Since the beginning of time, and as long as a civilized man walks this planet, it has been a custom to bathe in a bathtub.
From the ancient Egyptians, the Anric Greeks, the ancient Romans, the Arabs, the Wild West and the courts until modern times, where bathtubs were and remain an indispensable part of our houses, homes and bathrooms.
From small personal bathtubs, like Cleopatra's, who filled hers with donkey's milk, to large bathtubs in public baths in antiquity or hammams at apar, baptisteries at Christians, to these latest modern Jacuzzi tubs or tubs that are filled with beer in some spas and spa centers.
Her Majesty Bathtub.
A place for relaxation,, cosmetic treatments with scented salts and baths, or simply for bathing.
And it all started with the ancient Romans, who used the aqueduct system to bring fresh water to their squares, public baths, villas and homes.
With the progress of civilization, bringing water to the living space has become an obligation, so in a part of the world where there is a tap with tap water (or water of any quality) in houses and apartments, it is not uncommon for the tap to be turned on and the water flows.
In those conditions, and in the light of modern man, when maintaining personal hygiene is generally acceptable (not to mention mandatory), it has become normal to bathe every day.
And it was not like that before, just as it is not like that in parts of the world where water is a luxury.
How often would a person who bathes every day really bathe, if he had to fetch water for his bath from a nearby lake or river or if he had to lower the bucket deep into wells several times? I think the measure would be. once a week, as the ancient peoples also practiced...
And like this, today, when we take water for granted and consider it (some of us), an inexhaustible source, we want to be fresh and clean, bathed, every day.
On the subject of bathing and water as a scarce resource (when we talk about clean, marketable water), the Swedish king Carl Gustav XVI gave his opinion, proposing a ban on bathing in bathtubs.
The amount of water, which is used for one bath, is enough to maintain hygiene by showering for a whole week...
Taking a shower, which has become necessary for the modern, fast man...
If I could manage, every day, to prepare for myself a ritual of bathing, filling the bathtub, relaxation, every morning when I get out of bed and go to work? Never. Then I'd probably go to work with the unpleasant smell of my sweaty body. Like this. every morning, I jump into the shower, and in 5 minutes, I go on, fresh, clean and fragrant.
Don't think I don't like bathtubs. I love water and I love to spend time in it. But simply, I don't have time for that every day (not to mention that my opinion about wasting water for bathing in bathtubs is the same as the opinion of the Swedish king), the option for me is a shower.
If possible, like the one in the picture, with stained glass, at floor level, with a large shower above, for the effect of rain...
For enjoyment and relaxation, when I feel like it, I decide on one of the nearby spa centers, which offer large quantities of mineral healing waters with a high temperature. So I combine beautiful and useful, enjoyment and medical-rehabilitation treatments in their hydromassage tubs.
But is it only the lack of time or environmental awareness that has influenced me not to use the bathtub?
When I lived with my parents and brother in an apartment, we had a bathtub. Standard width and depth, 160 cm long.
We got hot water from an 80l water heater.
When it was bath time, we actually showered in the tub. in an upright or sitting position, we used a handheld shower, because if one of us decided to bathe in the bathtub, it would mean an empty water heater for the rest of us.
On one occasion, whether it was 2003 or 2004, the parents were in the cottage, the brother went on a trip with his friends. I stayed home alone.
That meant a boiler full of hot water, just for me. When I arrived from the physically demanding and difficult work I was doing at the construction site, I put the veil in the bathtub and let the hot water run out and fill it up. The soap and fragrant salt raised the foam and my delight when I immersed myself in the warm bath was extraordinary.
The minutes passed, the muscles relaxed, the goat got softer and softer... I wandered in my thoughts, floating in my bathtub, almost completely stretched out, without support for my legs. As the water cooled, I did not notice that all my strength (remaining after a hard day's work) was exhausted. My muscles relaxed so much that I almost couldn't raise my hand and hold on to the edge of the tub.
"Shit. Am I going to drown in my house, in a bathtub full of cold water," I thought.
But I couldn't move. I was afraid of how I would get out of this situation and whether the chilled water would restore some strength to my muscles? The water cooled down, and I was even weaker.
It was clear to me. The devil took the joke and I had to throw the water out of the tub.
With the tip of my foot, I somehow tripped the plug at the bottom of the tub and the water slowly began to flow out. After a few minutes, when it was empty, and I was left at the bottom of it. still alive, although I didn't look like it. no energy, exhausted it, Actually, I looked like a fish out of water. Only my nostrils moved when I inhaled air. OK, I'll survive, but I'm going to freeze wet and naked like this unless I get out of the tub and dry off quickly.
It's clear, I'm here with you today, I survived that hot water, as well as the subsequent cold, but then I made a decision.
No more bathing in the bathtub when I'm home alone and tired!
Years passed, I moved away from my parents and when it was time to reconstruct the bathroom in the apartment where we lived, you guessed it, we replaced the wall-mounted bathtub with a shower cabin.
It's not a cabin like the one in the picture (this is my next model, when it's time for another reconstruction), it has a small bathtub, 15 cm raised from the floor, easy to enter and a screen that prevents the bathroom from being splashed.
For our needs, as far as personal hygiene is concerned in our bathroom, perfectly sufficient.