How often do switch out your towels...this is a real question please read the details?

Question

I use 2 different washcloths one for my face and one for my body then a large bath towel to dry off...I use the face towel a week, the body washcloth I change everyday and the bath drying towel every couple of days...I heard someone say they saw a television special that says you should get all new towels everyday because the bacteria starts to grow on them as soon as you use them...does anyone know if this is actually true seems like a lot of towels to wash for your family. Thanks I know it seems like a dumb question,but everytime I go to re- use a towel I'm really worried about it.

Ms Sweet how presumptious of you to think because I am worried about my family to think that I am selfish, to set the record straight, I volunteer several times a year with Hosea's Feed the Hungry, most of my weekends are spent volunteering with The Cure Foundation, the Leukemia and Lymphona Society or raising funds for March of Dimes and the United Way... I also have created a "womens group" called "sista-girl-friends" to promote positive relationships among women and young ladies...I recently created a Yahoo Group for us and I am attempting to get those ladies involved in community programs as well..thank you I hope you concerns have been addressed

Answer 1

I think if you changed towels once a week everything would be fine. However, you must place the towel you used in such a way as to allow it to dry thoroughly. I think that laying it over the shower curtain without folding it would suffice. The atmosphere in your bathroom has enough moisture in it to allow all sorts of molds to grow, but none have killed you yet, I would guess.

I don't think I would be worried about bacteria growth. There are billions of types of bacteria, but only a few can do you any harm.

The person on the TV was probably selling detergent! Of course he would recommend every day washing of the towels.

Poor Mrs. SweetG, she is probably a Bible Thumper with a false impression of what religion is. She certainly does not know what Hosea Feed the Hungry is and how much work is involved in doing that. Then, of course, she probably does not live in the Atlanta area and does not know who Hosea was.

Answer 2

We have always used a fresh wash cloth and towel every time we shower and use the hand towel that we dry our hands on for a few days. However, I can see no reason to be concerned about your method. After you take your bath you should be clean and therefore your towel should be fairly clean also, though damp. You have suffered no ill effects from your habits so why worry about it. Instead, look at it this way. You are not saving yourself the trouble of washing lots of towels but you are doing your part to help the enviroment by cutting down on the amount of laundry you do each year. You save water, conserve energy, and reduce pollution.

Hang the towel up so it dries out quickly. Most bacteria will not thrive in a dry enviroment anyway.

Answer 3

No, I wouldn't worry, what you are doing sounds absolutely fine to me. It's pretty much what we do and we've never had any problems. I wonder if that TV special was maybe sponsored by a washing powder manufacturer!! As you say, changing them everyday would produce an enormous amount of washing, your machine - and dryer, if you use one - would be forever on and you would be spending a fortune on powder.

If you are worried about mould growing the important thing to do is hang the towel somewhere after use where it will dry quickly. I usually open mine out and drape it over the side of the bath. If you have a heated towel rail then that would be the ideal solution.

The only exception to all this, I would say, is if you have been doing any really heavy exercise and have therefore bathed off a huge amount of perspiration. Or of course if you've cut yourself and got a bit of blood on the towel or something like that.

Answer 4

Towels and washcloths are suppose to be changed daily. Like you said it is a lot of laundry, especially for a family. I change my towel every 2 uses. I change the washcloth every use. When you use a towel you are already clean, but a washcloth you clean the "dirt" off of you. So the wash cloth would be harvesting more bacteria than the towel. what you can do when using a wash cloth so you only use one, is wash your face first, Wash the less invasive areas first. (basically cleanest to dirtiest).

Answer 5

Honestly? I sometimes use my bath towels for over a week. As long as they are given an opportunity to dry out completely between uses, I can't see any reason to switch towels on a daily basis. As for washcloths and hand towels, I do tend to switch those more often. Hope this helps, you've gotten lots of advice already!

Answer 6

According to Oprah and her scientists, you should change your towels and wash cloths daily. They did a study and scared the heck out of her viewing public by showing the bacteria in towels, pillows, sheets, kitchen sinks, etc. They went as far as to say new towels should be purchased after a period of time, as opposed to until they are worn out. But - she also thinks we should all change our sheets every other day as well. I don't know about you but by the time I changed sheets in my house 3-4 times a week, I would have time to do nothing else!! That being said as I kid we always used our towels for a few days and I lived through it. As an adult, my family now uses them once and wash them. Hand towels and dish towels get changed daily.

Answer 7

Yeah -- I do that too. Change my face towel once a week, my body washcloth once a week and my drying towels every few days.... That thing is such a rumor! What did they think they were talking about? Bacteria doesn't grow on them every day! As long as you wash them how you do now, you should be FINE!

Answer 8

My wife changes out the towels throughout the house weekly, more frequently for her own washcloths.

If we clean up something out of the ordinary with a towel (especially in the kitchen), we'll swap it out immediately. We normally keep two in the kitchen.

We used to have someone come and clean our place every other weekend, so we'd do them on the same day on the weeks she didn't come by. Now that my wife doesn't work outside the house, she's continued the once-a-week routine. Ditto for all bedding.

Answer 9

That's a little on the paranoid side. Of course germs grow on the towel - they grow everywhere else in your house too. Unless you want to have a house like a 'clean room' you're never gonna kill 'em all. Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying 'don't be clean', just relax a little with the whole germ thing. When using towels to dry any part of your body you are normally clean when you do it - yeah? Every few days will do. You've got bigger fish to fry.

Stay real.........

Answer 10

Yes it is a lot of laundry! I have 4 kids and a husband. I have found it more economical to use paper towels for hand towels but wash cloths and bath towels get washed every time they are used. Dish cloths are the same. We use a ton of paper towels! Not good for the eco-system and not cheap, but alas I am paranoid about germs!