Bathroom Towels

I hang mine up to dry and wash them about once or twice a week, depending on how many times I used them...............after all, they are clean, you are clean when you use them.............it's only the water that dries in the towel that is the issue.............Right?

Take care.

I get a new towel every time. My skin just crawls at the thought of the exfoliated skin sitting in the towel and using it again. Yes, I do wash my towels quite a bit but its worth it.

I use a clean towel every time. it seems gross to me to reuse a towel even though you are clean when you use it. they start stinking after the second time of use.

I shower daily and so do my kids. I wash our towels once a week, unless they don't smell fresh and then I wash them immediately, before the week is up. You are clean when you get out, but depending on how much skin is being exfoliated when drying can make the difference with freshness and this can differ with hormones and the weather.

We all shower every day and we use ours for a few days, hanging to dry in between uses. Unless there are communicable diseases involved, the towel is just drying water off of a clean, healthy body. There's nothing about that that can hurt ya!

Wow. I am shocked how many people go through towels at each shower!! We use ours about a week. I have a few different towels for each bathroom (ours and kids) and if they get dirty or smelly before then I can switch it out, but otherwise I probably do towels once a week. My kids are only 2.5 and 9 months and they reuse their towels too. They bathe every other day, sometimes more in the summer due to sunscreen, etc., but we still only change their towels once/week or less. I personally feel that if they're not smelling mildewy it's okay to use them about 7 days and switch it out, less wasteful in my opinion!

I agree withTori. I think we all need to become more conscious of the impact our actions have on our environment. Washing your towel every day is clearly wasteful and unnecessary.

I use them once. What helps me is to buy those thin, cheap towels that you can pick up for like 2-3 bucks at Target or Kmart. They wash better and dry quicker because they have less fabric. When guests come, I break out the thicker, better quality towels.

3 days is our general rule. In our house that means 20 towels for me per month (I need one for me and one for my hair!) and 10 for each of the 3 "boys" per month. Assuming I can get 8-10 towels in a wash load...That's almost 6 loads of towels per month.

Of course this math goes all to hell because my husband seems to think we live in a hotel and drops his towel on the floor after every shower and gets a fresh one every day.

Ewwww... one shower, one towel. I also don't use hand towels in my bathroom. We installed a commercial towel dispenser and buy them by the case.

New towel every shower, change the hand towel every day or two.

Growing up, we had to use the hang dry and use the same towel for a couple of days.

At my house, we use them once and wash.

My kids and I will use ours for up to a week before doing a load of towels. We hang them up on a towel rack to dry after each shower. My husband, on the other hand, is very anal about the whole towel issue. He will not reuse a towel under any circumstance. It has to be washed after every use for him. The way I see it, if your towel is too dirty to reuse after drying yourself off, you aren't doing something right when cleaning yourself in the shower. Not to knock anyone who won't reuse without washing, it's just my thoughts on it.
We have six, almost seven, people in our family. I use one towel for my face and hair, and one for my body (that's my compulsion, but since I do the laundry, I let it slide), my kids all use one each. If we were all to use towels only once before washing them, I'd have to do a load of towels every day. I have enough to do that I welcome any break from even a small task. It's less of an "environmental impact" issue for me as a matter of 7 loads of towels a week versus two loads.

I use a clean one with every shower for me & my boys. My husband will use any dry towel that is hanging in the bathroom. He doesn't see the need to get a clean one (that is how his family did things). Personally I don't like the thought of drying my face on part of a towel that someone may have dried their bottom/crotch with. In my tiny bathroom there is not enough room for everyone to have their own towel hanging & waiting for them to use it again.
Now with hand towels we use the same one for about a week or I change it more often when is is soiled or when I do towels.
God bless!

We each have our own towel and we wash them once a week. We have plenty of room for them to dry between showers so we do not have any issue with any smells. My husband and I shower daily (sometimes twice daily in the summer), but the kids depending on what they are doing, don't shower as often. Once a week works fine for us.

For me, this depends. If you take a shower then all you are wiping off is clean water, so I use mine at about three times before it goes in the dirty hamper. However, if you take a bath then you are sitting in dirty water and wiping off dirty water, throw it in the hamper. We have seven people in our house. If we used a new towel after every shower, i would be forever at the washer and dryer or up to my eyeballs in towels.

I wash towels about once a week. I began buying 3 bath towels in each set I buy for my husband and me about 10 years ago. (He showers 3 extra times a week after playing table tennis and his towel wasn't always completely dry from his morning shower.) Of course, if our towels smell, I'll wash them sooner. If I cannot bleach the towels, I use vinegar in the wash cycle to keep them smelling fresh.

We all use our towels 2 to 3 times before throwing them in the hamper. Towels get washed about once a week. We do have towel racks for them to dry on. Before my husband and I got together (and we lived separately) we both used our towels until they got stinky. We change them more frequently now I think to not look gross to the other. Funny how that works! ;)

Hubby and I use ours for a week and then I put them in the laundry. The kids tend to use theirs to play superhero or wrap up dolls, so they generally get a new one with each bath.

every two to three days. but i have been trying to teach my boyfriend's 6 year old and my four year about hygeine and getting up on their own and washing up. so every morning they get up and get new towels. so after they get the hang up of getting their self together i'm going to start teaching them about the 2-3 day towel thing. cause i'm having to wash towels every 2-3 days.

