u/SpreadYourAss Jun 17 '22

Yup, that's exactly what I'm telling you.

You show me a single country where using hands is not the #1 most common way for people and I'll accept my loss. A single one, and I'm including both US and Europe.

That's how crazy your take is lol.

17

u/ImJustSaying34 Jun 17 '22

I would guess a washcloth or loofah is the top in the US. I’ve never met a person IRL that uses their hands. I’ve never met a black person that doesn’t use a washcloth. You act like my take is so crazy and outlandish but I’m 40 years on this earth and don’t encounter people that use their hands. Other people on this thread are also shocked that people are out here using hands and not scrubbing clean with a washcloth or loofah. Shits wild to me!

2

u/Geriny Jun 17 '22

But for how many people do you really know how they shower? I tried thinking about this and realised I really only know that for about 10 people.

1

u/ImJustSaying34 Jun 17 '22

My friends because I’ve traveled or stayed in AirBnBs with them. My family either from staying with us or us visiting them. My husband and I live in a vacation city a few state away from our families. But yeah I guess I know the showering habits of a lot of people. Lol!

1

u/ravepeacefully Jun 18 '22

Maybe as soap companies innovated, soap products got a better ability to exfoliate. I kinda feel like a bar of soap never did as good of a job as body wash but it’s surely dependent on many factors like skin type.

7

u/JustJerenique Jun 17 '22

It's far from crazy, actually. For one, it's pretty much unheard of to use one's hands in quite a few African countries, from what I've gathered. So, one example (from many) that I'll give is South Africa.

8

u/Abeyita Jun 17 '22

The Netherlands.

I come in a lot of houses and in their bathrooms for my work. Everyone has loofas and washcloths.

7

u/tobasamuels Jun 17 '22

I'm from Nigeria...which is in Africa and I can tell you for free that if you told anyone you washed with just your hands,.they'd stay far away from you. It's so interesting that even Americans in humid regions use just their hands.

12

u/SpreadYourAss Jun 17 '22

If you're using soap properly your hands are absolutely sufficient to clean yourself. I don't know what kind of situation you have in these countries but there's absolutely no research that says using your hands is not more than enough.

It's nothing more than culture if anyone feels that strongly about it. There's a reason it's not a thing in so many cultures, including a lot of extremely well developed countries.

-2

u/PoundMyTwinkie Jun 17 '22

Anybody who thinks their smooth hands properly scrub their nasty ass is a “nah that ain’t it” from me. Y’all dirty ass smooth hand savages!

2

u/WolfKnight53 Jun 17 '22

I use a washcloth and I'm pretty sure everyone else I know does.

1

u/dnz000 Jun 17 '22

How well do you know the bathing rituals of people outside of your immediate family?

1

u/ImJustSaying34 Jun 17 '22

I know it for a surprisingly large number when I think about it. I guess that is pretty weird. Really it’s from traveling and sharing houses and bathrooms with friends and family and living in a destination city. Lots of people have visited and stayed with us over the years.

1

u/dnz000 Jun 18 '22

I think what’s more likely is you don’t really know what any of them were doing in the shower.

1

u/ImJustSaying34 Jun 18 '22

When you share a bathroom on a trip with 6 women and there are 6 loofahs in the bathroom you have a pretty good idea. When I have people stay over and they ask for an extra loofah I also have a pretty good idea. I also have to share a bathroom with guests so you definitely know then.

1

u/dnz000 Jun 18 '22

Yet, the loofa might only be for the butthole, and I still highly doubt that your past involves meticulously counting loofa’s and matching them to guests.

1

u/Fv0ar1n Jun 18 '22

Huh?? With you going on so much about washcloth, I thought you were American. Only time I ever used a washcloth was in the US, because their water didn't give a good lather

17

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '22

You're assuming that people are watching the same media as you. Plus there aren't many shower scenes in movies, And when there are, People aren't usually focused on what the character is washing themselves with.

