How Long Should a Shower Be? Temperature, Water Use and a Dry Bathroom

Short answer: No public body we checked sets one correct shower length. Waterwise, the UK water-efficiency organisation, suggests shortening your shower to save water, and the NHS advice for people with itchy skin is to have cool or lukewarm showers and not to spend a long time in them. A sensible habit is to wash, rinse and turn the water off once you are done, rather than standing under it.

Most of us learned how to shower as children and have not thought about it since. Yet small choices, such as how warm the water is, how long you stay in and what you do in the few minutes afterwards, affect how much water goes down the drain and how long the bathroom stays damp.

This guide brings together what public health and water bodies actually say, and marks clearly where something is only our practical suggestion. It is about everyday habits, not about any skin condition.

What temperature should a shower be?

We have not found an official figure in degrees for an everyday shower. The closest public advice is on the NHS page about itchy skin, which lists "have cool or lukewarm baths or showers" among the things that may help with itching. That is advice for a specific complaint, not a rule for everyone, and it gives no number.

If you want a simple test of your own, these are suggestions rather than sourced rules:

• If the mirror fogs within seconds, the water is probably hotter than you need.
• If you find yourself turning the heat up every few minutes, try starting a little cooler.
• Start warm rather than hot, and raise it in small steps only if you feel cold.

The same NHS page also tells people with itchy skin not to use perfumed soaps, deodorants or moisturisers. If your skin often feels itchy after washing, that page is worth reading in full, and a pharmacist can advise on products.

How long should a shower last?

Waterwise, a UK organisation that promotes water efficiency, says simply: "Try to shorten your shower time to save even more water." The NHS itchy skin page, again written for that particular problem, says "do not spend a long time in the bath or shower" without defining "long".

Because no official number exists, we have not invented one. Two practical ways to find your own:

1. Time yourself once. You may find you stay in longer than you thought.
2. Set an order. Wet, wash, rinse, turn off. Anything that does not need running water, such as shaving or letting conditioner sit, can be done with the water turned off.

Does a shorter shower really use less water?

Yes, and the figures are easy to work out. Waterwise says a typical bath uses around 80 litres of water and that many power showers can use even more. It adds that a standard shower head uses 10 to 15 litres per minute, while a low-flow shower head uses around 6 litres per minute, which over a 10-minute shower is a saving of up to 90 litres.

Simple arithmetic gives these ranges for a standard shower head:

So a 10-minute shower with a standard shower head can use more water than the typical 80-litre bath that Waterwise describes. Flow rates vary from one shower to another, so use the table as a rough guide. To measure your own, time how long the shower takes to fill a bucket of known size.

What should you do right after a shower?

Most of the sourced advice for the minutes after a shower is about the room rather than your skin. The exception is the NHS page on emollients, which are moisturising products used for dry skin conditions. If you use one, the page makes a few practical points.

• Drying off. In its section on washing with emollients, the NHS says to "rinse and pat the skin dry, being careful not to rub it."
• Timing. It says emollients "are best applied after washing your hands, taking a bath or showering," and should be applied "as soon as you have patted your skin dry."
• The floor. It warns: "Be careful not to slip when using emollients in a bath or shower, or on a tiled floor," and suggests washing the bath or shower afterwards with hot water and washing-up liquid, then drying it with a kitchen towel.

Those points are written for people using emollients. For everyone else, the useful after-shower habits are about moisture in the room, covered next.

How do you stop the bathroom staying damp?

Showering adds moisture to the air. UK government guidance on damp and mould states that "moisture from normal occupant activities, such as showering, drying laundry and cooking, builds up in the air around a home if it cannot be removed." It also says condensation is "one of the most common causes of damp and mould in homes."

The guidance is written mainly for landlords and housing providers, but the points it asks them to check translate easily into household habits:

• Ventilation. It asks whether bathrooms have ventilation, such as extractor fans, that is "fully operational and sufficiently powered to remove moisture from showering and bathing." If your bathroom has a fan, switch it on when you shower and leave it running for a while afterwards.
• Windows. It asks whether windows can be opened and whether tenants are using them. If there is no fan, opening a window is the simplest alternative.
• Doors. It points to advice for tenants that includes "keeping internal doors shut when cooking and bathing," so that steam does not drift into cooler rooms.

The guidance explains that condensation happens when moisture cools and condenses onto colder parts of a building, such as window frames and corners. Wiping water off glass and tiles with a cloth or squeegee after a shower is a common-sense extra step, though it is our suggestion rather than a quoted instruction.

A simple after-shower, weekly and monthly routine

These are suggestions rather than sourced rules, so adjust them to your home.

After each shower

• Run the fan or open the window.
• Squeegee or wipe the glass and tiles.
• Hang towels so they can dry fully.

Weekly

• Wipe the tray or bath and the soap dish.
• Look at the shower head for white crust or blocked holes.

Monthly or when you notice a change

• Descale the shower head if scale has built up. Our guide on how to clean limescale from your showerhead explains what the crust is and how people remove it.
• Wash the shower curtain or liner, following its care label.

If you live in a hard water area, you may notice scale building up faster. Our article on hard water and hair explains what the minerals are and what the few available studies found.

FAQ

How long should a shower be?

No public body we checked gives one correct length. Waterwise says shortening your shower saves water, and the NHS tells people with itchy skin not to spend a long time in the shower. Washing, rinsing and turning the water off once you are done is a practical rule.

Is a lukewarm shower better than a hot one?

There is no official temperature for an everyday shower. The NHS suggests cool or lukewarm showers for people with itchy skin, but that is advice for a specific complaint rather than a general rule.

How much water does a 10-minute shower use?

At the 10 to 15 litres per minute that Waterwise gives for a standard shower head, a 10-minute shower uses roughly 100 to 150 litres. A low-flow head at around 6 litres per minute would use about 60 litres.

Why does my bathroom get damp after showering?

UK government guidance says moisture from showering builds up in the air if it cannot be removed, and that condensation is one of the most common causes of damp and mould in homes. It points to working extractor fans, windows that open and are used, and keeping internal doors shut when bathing.

Sources

• NHS, "Itchy skin": https://www.nhs.uk/symptoms/itchy-skin/
• NHS, "Emollients": https://www.nhs.uk/tests-and-treatments/emollients/
• Waterwise, "How to save water": https://www.waterwise.org.uk/how-to-save-water/
• UK Government, "Understanding and addressing the health risks of damp and mould in the home": https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/damp-and-mould-understanding-and-addressing-the-health-risks-for-rented-housing-providers/understanding-and-addressing-the-health-risks-of-damp-and-mould-in-the-home--2