Having a shower is a necessary chore and a simple pleasure. But it seems it is not quite as common as we might have thought.

A survey this week found an astonishing four out of five women don’t shower every day. A third even admit they go for up to three days without washing, with tiredness and lack of time cited as the reasons.

Here, five women with very different habits reveal how often they shower.

ONCE A WEEK

Michelle McCann, 36, a social media consultant from Brighton, is married to Gary, 40, a data analyst. They have two children, Isobel, five, and Luke, seven months. Michelle has just one shower a week because she says she’s too busy with motherhood to have one more often.

Every morning after I’ve buttered Isobel’s toast, prepared her packed lunch and settled Luke on his playmat, I rush off to get myself ready.

I pass one of my son’s wet flannels under each armpit before giving my arms, hands, face and intimate area a cursory once over. Then I’m ready for the school run.

Michelle McCann, 36 (pictured), from Brighton, showers just once a week and says her hectic lifestyle as a mum of two is to blame

As a busy mum, I never seem to have the time to shower, so I use microfibre baby flannels every day instead. They’re just as efficient as showering and I can also remove my make-up, all in a fraction of the time. You wash them after each use and they come in packs of 30.

It may sound grim, but I can assure you I don’t smell, as my husband — who has a shower every other morning — will attest.

People are too fussy about showering frequently. When I was a child, I was given only one bath a week.

Society’s expectations mean I feel duty-bound to give my children two baths a week, but unless you’re working up a sweat — and my exercise routine is limited to walking Isobel to school — there really isn’t any need for adults to bother.

Nor do I enjoy showers. The last one I had was a couple of days ago, with Luke gurgling on the bath mat as I stood under the shower by his side — it was the only way I could wash without him crying.

It was more stressful than it was relaxing. I’d far rather save my allocated me-time for a weekly bath.

Michelle says that 'people are too fussy about showering frequently' and says the expectations of society make her feel duty-bound to wash her children twice a week

Every Saturday morning, Gary looks after the children while I retreat to the tub for a glorious hour.

I take in a coffee and watch Netflix on my iPad before washing my hair. Then I’m done for another week.

EVERY FIVE DAYS

Emma Harris, 26, a web developer, from Evesham, Worcestershire, is married to Gavin, 25, a baker. They have three children: Oliver, five, Dylan, two, and Charlotte, one. She showers every five days to save money.

Every evening after dinner, I wrestle my three children into the same bath to remove the grime they’ve acquired over the course of the day.

But after I’ve put them to bed, I rarely bath or shower myself, despite being covered in as much mashed banana and yogurt as they are.

Emma Harris, 26 (pictured), from Evesham showers every five days, she cites saving money as the reason for her washing habits and claims her family saves around £100 a year

I don’t like wasting water and want to save money. Like all large families, we’re conscious of our financial outgoings. Since starting a family, our household bills have soared and saving money with reusable nappies and savvy supermarket shopping isn’t enough.

Skipping on my shower might not save a lot — maybe £100 in electricity over a year — but every bit helps.

In any case, I can’t be bothered. Deodorant and dry shampoo are my saviours and my straight, dark brown hair looks the same whether I wash it or not. No one has ever said I smell, but then I work from home, so there is no one to offend. My children certainly don’t complain.

Emma (pictured) says that deodorant and dry shampoo are her saviours and her hair looks the same whether she washes it or not

Gavin gets sweaty from his job as a baker, so needs to shower daily. He has never told me I smell, though he has bought me perfume in the past, which perhaps was a hint.

On the odd occasion we do go out for dinner, I’ll make an effort to shower beforehand.

The longest I’ve gone without showering was seven days, when I was in hospital after giving birth to Dylan. I decided I’d rather make do without washing than use the dingy communal hospital showers.

I don’t often wear make-up, so there’s none to remove, and I don’t exercise, so it’s not as if I’m working up a sweat. When I have ten minutes to spare, the lure of sitting on the sofa with a slice of cake eclipses the desire to get clean.

TWICE A WEEK

Molly Fry, 24, a communications consultant from Didcot, Oxfordshire, is married to Luke, 24, a design engineer. She limits showers to twice a week to keep eczema at bay.

Six years ago, I developed eczema on my face, hands and back. When I looked in the mirror, I was greeted by the sight of ugly, red, scaly skin.

I lost the confidence to date and socialise. Eighteen months of specialist creams had no effect.

Then I switched doctors and was told my daily showers were stripping my skin of its natural oils and irritating and inflaming the eczema. My new GP was adamant I should shower ‘as little as possible’.

Molly Fry, 24 (pictured), from Didcot, started cutting down on showers when she was told by a doctor that it was inflaming her eczema

So I cut down to twice a week. It was hard at first: I felt itchy, self- conscious and paranoid that everyone would discover my dirty secret.

