Most people shower at least once a day without thinking about the order — and it turns out a lot of us do it wrong.
Original Source, a U.S. maker of natural cleansing products, outlined the recommended order for showering, saying 86 percent of people mix it up.
That confusion mainly comes because few people read the instructions on their shower-gel packaging. The packaging often says to wash your hair first, then apply conditioner and rinse it out.
Only after you finish with your hair should you move on to washing your body.
Why do researchers consider this detail significant?
Following that sequence removes any conditioner residue from your hair before you apply shower gel to your body. Otherwise, the residue can transfer to the skin and build up over time, increasing the risk of skin irritation, the company says.
In a recent study, Original Source surveyed 2,000 Britons about their showering habits. The results showed that 44 percent of respondents apply shower gel before shampoo and conditioner. Seven percent apply shower gel first, then conditioner, then shampoo. Eight percent start with conditioner, then use shampoo, and finally shower gel. Five percent choose conditioner first, then shower gel, then shampoo. And 22 percent begin with shampoo, followed by shower gel and conditioner.
Only 14 percent of survey participants followed the order recommended by Original Source.
Alice Plimmer, the lead author of the study, said, “Showering is much more than just a desire to get clean. If you want to start your morning off right, it’s crucial to turn your shower into a full-fledged rejuvenation process, free from any distractions.”
What about the duration of showering?
The survey came shortly after researchers at the University of Surrey published a study on how long Britons spend in the shower.
The participants, it turned out, were university students who didn’t know they were being observed, according to the Daily Mail. Over 39 weeks researchers secretly monitored water use in 290 campus shower stalls using sensors. The average water-use duration was 6.7 minutes, and half of the students fell between 3.3 and 8.8 minutes.
The researchers say the overall average across the UK is probably longer, because students tend to shower faster than many other people. Preliminary data from the team put the average shower duration at 10.8 minutes.
