What makes an optimal shower then? Ideally, it should be about 5 to 7 minutes and no longer than 15 minutes, says Yousuf Mohammed, PhD, a senior research fellow in dermatology at the Frazer Institute of the University of Queensland in Australia.
Most dermatologists say that your shower should last between five and 10 minutes to cleanse and hydrate your skin, but no longer than 15 minutes to avoid drying it out.
Showering for 15 minutes will burn 62 calories. Drying your hair for 15 minutes burns 39 calories.
A 20-minute shower is generally considered longer than average. Most people take showers that last between 5 to 15 minutes. While it can be relaxing and enjoyable, longer showers can waste water and increase your utility bills. Additionally, prolonged exposure to hot water can dry out your skin and hair.
What makes an optimal shower then? Ideally, it should be about 5 to 7 minutes and no longer than 15 minutes, says Yousuf Mohammed, PhD, a senior research fellow in dermatology at the Frazer Institute of the University of Queensland in Australia.
Overall, spending less time in the shower can lead to improved health and well-being, as well as environmental benefits such as water conservation and better energy efficiency. Shorter showers can also help you save time and money, as well as reduce your carbon footprint.
According to Zhang, a shower that lasts 10 to 15 minutes is sufficient for getting clean.
Duration: 66% of Americans say they typically spend 15 minutes or less in the shower while 33% typically spend more than 15 minutes; On average, Americans spend 16.1 minutes in the shower. Women spend just over one minute more on average in the shower than men (16.8 minutes vs. 15.4 minutes)
The total running time of this kind of shower can last less than two minutes – using an initial thirty seconds or so to get wet, followed by shutting off the water, using soap and shampoo and lathering, then rinsing for a minute or less.
For a 5-minute shower, consumption is around 75–90 litres of water, which increases to 160 litres of water for a 10-minute shower and 240 litres of water for a 15-minute shower.
Most of us can get as clean in two minutes as we would in 20, Lipoff says. Brevity helps keep any negative skin effects at bay. “You probably don't need to be in the shower as long as you are,” he says. “You're no cleaner—it's just for your psychological health or for your routine.”
There's no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Many doctors say a daily shower is fine for most people. (More than that could start to cause skin problems.) But for many people, two to three times a week is enough and may be even better to maintain good health.
Get in the shower!
“81% of French people say they cleanse their entire body and face every day. In the USA, 70% of respondents do so every day,” explains Selvitys. In France, 15% wash twice a week, and in the USA, 22%. Only a tiny proportion (3% and 5%) make showering a weekly ritual.
He lived in the village of Dezh Gah in Fars province. He did not bathe for over 60 years, from c. 1957–62 until shortly before his death in 2022, because he feared that soap and water might cause disease.
Benefits to morning showers include feeling more alert in the morning, getting clean after a workout, and washing off any nighttime sweat or skin cell buildup. However, showering at night may be a better option for people with skin conditions or allergies, and it can help prepare the body for sleep.
The average shower lasts about eight minutes. If you're spending more than 15 minutes in the shower, you may need to make an adjustment. Dermatologists recommend keeping your showers between 5 and 10 minutes. This time period gives you enough time to properly clean your body without overdoing it.
It also washes away bacteria and other irritants that could cause rashes and other skin problems. Long hot showers also have another positive benefit to them. They ease muscle tension as well as having a calming effect on you that relieves stress.
If you don't wash your body, it makes it easier for germs that cause actual skin infections to flourish. If you didn't wash at all, dirt, sweat, dead skin cells and oil would start to accumulate, and infections or ongoing skin conditions can become more serious, more difficult to manage, and harder to undo.
Showers make up a huge share of water and energy consumption. In fact, showering for one minute consumes more energy than using the lights in a 3-person household for an entire day.
In addition to conserving water, shorter showers also help to save energy and reduce the depletion of fossil fuels, thereby lowering your personal carbon footprint. By reducing the amount of hot water that needs to be produced, less electricity is used to heat the water.
The CDC and dermatologists note the average shower lasts around 8 minutes, aligning with the recommended 5 to 10 minutes for optimal skin health and avoiding over 15 minutes to prevent skin dryness (1). Gender differences in shower time are slight, with women spending just 39 seconds more than men.