What Does it Mean to Take a “Military Shower”?

A military or navy shower is a type of showering method that focuses on water conservation and minimal time use. The user will turn on the water just long enough to get wet, turn off the water while soaping up, and then turn it back on to rinse off.

This minimalist bathing technique saves both energy and water compared to traditional showers. It also pushes people to take showers more quickly, rather than standing in the warm water for long periods of time, singing, or other things to use up time and water excessively.

How to Take a Military Shower: Step-by-Step

1. Turn the water on until you are wet
2. Turn the water off while soaping up
3. Turn the water back on to rinse off
4. Turn the water off and dry off quickly

Other Names for a Military Shower

The concept of a “military shower” can be called a lot of different things. Here are some of the other names that this method of showering is referred to as.

• Navy shower
• Combat shower
• Sea shower
• Staggered shower
• G.I. bath/shower
• Shower conservation technique
• Water saving shower

All of these names essentially are used to describe a shower method that uses as little time and water as possible, often even recommending cold water as a means to further reduce energy consumption.

How Long is a Military Style Shower?

One of the main focuses of a navy shower is an efficient use of time. While time can vary depending on individual preference, typically a shower time of around five minutes is sufficient.

To further help time management, some techniques like tracking time by reciting the alphabet or counting are often used.

If you’re reading this on Natural Replacements, it’s likely that your main focus is water conservation and energy savings over time management, but you can think of it as a dual benefit!

By utilizing these methods during showers, you can use less water and energy and have more time.

Navy Shower Environmental Benefits

Military showers are far more eco-friendly and sustainable than lengthy hot water showers that so many people take daily, providing a great way to conserve water. Although the concept of military showers is simple and doesn’t require any extra equipment, the benefit for the environment is enormous.

Not only does this help save water but it also reduces energy use because it lowers the amount of hot water used.

Check out our water use eco-friendly checklist for more ways to improve your water usage.

Military Shower Water Conservation Example

A typical shower head can use around 2.5 GPM (gallons per minute). This can be improved even further by getting a low-flow shower head that has a lower GPM.

Let’s take a look at a traditional shower compared to a military shower, using the same water flow and duration.

As you can see, even with a speedy five minute shower, you would typically use over 12 gallons of water. With military showers, this number drops to less than 4 gallons!

This is a 70% reduction in water usage and the energy used to heat that water. You can start to see how these savings would add up when you apply that 70% to millions and millions of people bathing every day.

By simply being more mindful with our daily habits, such as taking military showers instead of longer ones, we can make a real difference in reducing our environmental footprint.