When I was a kid, I took baths. My parents used to tell my brothers and I that showers were for when you grow older, but kids take baths. It never made sense to any of us, but I remember when my oldest brother turned 16, got his driver’s license and was finally allowed to shower instead of bathe. He thought that was a really big deal and used to laud it over our heads.

When I turned 16 and got my driver’s license on my birthday, I still remember my dad telling me that from now on, I should shower instead of taking a bath and that I would be a lot cleaner. Once I took my first real shower, I didn’t see the big deal it had been talked up to be all those years, but nevertheless, I still prefer a shower over a bath today and I do feel cleaner after a shower because you can rinse off and not have sit in your own dirty water.

But are showers really all that healthy and do you really get cleaner?

A recent report brought to question a number of shower habits that you may want to reconsider, or at least change.

1. Washing your face. What? Isn’t it easier to wash your face under a hot shower than over a sink or in a bathtub? Yes, it’s easier, but it’s not better for your face, if that makes sense. Why? Generally, we tend to make a shower hotter than the water we wash with in a sink or after a sitting in a tub. The hotter water makes the skin on face dry out more afterwards. Additionally, if you have acne or rosacea, showering in hotter water also makes us tend to scrub harder and the two combined make further irritate your condition, making them redder and even causing a blood vessel to rupture.

2. Washing your feet. If a bathtub, it’s much easier to reach our feet and scrub thoroughly scrub them. However, it has been found that many people who shower either find it more difficult to wash their feet, which leads to either a minimal of cleaning or no cleaning at all. Why is this important? Would you eat off of your floor or anywhere else you walk around barefoot at? Probably not, because of all the dirt and germs, but then realize that not washing your feet thoroughly, you take all of that dirt and germs into your bed or even rub it against you other leg or your lover’s leg. Yuk!

3. Your Loofah or body sponge. Generally, when someone takes a bath, they tend to use the bar of soap or a washcloth, but in a shower, many people, especially women use a loofah or some type of body sponge. How long have you been using the same one in your shower? You have no idea of the amount bacteria, some of which are harmful, that grow in the wet sponge as it hangs there shower after shower. Try wading a wet dishrag up and leaving it set for several days and the open it up and take a whiff? No? Get the idea?

4. Soap dish. Most bathtubs do not have built in soap dishes but shower do. We think nothing of leaving a bar of soap in the soap dish in between showers, but like the loofah, it too grows an unhealthy crop of bacteria. If you have a soap dish and use it for a bar of soap, wash it out regularly or you may be spreading a lot more than soap on your body when you lather up.

5. Scented soaps. Face it, we all like to smell nice when we step out of the shower, and that applies to men as well as to women. However, a growing number of people find that their skin may be redder than normal after a shower or may itch or develop a rash. It may be the good smelling stuff that’s in your soap.

6. Cold Showers – Who likes to step into a cold shower? We often joke about telling a guy who is aroused to take a cold shower as it tends to make things shrink and in fact it does and that may be a good thing. Studies have found that spending about 30-60 seconds in a cold shower is actually good for your skin and hair. It’s also been found to help speed up one’s metabolism and if made a regular habit can help one lose weight. Many Scandinavians have known about the benefits of cold water on the body and have combined taking a dip in icy water and using a sauna.

7. Old Razors. Razors kept in the shower tend to dull quicker and end up irritating the skin and possibly causing more nicks and cuts over time. For some reason, a razor kept in the shower seems to get replaced far less often than one kept by the bathroom sink. Remember the lesson on the loofah, body sponges and soap dish? The same goes for razors left in the shower. Just imagine how many germs your scraping into those nicks and cuts?

8. Over Exfoliating. More people exfoliate their skin with vigorous scrubbing in the shower on a regular basis than people who bathe and this can be harmful to your skin. Your body naturally exfoliates and replaces dead skin with new skin every 27-days. If you exfoliate more often than that in the shower, then you are regularly attacking new healthy skin cells instead of trying to remove to older dead skin cells. If you exfoliate in the shower, don’t do it but every few weeks or could you be doing more harm to your skin than you realize.

9. Daily hair washing. Washing your hair every day often leaves it dry and damaged. It’s a combination of the hot water and washing too frequently. If you work out or sweat a lot on your job, then you probably need a daily shower, but maybe your hair doesn’t. It’s recommended that most people only wash their hair a few times each week. People with really coarse and/or curly hair may only need to wash it once a week. Washing your hair any more frequently can do more damage to your hair than you realize.

10. Reusing towels. Even though you should be clean when you step out of the shower, you still leave some dirt and dead skin cells on the towel. Combined with the wetness, bacteria do begin to grow. Sources say that if you properly hang you towel up so that it air dries, it’s okay to use for up to a week. Otherwise, toss it in the laundry.

11. How you towel off – When you step out of the shower, do you rub the towel over your body to dry off or do you wrap it around yourself while to do everything else? Rubbing the towel over your skin to dry off could be causing some skin damage and make your skin dryer. Experts say it’s best to either pat yourself dry with the towel or allow your body to air dry.

12. Skipping the moisturizer. Remember reading about hot showers can dry out and damage your skin? Don’t just dry off, get dressed and go do whatever it is you’re going to do. Take a few minutes and apply some kind of skin moisturizer on your body. This helps offset some of the damage caused by the hot water and scrubbing.

Next time you step into the shower, think about your water temperature, what you are washing your body with, how often you wash your hair or exfoliate and when the last time your replaced your loofah, sponge and razor. Also think about turning the shower to cold for about 30-60 seconds before getting out of the shower. You may be surprised at the difference it could make in time, and don’t forget the moisturizer.