It’s common to think that your way of doing things is the best approach, from your political views to the way you position the toilet paper roll. But there’s also a debate swirling around the best time of day to shower, with people on both sides insisting that their timing is ideal.
There are entire Reddit threads devoted to this topic, with people making valid arguments on both sides. While dermatologists agree that the best time to shower is whatever it takes to consistently clean yourself, there also seems to be a general consensus about whether it’s better to shower at night or in the morning.
If you’re a diehard fan of morning or evening showers, there’s no reason to change things up. But if you want a professional to confirm (or dispute) that your go-to showering time is the best, keep scrolling.
Is it better to shower at night or in the morning?
The answer is annoyingly predictable: It depends. “The key is to shower consistently,” Ife J. Rodney, MD, founding director of Eternal Dermatology + Aesthetics, tells SELF.
Gary Goldenberg, MD, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, agrees. “There’s no definitive ‘better’ since, at the end, it comes down to personal preference,” he tells SELF.
Morning showers can help people wake up, along with removing overnight sweat, bacteria, dead skin cells, and oils that can accumulate in bed, Dr. Goldenberg says. “This may be preferable to those that sweat more at night,” he adds.
But night showers help to remove dirt, sweat, pollutants, sunscreen, and environmental debris that build up on your body during the day before bed, Dr. Goldenberg says. And then there are people who prefer to shower twice a day.
Keeping all of that in mind, dermatologists seem to lean toward showering at night. “I generally recommend taking a shower in the evening,” Cindy Wassef, MD, a dermatologist at Premier Health Associates in Randolph, NJ, tells SELF. “It allows you to wash off any of the dirt, bacteria, or fungi you may have been exposed to throughout the day.” Because a lot of people don’t change their sheets more than once a week, Dr. Wassef points out that showering before slipping into bed helps to keep your bedding clean between washes.
Dr. Rodney is also in the pro-evening camp. “It’s super important that you moisturize your skin properly after showering, and some people are a little rushed to get out the door in the morning,” she says. “At night, you have more time to use adequate lotion all over your skin.”
