Finally, Data Settles The Controversial Bath Vs Shower Debate

The age old debate: Bath vs Shower while some people love relaxing in baths, others loathe them. Many shower-lovers believe that baths are a dirty cleaning method. It’s a huge debate that can divide even the best of us. We could debate whether baths or showers are better all day, but we’re going to settle this with data. 

Do Brits Prefer Baths or Showers?

The number of monthly searches for baths is 14K. The number of monthly searches for showers is 18K. That’s a 22.2% difference, resulting in 4K more searches for showers over baths. Debate over? No way, we have even more data to settle this debate for good!

Year-on-year searches for baths was up 22% in 2020. However, searches for showers saw a year on year increase of 49%. It definitely looks like in the past year, our love for showers has grown much more than our love for baths has. 

How did lockdown affect our hygiene? 

Searches for showers decreased by 11,000 for the first two months of lockdown in the UK. Luckily this began to increase back to normal in May with most recent searches surpassing the original numbers back in February. Shockingly, searches for baths massively decreased by 66,000 during lockdown. 

Searches for “how often should I bath” and “how often should I shower” decreased by 50% during the month of March. Interestingly, in April searches for these terms then hit a record high with more searches than ever before. Looks like we needed a refresh on what a normal hygiene routine was!

Is a bath or shower best for cleanliness?

Results: Draw

Generally, both a shower and bath can clean with the same efficiency. There is just one event where showers really have the advantage of cleaning you more efficiently. Say you ran in a mud race and you’re covered in mud, the particles can rinse off your body and down the drain with a shower. In a bath, you would not be able to get as clean as you would still be sitting in the same water with these mud particles. 

When it comes to an everyday clean, neither is better than the other. It’s also important to mention that having a longer bath or shower doesn’t make you any more cleaner. 

There is a common myth that a longer shower or soak will get you squeaky clean. Washing removes healthy oil and bacteria from your skin, which means bathing too long could cause dry, itchy skin and allow bad bacteria to enter through cracked skin.

Is a bath or shower best for your skin?

Results: Shower

It’s best to have a shower on days where you are shampooing and conditioning your hair. Not only is it difficult to fully rinse the shampoo out of a bath, sitting in a bath full of shampoo can strip skin of natural oils even without soaking for too long.

Is a bath or shower better for your wellbeing?

Result: Both are great for wellbeing, but baths can be more relaxing.

According to researchers, a regular warm bath can have a greater effect on mood than physical exercise. One study suggests that both baths and showers improve physical and mental condition. Bodily cleanliness and a feeling of refreshment are benefits offered by bathing and showering. 

The downward force of gravity is reduced by buoyancy during bathing. This can lead to the improvements of tension-anxiety, depression-dejection, and anger-hostility. The secret is within the immersion of bathing, this can have a positive effect on stress relief, refreshment, and relaxation.

Is a bath or shower better for the planet?

Results: Showers (technically).

Showers are better than baths from an environmental standpoint. But only if you aren’t taking very long showers.

An average bath uses 36 gallons to fill an average-sized tub. An average shower (without a water-saving device) uses around 3 gallons of water per minute. If you are concerned about the impact your showering habits have on the environment you can use a water-saving showerhead. Or, You can limit your time spent showering. An ideal duration would be between 5 and 7 minutes with a regular shower head. 

All data was taken from Ahref monthly search volume figures. Ahref is a popular SEO tool.

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