Vesti published a story under the heading "Europeans were advised to wipe only the most important places with a cloth." It says:
“In Stuttgart, hundreds of people are trying to shout to the authorities, who either advise them to wash two or three at a time, or generally save on hot water and wipe only the most necessary places with a damp cloth.
“I want to thank our old head of the region, Mr. Kretschmann. I brought you a washcloth. You can wipe yourself with it,” protester Ralph Behr suggests.”
Tips for saving money in the household are generally quite a popular genre in Germany, which appeared long before the current energy crisis provoked by Russia. For example, in 2021, the following recommendations were published on the website of the energy company Polarstern Energie :
1. Take warm showers, not hot ones.
2. Turn off the faucet when not using water.
3. Wash your hands with cold water.
4. Cut down on shower time.
5. Clean taps from plaque.
6. Wash the floor with cold water.
7. Install a low flow shower head.
8. Lower the temperature of the water in the washing machine.
The advice of the head of the government of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, representing the Green Party, is in the same vein. But he did not offer to “wipe certain places with a cloth” instead of a shower. In fact, in an interview with the Südwest Presse , he said this:
“You don’t have to constantly stand in the shower. A bath mitt (or washcloth) is also a useful invention.
Kretschmann used the word Washlappen, which "Vesti", apparently to make his words look as absurd as possible, was translated as "rag". But what it really is is easy to verify by searching for images on the Internet. Wasslappen looks like this.
It remains to be understood why the German politician began to promote such a seemingly simple and necessary subject and what a “continuous” (dauernd) shower is. The fact is that the Germans have hygiene traditions that are different from those adopted in Russia. In 2020, the Turizm.ru portal described the German way of washing as follows:
“Our compatriots who moved to live in Germany often complain that in this country it is simply impossible to buy a washcloth in a store. Taking water treatments, the Germans usually use a shower gel, which is applied to the body and then washed off. Sometimes funny stories happen. When our people lather themselves from head to toe with a washcloth in public places, such as before going to the pool or after working out at the fitness center, they are often asked, what is this strange object?
Obviously, if you first lather thoroughly and only then turn on the water to wash off the foam, the water consumption will be less than with the usual German method. But the ridiculous “wiping important places with a cloth”, of course, sounds much more effective.