Where do the numbers come from?

Not everyone showers the same way. A woman with long hair needs twice as long as a man with short hair – not because she is less efficient, but because her hair requires more time to wet, shampoo, and rinse. A 2025 study by Dezeure et al. found that hair length is the single biggest factor in shower water consumption – more significant even than the duration of the shower itself.

ShortShower's timer splits the shower into three phases: wetting and shampooing (water on), conditioning and body wash (water off), and final rinse (water on). The water-off phase is the key insight – it saves 30 to 50% of water per shower, because conditioner needs time to work anyway, and you can soap up your body without standing under the stream. This is the segmented showering method, endorsed by Hansgrohe and EPA WaterSense.

The recommended durations are based on dermatological guidelines and EPA data. For adults, the optimal shower with hair washing is 7 to 15 minutes depending on hair length. A quick rinse without washing hair should take just 4 to 5 minutes – the so-called "quick refresh", confirmed by Cleveland Clinic and KOHLER LuxStone. Showering for more than 10 to 15 minutes strips the skin's natural sebum and its natural moisturizing factor (NMF), leading to dry skin and brittle hair.

Children and babies follow different rules. European guidelines (Blume-Peytavi et al., 2016) and the American Academy of Dermatology recommend shorter baths: 5 to 8 minutes for infants and 5 to 10 minutes for children aged 6 to 11. Children's skin is especially sensitive and washing too long damages its natural protective barrier. For infants with atopic dermatitis, researchers even recommend adding bath oil only in the final 2 minutes to avoid disrupting the skin's pH during the earlier washing phase.

Ecology and skin health point in the same direction. Every minute in the shower uses 7 to 9 litres of water. Cutting just 2 minutes per day saves over 5,000 litres per person per year – roughly the volume of 3,500 water bottles. EPA WaterSense and StarBath US data confirms that if every American cut their shower by just 1 minute, over 165 billion litres of water would be saved each year. ShortShower does the counting – you just shower smarter.