drop your childhood stories:
>be me, age 12
>hate showering more than anything
>it feels gross and i hate getting wet
>my mom starts telling me that if i don’t shower every day then i can’t eat
dinner
>i want my dindin so i come up with a genius plan
>let the shower run for 10-15 minutes while i sit...
A friend of mine is a non-native English speaker. He teaches at an elementary school and works with 'English as a second language' students. He casually mentioned that he always tells his students to take a 'horse bath' in the bathroom sink after recess if needed. He was traumatized when I told him that he'd misheard that phrase for his entire adult life.
In Germany we say Pferdewäsche, is that what he meant with "horse bath"?, it's a clean up of your face (or other parts or objects), but too quickly, so mostly negatively associated. A fresh up of the face however is one of the few exceptions, but mostly used in a short humoristic way.
Pferdewäsche of your car, would likely mean the car wasn't cleaned properly and there's still some dirt. Same when you Pferdewäsche your body, it's doing the most basic necessity, not enough to be the exclusive way of cleaning in the long run.