Navy shower

A navy shower (also known as a "combat shower", "military shower", "sea shower", "staggered shower", or "G.I. bath") is a method of showering that allows for significant conservation of water and energy by turning off the flow of water in the middle portion of the shower while lathering. Soldiers are sometimes trained to keep the total time of the water flow to under two minutes – using an initial thirty seconds or so to get wet, followed by shutting off the water, using soap and lathering, then rinsing for a minute or less.

Navy showers originated on naval ships, where supplies of fresh water were often scarce. Using this method, crew members were able to stay clean, while conserving their limited water supply. The concept has also been adopted by some other people who wish to conserve water and the energy needed to heat the water, for both environmental and economic reasons. According to the US Department of Energy, water heating is typically the second-largest energy expense in homes (after space heating).

Maritime cruisers often take navy showers when they are not in a port with easy access to fresh water. A ten-minute shower takes as much as 230 liters (60 U.S. gal) of water, while a navy shower usually takes as little as 11 liters (3 U.S. gal); one person can save up to 56,000 liters (15,000 U.S. gal) per year.

In United States Navy parlance, the term "Hollywood shower" contrasts with a navy shower, referring to a long shower with very high water usage.

In East and Southeast Asia, many people are accustomed to bathing by scooping water out of a large bucket or trough (or some other fairly large water reservoir) with a dipper. This necessitates a lack of a constant flow of water during the soaping-and-lathering period. Therefore, such people see the navy shower as the most natural method to use a shower as it is understood in the West.

Body cleaning during longer space flights is done with little water, at zero gravity. As shown by experience at the previous Salyut space stations, showering in microgravity is quite difficult – preparations and cleanup can take up the better part of a day. There are no showers at the International Space Station; instead, body cleanup depends on special cleansing soap which does not require much rinsing, and towels. Hair cleansing is achieved with a special shampoo that, again, does not require rinsing. Water is recycled through evaporation.

See also

• Saltwater soap, also called sailors' soap