This ‘Shower Exclusion’ during the Nine Days for hygienic purposes is ruled decisively by the vast majority of contemporary authorities including Rav Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld zt”l, Rav Yechiel Michel Tukachinsky zt”l, Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l, Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky zt”l, the Klausenberger Rebbe zt”l, Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt”l, Rav Shmuel Halevi Wosner zt”l, Rav Ben Tzion Abba Shaul zt”l, Rav Ovadiah Yosef zt”l, Rav Mordechai Eliyahu zt”l, Rav Yisrael Halevi Belsky zt”l, Rav Efraim Greenblatt zt”l, the Sha’arim Metzuyanim B’Halachah, and Rav Moshe Sternbuch.[16]
"R. Soloveitchik argued that the mourning practices of the Nine Days, not to launder or bathe, correspond to the laws of Shloshim. R. Soloveitchik suggested, therefore, that nowadays, since we are not accustomed to prohibit bathing for the entire month after the burial of a close relative, it should follow that the custom to refrain from bathing during the Nine Days should no longer be applicable (Nefesh Ha-Rav)."
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