My kids and I use ours 2-3 times. My husband gets a new one every single time and it drives me nuts! I threaten him that he is going to have to start doing the laundry but then we would never have anything clean ;)

Body towel once, hair towel air dried and used twice. Sorry but I agree with Denise. After I wipe my delicate areas I don't like the idea of wiping my feet or arms with that same towel the next day. By the way I did see the cutest towels in an ad. One end said "face" and the other end said "butt". Kind of gross also, but would actually work for me if I had to reuse a towel. That would be the exception.

2 times tops - after that they start to smell or get hard.

Assuming that the towel gets hung up tp dry after being used ( and not left on the floor), my family will use a towel over again until it no longer smells clean (like it doesnt smell like the fabric softener anymore).about 4 times or so. My bathroom is rather small, so my husband has installed a towel bar in each of the kid's bedrooms, so they take it to their rooms to dry. I use a hand towel, or a smaller, thinner towel to dry my face and hair and that i use a fresh one every time because i have thick hair and the towel gets very wet.

I use my towel twice, hubby will use his 2-3 times but we are able to hang them up in our bathroom. The kids use a new one every time, they don't have room in their bathroom to hang them to dry. I am encouraging them to use their pool towels twice because half the time only 1 kid uses a towel and throws it in the bag with the other unused clean towels then they all are damp but weren't used so I have started hanging their pool towels to dry and having them use again. I do at least 3 large loads of towels a week with a family of 5.

The "how long do you use your towel" debate. We've had the same discussions at my work. =) We use the same one up to a week.

Just as people are shocked that some change their towels with every shower...I am equally as shocked that people use their towels for a week!! We use a new towel after each shower.

we use them a week, but none of us shower every day (bad for your hair and skin)

I usually go two days with the same towel for adults in our house. My kids have their own set of towels and I use their's about 3 times and then put them in the laundry. I find that if I use the towels more than a couple days they can get smelly from being wet.

Sounds strange, but it depends on the time of year. In the winter time a towel may get used 4 or 5 times (we share towels, my daughters and I each need one for body and one for hair), because it gets hung up next to the radiator and dries quickly. In the summer sometimes the same, because I'll hang the towels outside in the sun to dry. In the springtime, however, it's usually only twice, because they can get kind of musty since it takes so long for them to dry.

We use separate hand towels for daily face washing.

2 uses for us. I never notice that they get smelly, but they get vey stiff. Same thing with pool towels. I let them dry on the gate overnight and get used again the next day.

I like the idea of another that thin towels are environmentally friendly and can be tossed after each use.

I use a clean washcloth during the shower, to exfoliate my body.
I dry myself with a thick towel and use it twice before getting a fresh one.
I use a smaller towel to dry my long hair and do not reuse it.
For my face, I use a clean washcloth everytime.
Hand towels & kitchen towels are changed daily.
The foot towel outside the tub lasts about 2 days.

I am not a germ freak, but we never share any towels and fresh towels allow me a peace of mind to sleep easy. And yes, I change my pillow cover every night before going to bed! :)

3 times when A/C is on

not to be grossed, but i actually throw in the basket after 3 days of usage then i get a new clean downy smell towel!!! the only one i actually throw in the dirty basket is the towel that i put on my head!!! dont know why but i do!!! do what you feel best!!!

These are always such interesting questions because you don't ever really know what's going on in anyone else's house! I am shocked, shocked that people change their towels daily--we wash ours about once a week, but if it went longer it would never even register on my "need to do" radar.

I wash my husband and mine every 3 showers (we di use the system: feet on corners, tag side face, opposite side body) my older daughter every 2 showers because I am not sure if she always follow the system, lol.
And the baby ones ever shower, because she had eczema and I need to know everything is clean everytime.

Since I live in an APT and have to use a laundry mat, I would literally go broke if I washed a towel after each shower. Besides that, I live in Florida so we all know in the summer you take way more showers, especially if you do an activity outside and get all sweaty, I jump in to rinse off. So my towels last me a few days, sometimes not that long, depends how well they get to dry.

I use my daughter's for a week since she only bathes every other day (unless she's gotten dirty at the playground or something!). My husband and I use ours 3-4 times, so we change them 1-2 times per week.

I launder everything as frequently as actually necessary, based on whether or not they're starting to smell musty – washcloths usually after only one use, hand towels every few days, bath towels usually last through at least 10 showers if hung up to dry between uses. I also wash as infrequently as reasonable, because hot water and detergent are expensive and have an impact on the environment, and fabric life is diminished with each laundering (all that lint).

I'm with Denise P. I have ancient, thin towels that dry quickly, so they don't go stale from prolonged dampness. They dry a clean body, so there's no reason to fear little nasties growing in the fluff. All the same, I have a pattern that I follow: outer corners for feet, center of each end for girlie parts, and middle of the towel for face, hair and body. An easy and useful habit. And I also do a quick hand-squeegee all over my body – 30 seconds brushes off at least half the water that the towel would have to absorb.

I grew up the same way...and things changed when I "grew up" too. I wash our towels 2-3x a week.