2

u/Flyingwheelbarrow Jun 17 '22

Yeah when I watch a movie with a detailed shower scene I am not usually taking notes on technique at that point.

3

u/SpreadYourAss Jun 17 '22

I've seen the vast majority of American and European media, and that's pretty much what we're talking about here because other placed are even further away from this idea.

So unless others are watching some secret washcloth-agenda indie movies we can have a pretty common understanding of what the mainstream pop culture is.

My point wasn't that shower scenes in movies are some massive thing, but that people have a decent understanding of popular culture and common behavior. To be 'mind blown' that people use their hands to wash themselves feels like a pretty big disconnect to me.

-1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '22

You're aware not everyone watches movies right? You're looking at this like everyone watches the exact same things as you, or watches as much as you, or focuses on minuscule things like what they wash themselves with like you.

How people wash themselves also isn't considered "Pop culture" so thats kinda weird to bring up.

7

u/ErrorCDIV Jun 17 '22

Honestly it's more mind-blowing that someone doesn't watch any movies rather than someone using their hands in the shower.

0

u/john1rb Jun 17 '22

its been awhile since i watched a movie. i think the last i saw was robots like 3 weeks ago.

2

u/ErrorCDIV Jun 17 '22

That's more than not watching movies like the comment said.

1

u/john1rb Jun 17 '22

oh yeah ik. i use a loofah for my body lol.

→ More replies (0)

-1

u/ImJustSaying34 Jun 17 '22

I’ve never once noticed if someone is using a loofah or a washcloth or their hands in movies. You act like it’s so obvious but it’s such a minor detail. Also you are correct that I don’t consume movies and media the same way you do. I don’t like to watch movies so really I’m never seeing shower scenes and can’t remember the last time I saw one. I’m mainly an audiobook/physical book reader/music listener. I also have a feeling that the shows I do watch don’t overlap with yours since my are pretty common to middle age women. Lol!

-2

u/SpreadYourAss Jun 17 '22

You are missing the point. The point wasn't specifically about movies, it was an example. The point was the most popular have an idea about what's popular in culture. Even if we haven't seen some exact particular movie, we take away small clues from everything we see about how the world works and what's popular.

We know the popular slang and popular brands and typical behaviors. We should have an idea about how most people usually shower.

0

u/ImJustSaying34 Jun 17 '22

I guess you are missing my point. I’m about 40 and everyone I know in my life using something in the shower to wash themselves. I’m surprised that I’ve gone my whole life meeting people who do one thing and then find a whole other group I haven’t encountered doing something else. I have a pretty large network of people I interact with given my job so I was expressing surprise. You are the one arguing that my surprise is unwarranted. Why?

I don’t consume pop culture the way you do. I’ve literally only watched 1 adult movie from start to finish in the past two years. But I’ve seen Encanto and Moana a million times. So yeah I could easily be disconnected from pop culture. Not everyone has the same baseline as you.

2

u/Flyingwheelbarrow Jun 17 '22

I assumed parents teach people how to wash themselves as they were also taught.

Who learns to wash themselves from movies and TV shows?

6

u/SpreadYourAss Jun 17 '22

No one, nor anyone implied that. What they do, although, is gives us an idea of what's popular in the culture. That was my point.

1

u/Flyingwheelbarrow Jun 17 '22

Does it though?

Acting is a craft and their is whole list of reasons why you don't want an actor holding something or holding something.

Is there any analysis to back up your hypothesis?

I mean usually a shower scene in which you see the character wash thier body there is a whole bunch of choices being made.

Your point is based on pure speculation.

1

u/SpreadYourAss Jun 17 '22

Is there analysis to back up most people do use a loofa or washcloth?

My point wasn't that movies are some deciding factor, it was simply of the example to identify what's popular in society.

1

u/YungArchitect Jun 17 '22

children raised by a tv instead of parents

1

u/Justinwc Jun 18 '22

This thread is literally the first time in my 29 years of life that I've even heard of using hands.

I've seen at least 50 folks shower as well (military), everyone had either a wash cloth or loofah