But then I realised we’re all far too hung up about showering every day. I really didn’t smell any different to anyone else.

However, the change in my skin was incredible. Within a month, the eczema had gone. Since then I’ve become convinced that too much water is bad for my skin.

It’s not just that: the steam from the shower makes my hair dry and frizzy. So, I clean my face with wipes and leave my hair alone as much as possible.

As a career woman, it’s important I look professional and well presented. But I’m useless in the mornings — I wake up at 7am and allow myself 15 minutes to leave the house — so I wouldn’t shower then anyway. Showering is a relaxing activity, so it is something I do in the evening, not at the start of a busy day.

When Molly (pictured) starting limiting her showers she was very self-conscious but then soon realised she didn’t smell any different to anyone else

I don’t wash in between showers. I don’t think I need to.

Luke, who showers every morning, teases me about my washing habits and calls me gross, but I know he’s only joking.

However, it is harder to disclose my secret to other people. I feel ashamed, as if I have deviated from what is socially acceptable.

But on occasions where I’ve had to shower more frequently — when I’ve been travelling for work and got dirty from being on public transport, for example — my skin has become dry and scaly again.

And when I remember how self-conscious the eczema used to make me, I know that I’m doing the right thing in having so few showers.

ONCE A DAY

Charis Gibson, 37, a business development manager from Bournemouth, is married to Aaron, 34, a web developer. They have two sons: Jonah, three, and Kit, one. Charis showers once a day to look and feel her best.

Every morning, my alarm goes off at 6.45am and, without fail, the first thing I do is stumble into the shower.

As the water hammers down on my body — I like it so hot it is just about bearable — I embark on a five-minute routine that is so ingrained in my subconsciousness I could do it in my sleep.

Charis Gibson, 37 (pictured), from Bournemouth showers once a day and has a strict five-minute routine she goes through every morning in the shower before work

First, I wash with my favourite coconut perfumed shower gel. Then I shave my legs and — every other day — lather my hair with shampoo and rinse. I emerge feeling like a different woman.

I simply can’t imagine not showering once a day. I would feel dirty otherwise. I’ve been showering every morning since I was 11. At first, I used to find it a chore, but after my mother told me that is what grown women do I decided to emulate her.

I don’t doubt there are psychological benefits. Showering revives me. Amid the demands of motherhood and my career, it’s the small window of time I still have to myself. It is well worth sacrificing ten more minutes of sleep for a shower every morning.

Charis (pictured) believes there are also psychological benefits to showering, saying it makes her feel more revived and gives her some time to herself

Showering is more efficient than bathing: I don’t have time to wallow in a tub every evening. Nor would I feel as refreshed afterwards.

I can count on one hand the number of mornings I’ve skipped a shower in my adult life. The last time was five years ago when I flew back from my grandfather’s funeral in Cyprus overnight and went straight into work the next day.

I felt self-conscious, under- confident and strangely vulnerable. Feeling freshly showered gives me the emotional armour I need to deal with life. So I can’t understand why any woman — no matter how busy she is — would want to go without.

THREE TIMES A DAY

Katie Beeton, 36, a company director, lives in London with her husband Ross, 36, an IT manager. She showers three times a day ‘to feel human’.

I came home late from work one evening last week to discover Ross had lovingly prepared dinner for us.

But instead of appreciating this gesture, I marched upstairs to our bathroom and jumped in the shower, ignoring his wails of protest that he was starving.

Katie Beeton, 36 (pictured), from London showers three times a day and says she needs to do so to 'feel human'

I need a shower after a hard day to feel human again. It’s disgusting not to shower at least once a day.

I shower late in the day because it makes my skin feel so much nicer against the sheets when I go to bed.

But when you sleep you’re spending hours rolling around in your own dirt, so I shower in the morning, too.

Surrounded by steam, I feel wonderfully fresh and invigorated. I do some of my most productive thinking in the shower, coming up with new work ideas while I wash.

Katie (pictured) showers in the morning when she gets up, after yoga and then again in the evening before she goes to bed

Because I practise yoga most mornings, I also have a shower when I’ve finished. I’m flabbergasted that anyone would consider turning up to work without showering — it’s insulting to others.

I bulk-buy shower gel — I get through a bottle a week — and use a scrub afterwards.

I can find a shower in the most inopportune of places. At a three-day music festival in North Wales last September, I queued in the rain for 40 minutes for a shower in a portable cabin every morning.

My showering habit stems from my childhood. My father has always showered twice a day, so it has become second nature to me.

Moving to London after university made me up the ante — I defy anyone not to feel grubby after half an hour on public transport.